Trainings for Farmers and Ranchers in Virginia
The Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition (VBFRC) aims to keep farmers and ranchers in Virginia informed about trainings and events happening throughout the commonwealth. We share featured trainings offered by Coalition partners and compile a comprehensive list of trainings and events throughout the region through our monthly newslbast. We send our the newsblast via email. Join our listserv if you would like to receive that communication. Also make sure to check out our webinars and A Taste of Farming, a video series that covers farming basics.
Beginning Farmer Certification Program
The Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Certification Program is a 13-month comprehensive educational program offered through the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition, which is supported by Virginia Tech’s Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation and Virginia State University’s Small Farm Outreach Program. This hybrid program blends online and in-person learning to equip historically underserved farmers in the Virginia, Maryland Eastern Shore, and North Carolina region with the essential skills to operate a successful farm. Key topics will be covered include agribusiness production, financial management, whole farm planning, and marketing strategies. We are accepting applications and will select 10-15 farmers to participate in the first cohort that will run from November 2024 to November 2025.
Monthly Newsblast
Click the image below to be taken to a .pdf of our monthly newsblast with events and resources from across the state. We post these at the beginning of each month and announce each one on our listserv. While our newsblast is quite comprehensive, some events and trianings might not be listed. If you would like to add your beginning farmer events to the list, please send an email including the event title; dates; a short summary; and any flyers, attachments, or hotlinks to vabeginningfarmer@vt.edu
Newsblast Archive
Click the links below for previous newsblasts.
The Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition is a state-wide and coalition-based Extension program, housed in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education. Funding was sponsored by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Award #2023-49400-40885. For more information about the program, contact Katie Trozzo, Program Coordinator, at vabeginningfarmer@vt.edu or (540) 232-2233. For other questions, contact Kim Niewolny, Program Director, at niewolny@vt.edu.
For website updates, such as broken links, please contact vabeginningfarmer@vt.edu
