09/01/08 Small acreage farming course

Small and mid-sized farms 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 tomorrow to help small acreage farmers with production and marketing options. Retired university professor Mary Rohlfing started her eight acre farm in east Boise five years ago. ROHLFING "I didn't have a class like this. I had to pack together all kinds of information from all kinds of sources." Rohlfing is one of the teachers at Caldwell who draw from their own experiences as small acreage growers. 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. 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." Rohlfing says Idaho farmers could meet a growing demand for fresh tomatoes, fresh corn and green beans, onions, lettuce and the basic things that people eat every day. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott