Congrats to the graduates of the ‘16/’17 Field School! They are truly Out-standing in Their Fields! We will be celebrating their success with a graduation ceremony and covered dish dinner on Thursday August 10th at 6pm at Grand Oak Farm (2575 Hwy 81-North, Jonesborough, TN). Students will be presenting on the business plans and goals which they’ve been developing over the course of the Field School.
This past year, graduates attended 9 monthly workshops designed to give them a comprehensive overview of farming in Northeast Tennessee plus other workshop opportunities including Soil-to-$old and a Jean-Martin Fortier workshop in Johnson City. Each class is taught by multiple experts and ag professionals for a real-world, practical, perspective. Half of the classes were in the classroom focusing on business planning, finding markets for agricultural products, finances, value added products, and marketing strategies. The other half of the sessions were spent on farms across the region, talking with experienced farmers, touring farms and learning about raising fruits, vegetables, small livestock and agritourism opportunities. The Field School strives to give equal time to conventional and organic production methods, with an emphasis on where both practices can promote soil health and environmental sustainability.
More information on this year’s program is at http://www.arcd.org/field-school. Or to read all of our posts about the Field School see https://arcd.org/category/field-school/.
The ‘17/’18 Field School will begin again in November. The schedule of workshops and applications will be on the ARCD website in mid-September. Please check back for updates and more information at that time. If you have questions please email alexis@arcd.org, Field School Coordinator, or call us at 423-979-2581.