Small Farm Boot Camp is a North Carolina Cooperative Extension Program developed by the Growing Farm Capacity Workgroup within the Local Food Program Team. Its goal is to provide a structured curriculum coupled with activities such as farm visits, live demonstrations, and in-person instruction to small-scale and beginning farmers.

Supporting small-scale and new and beginning farmers is essential to supporting our local food system in North Carolina. According to the 2022 Ag Census, there were nearly 23,000 new and beginning farmers in North Carolina alone. We have also seen growth in the value of direct to consumer sales and food sold directly to retail markets, institutions, and food hubs for locally or regionally branded products.

Extension Agents developed the idea for a program focusing on farm production and handling, developing direct to consumer, wholesale, and retail market channels, and value-added and processing for small-scale and new and beginning farmers based on the need they saw in their own communities and discussed with agents across the state. From these conversations, specific topics of need were identified and confirmed with agents and specialists. Agents and specialists collaborated to develop the modules that make up the Small Farm Bootcamp curriculum.

The goal of Small Farm Boot Camp is to provide resources to small-scale farmers and producers who are beginning a business. The curriculum also supports Extension Agents who can teach the training modules by providing resources and a packaged curriculum to use. The curriculum is focused primarily on production and was designed to supplement the NC Farm School. It currently includes three curriculum tracks/focuses with 13 modules total, which are outlined in the visual below:

   Get Engaged With Small Farm Boot Camp