By Frank Giles
The Executive Farm Management program, offered by North Carolina (N.C.) State Extension, Clemson Cooperative Extension, East Carolina University College of Business and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, is set to begin on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
Blake Brown, an Extension economist with N.C. State, said there’s still time to sign up for the program. Interested growers should act fast, because only a few slots remain open.
“The program focuses on business management for large farms,” Brown said. “It is a nine and half day program and it is done in three, three-day sessions. We have had farms from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida to participate in the program with more than 100 alumni now.
“The program focuses on three core issues: strategic planning, financial management and human resources management. We do this in the context of farming and even have a case study that will look a lot like the farms that participate in the program. The farmers will work on the case-study farm as they learn some of these concepts and develop a business plan for that case-study farm. It is a very interactive program. The growers work in teams and apply the skills as they learn them. We are very proud of the program and have had a number of large farms that have gone through the training. Those farms are now sending additional team members back through the program, so we really like to see that.”
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