Greenhorns:
We are currently working on a zine-guide for beginning farmers to hand out at our young farmer's conference/rabbit roast festivities in July and would love your input!
Swimming in the masses of resources out there, we would like to hone in on common obstacles that growers and ranchers face when starting their journey into the roots of food production and provide effective resources for tackling these barriers. Let's learn from each other's hardships! So, this is a call for any reflections you would like to share on your start up experiences.
Topics in the guide include:
•    Apprenticeships/Mentorships/Farmer Ed
•    Access to Land: how to get some... (farmlinks, farm on programs, incubator farms)
•    Capitalization of Small Diversified Operations: (getting and managing it) available loans, grants, decision and budget making tools
•    Getting started: (seeds, crops, soil, pest management, livestock, staying updated on ag news/conditions)
•    Marketing the Food- csa's, organic certification, direct marketing, farmers markets
•    Annotated list of Major Farming Info clearinghouse sites
•    Farm Models
•    Urban Agriculture models/orgs
•    Big Picture: Food and Farm Policy, incentives and our vision for an edible future
If you would like to reflect on a particular section that would be great; general reflections are welcome too!
Please e-mail your reflections to [email protected].
Thanks for your help!