
Master Urban Farmer Training Program
A program for aspiring urban farmers
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.
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.
- 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.
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.
- 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.
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.


Zachary Grant
