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Area ag producers complete early-career beginning farmer program in Floyd County

Area ag producers complete early-career beginning farmer program in Floyd County
Participants who received a certificate recognizing their successful completion of the Expanding Farm Horizons: Early Career and Beginning Farmer Resources and Strategies program include (from left) Troy and Jill Stille, Bruce and Stephanie Koebrick, Matthew Stille, Cala and Patrick McGregor, Megan and Ben Rottinghaus, Barbara and Mike Henning. Submitted photo
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A group of area ag producers recently completed an early-career and beginning farmer program held at the Borlaug Learning Center on the ISU Research farm near Nashua.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach offered the program to help build the future in production agriculture by offering information about the ways to overcome barriers and design a more defined path to a career in production agriculture.

“Expanding Farm Horizons: Early Career and Beginning Farmer Resources and Strategies” was a two-session workshop designed to share resources, encourage networking, and inspire planning to establish a plan for expanding a life in farming.

Presenters at the seminar included Steve Ferguson of the Iowa Ag Development Division, who shared information about Iowa’s beginning farmer tax credit and loan participation programs. Julie Offerman, loan manager with the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, shared information about a variety of federal beginning farmer programs.

Nancy Brannaman, an associate with ISU’s Farm Financial Analysis program, spoke about the services available to help analyze an operation’s financial position and future plans, along with recommendations on how to work with ag lenders.

Melissa O’Rourke, attorney and ISU Extension Farm and Business Management field specialist, shared resources on accessing land, building the farm resume and family dynamics.

Similar programs are being held in other northeast Iowa counties.  Anyone interested in more information about future programs should contact their county ISU Extension office.

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