Is starting an agricultural business right for you?

Whether your vision includes making goat cheese, selling cut flowers or growing rare tomato varieties, the Penn State Extension course, “Exploring the Small Farm Dream,” will give you the tools to start making that dream come true.

Participants will discuss current opportunities in small-scale agriculture, explore objectives, assess personal and financial resources, conduct preliminary market research and develop an action plan for pursuing their interests in food and farming.

If you are thinking about starting a farm, this course is designed for you. This includes people thinking about full-time farming, farming part-time while continuing other employment, changing careers to start a farm, and/or developing an existing but informal farming pastime into a more serious business activity.

The course will include creative class discussions and research that will help you assess your skills and resources.

It will also include qualified instructors and peer farm entrepreneurs to teach and share agricultural business experience.

The class is $150 per person or $200 for two farm business partners.

The course will run three Thursday evenings. All sessions are from 6 to 9 p.m.

• May 7, Session I: Self-Assessment and Researching the Farming Landscape

• May 14, Session II: Assessing Resource and Risk

• May 21, Session III: Decision-Making and Next Steps.

The class will be held at 165 Elm St. in Slippery Rock.

For more information or to register, visit http://extension.psu.edu/business/farm/events. Deadline to register is May 1.

This article was submitted by the Penn State Extension.