Master Urban Farmer Training Program

A program for aspiring urban farmers

Mission

After completing this course, participants will understand how implementing systems and standardized production practices expands a farm's capacity to produce food. Participants will understand how implementing systems and standardized production practices expands a farm's capacity to produce food.

We recommend you have at least two years experience growing food prior to attending this program. If you are seeking beginning growing information like how to grow a tomato in a container, please consider one of our other trainings. Some good places to get started with basic growing information include our
online Horticulture resources
Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest and our online
Successful School and Community Garden webinar series. You may also be interested in our
Master Gardener Training. or other urban agriculture programs offered by our
Local Food Systems and Small Farms team.

Who should attend?

Entrepreneurs with two years farming experience who want to start or improve an intensive urban produce farm.

Growers interested in more intensive training programs, but not sure if they want to commit the time or the money.

Community food system leaders who want to refine their food production skill set in order to increase food security and/or develop a community food system project in their neighborhood.

Educators who want to bring food production systems knowledge back to their organization.

How is the course structured?

An online orientation session to meet your instructors and become familiar with our online classroom.
Live Zoom lectures once a week. Attendance at and participation in these lectures is expected.
Optional in-person field day(s) at SoSuCo, our demonstration and research farm in Matteson
Weekly homework assignments/quizzes are graded as complete/incomplete.
Dedication to course materials outside of class time is expected.

Who are the instructors?

Extension Educators Zack Grant and Kathryn Pereira are the primary instructors with guest lectures from regional and local topic experts. Local practicing urban farmers will share their real-world experiences and lessons learned following some lectures.

What topics are covered?*

Annual Vegetable Crop Planning, Recordkeeping and Evaluation
Urban Soils, Compost and Imported Growing Media
Community development using urban agriculture
Cover crops
Designing a vision and mission
Business Planning Basics
Farm finances for beginning farmers
Developing a Fertility Plan for the Urban Farm
Food safety
Grants and Funding Sources
Harvest and post-harvest handling
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Protected Culture: Greenhouses, High Tunnels, Low Tunnels and Transplants
Irrigation Systems
Crop and Market Decision Making
Tools and equipment
Transplant production
Season extension and protected culture growing
Site selection
Small farm marketing
Business Structures and Risk
Weed management

*Note: All topics may not be covered in depth every session. We do not cover aqua culture or hydroponics.

Questions?

The 2025 program is scheduled for 12 weeks from September 22 to December 8. It is delivered virtually, Mondays from 6 to 8 pm on Zoom. An optional field day is scheduled for Saturday September 27, 2025 from roughly 9:30 am - 12:30 pm (time subject to change). The cost for the 2025 program is $150, due at registration.

Applications for the 2025 cohort are live now through August 14, 2025

If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Batka at phone 217-300-8636.

Please sign up for our mailing list to stay updated about our urban agriculture programming and to receive our quarterly newsletter, The Urban Ag Connect.