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Farm Events: |
Farm News: School Emphasizes Distance LearningcommentsPosted: 09.19.2011
If you’re an aspiring dairy or livestock farmer looking for some instruction and mentoring within reasonable driving distance, the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers (WSBDF) wants to hear from you.
The school hopes to offer its distance education program at 17 sites around the state this year, but at least three students must sign up for a site for the program to be offered there.
Participants in the Farm Services Agency’s (FSA) beginning farmer loan programs are encouraged to apply. WSBDF qualifies for the business training the FSA program requires.
The distance education classrooms are designed for students who want start farming but aren’t able to attend class in Madison. Each classroom will have video and audio links to the weekly seminar based in Madison, but will also have an on-site instructor and feature guest lectures by local grazing specialists, farm lenders and experienced
farmers. Students also tour local farms and have opportunities to participate in internships and industry conferences.
"Our students consistently tell us that these opportunities to talk to
farmers, especially young graduates of the WSBDF who are succeeding in
dairy and livestock farming, is one of most valuable parts of the
program," says program director Dick Cates.
The WSBDF curriculum covers all aspects of business planning, from farm selection, design and remodeling to animal and pasture management. About three-fourths of those who graduated from WSBDF since 1996 are now farming. Of those, about half started their own farm businesses.
The school is offered through the UW-Madison Farm and Industry Short
Course. The 15-week course begins November 10 and meets every Thursday
from 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m. through March 22 (the class meets Tuesday,
November 22 during Thanksgiving week and takes a four-week break in
late December and January).
Tuition and fees vary by site, number of credits earned and how the
student enrolls. Typically, students who take the class at an off-
campus site pay between $200 and $300 (and end up with a completed
business plan). Students who want to earn a certificate of completion
or 1-3 college credits (either UW-Madison or Wisconsin Technical
College) pay the per-credit fee charged by the institution.
The deadline for applications for the distance sites is Nov. 1. Some
scholarships are available.
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