If you are a beginning farmer, a wanna-be beginning farmer, or farmer that has been around the field and then some I ran across something interesting through a link over at the New Farm website that you need to check out. It is an on-line resource (in .pdf format) called, “The Greenhorns Guide For Beginning Farmers”. At this point it appears that it is co-written by a few beginning farmers, but they are also looking for some old hands to share in the writing process and offer up their expertise. Take the link above to check out the on-line book or go directly to their website (the book is over 1.5 mbs).
After a quick browse of the table of contents and reading a few pages I have to say that this is a very intriguing project and one that I hope can take the next step (whatever that step may be). The online book really is a clearing house of information for the beginning farmer no matter what stage you are in. In fact as I was glancing through it I really wish I had come across this about two years ago because I think it could have saved a lot of head-aches and late nights scouring the internet and worry about whether or not we could pull this off.
The book contains links to everything from loans and grants to mentors and internships and also offers up some words of advice from history and a few beginning farmers. I like the idea of having so much information in one place because it helps people find out about opportunities that they only dreamed would exist.
Not only that, but it looks like this whole “Greenhorn” thing includes a film documentary and more. I encourage you to check it out and share with them if you are a seasoned farmer!
