Are you a small farm landowner wondering what to do with your acreage? Are you interested in exploring options for land uses, but not sure where to turn or how to begin? Have you considered adding an agricultural or horticultural enterprise but you just aren’t sure what is required, from an equipment, labor, and/or management perspective?

Are you looking for someplace to get basic farm information? If you or someone you know answered yes to any of these questions, the Ohio State University extension Small Farm College program may be just what you are looking for.

Extension is offering a program targeted at the new and small farmer. The Ohio New and Small Farm College is an eight-week program that introduces new and even seasoned farmers to a wide variety of topics. The program will teach participants how to set goals, plan and budget and where to find resources available for them if they chose to start a small farming operation.

The courses will lay out how to manage financial and farm records. Extension educators will illustrate many different enterprises that can be profitable on land as small as one acre. The educators will show the benefits and pitfalls of each enterprise so the participants will be able to pick and chose what may work best for them and what suits their interests.

To round out the experience, a bus tour will go around area farms so participants can see firsthand how small-farm life works, and also make contacts of practicing farmers in the area.

The Small Farm College was originally conceived as a way to help southern Ohio’s tobacco farmers make the transition away from that crop as government subsidies were phased out. OSU extension educators soon realized such programming also could benefit rural landowners who own small acreage in the countryside.

Since 2005, past regional New and Small Farm Colleges have helped 693 individuals representing 522 farms from 52 Ohio counties improve the economic development of their small family-owned farms. This program can help small-farm landowners and farmers diversify their opportunities into successful new enterprises and new markets.

And, it can improve agricultural literacy among small-farm landowners not actively involved in agricultural production.

Many program participants don’t expect to make a living off the land, but do want to recoup something, said organizer Tony Nye of OSU extension in Clinton County. First-time farmers want interaction with their land to be productive.

“They like living in the country, getting their hands dirty,” Nye said. “That has been their motivation for buying land.”

The New and Small Farm College will be conducted at two locations this year. The first will be held in Greene County at the extension office, located at 100 Fairgrounds Road, Xenia, on Mondays beginning Feb. 2-March 23. Classes run from 6:30-9 p.m. each week. This class will be limited to the first 50 registrations.

The second college will be held in Delaware County at the Scioto Township Hall, 3737 Ostrander Road, Ostrander, on Thursdays beginning Feb. 12-April 2. Classes run from 6:3-9 p.m. each week. This class will also be limited to the first 50 registrants.

The cost of the course is $150 per person and $100 for an additional family member. Along with the vast resources and knowledge gained, participants will receive a notebook (per each $150 registration) of all resource materials, a soil test, refreshments and the bus tour. Registrations are now being accepted.

Individuals interested in the program may call the Greene County extension office at 937-372-9971 or the Delaware County office at 740-833-2030. Registration brochures for the program can be found online at http://greene.osu .edu  or http://delaware.osu.edu and are also available in area extension offices.

For further information on Small Farm College or small farm opportunities, contact Tony Nye, OSU Small Farm Program coordinator, at 937-382-0901 or nye.1@osu.edu or Brad Bergefurd at Bergefurd.1@osu.edu – or, call the OSU South Centers at 800-860-7232 or 740-289-2071, ext. 132.