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California Farm Academy

Curriculum

The California Farm Academy training program consists of 24 weeks of classes, hands-on experience, farm visits and other field trips during a six-month period. Session 1 is already underway and runs from February 16, 2012 through -August 18, 2012. Session 2 will start in late Fall 2012 or Winter 2013. We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm and on Saturdays from 1 pm -5 pm.

You will get more than 200 hours of training time between required core courses and electives, time spent learning by doing, as well as mentoring and lectures by farmers and agricultural professionals. Your time will be spent in the classroom, the greenhouse, out in the field or packing shed, and at other relevant sites. Farming competencies that you can expect to gain improvement in throughout the session include those found here on this Farming Skills Checklist.

Attendance and participation are critical to your success in the training program and as a beginning farmer. Graded work will consist mostly of study guides and in-class worksheets, however you should expect to do some out-of-class reading and to take periodic exams.


seeds sprouting in a tray

There are also two long-term assignments:

  1. A business plan that will be developed in and out of class during the six months and which you will present to a panel of farmers and lenders prior to graduation; and
  2. An independent study project later in the session. The independent study project will allow you to focus in more depth on your specific farming and marketing goals and requires you to seek information from outside resources; examples include trying to obtain a loan from a bank or the Farm Service Agency; seeking entry to a farmer’s market or food cooperative; or researching the growth requirements of a particular crop variety.

Your individual learning plan, created by you and a program advisor and based on your background, farming and marketing goals, will shape your California Farm Academy experience. The learning plan will detail the core classes, electives, time spent working in the field and your independent study project, which combine to fulfill the total number of required hours and competencies needed for graduation.

Core classes and electives led by farmers, academic faculty and staff from colleges and universities, agricultural, natural resource and business professionals include:

The California Farm Academy also offers farmland for lease to qualified program graduates at the Center for Land-Based Learning and at nearby Russell Ranch. Small, ¼ to ½ acre plots of land (some organic) will be available starting August 2012, with the option to continue the following spring and possibly add acreage, dependent upon availability. Eligibility requirements for leasing land will be based on attendance, participation and grading requirements, which will be explained fully at the start of the session.

You must attend and successfully finish a six-month CFA training session in order to lease land through the program.