08/13/08 Small acreage farming course

Small and mid-sized farms have unique advantages; they can adapt quickly to new markets and meet a growing demand for local and sustainably raised food. The University of Idaho Extension in Caldwell is offering a 12 week course beginning September 2nd to help small acreage farmers with production and marketing options. Retired university professor and farmer of eight acres in east Boise Mary Rohlfing says Idaho needs more small acreage farmers. ROLHFING "We've got a lot of commodity producers who seem to meeting those demands relatively well but we're not meeting demands for fresh tomatoes, fresh corn and green beans, onions, lettuce and the basic things that people eat every day." Rohlfing says the course in Caldwell draw from the experiences of other small acreage producers. ROHLFING "This class is going to give people about 80 percent of the confidence they'll need to get started and the other 20 percent is going to have to come from their own honest evaluation of the resources that they have." And is there a profit to be made with small acreage farming? ROHLFING "You can make a living from doing it but you can't do it if you haven't planned. You can't do it if you're not aware of the resources that you have and that are available for you to exploit and that's what the class will help to do." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott