Student Testimonials

"The skills I've gained created a strong base while starting my own farm business.  The experience really solidified my desire to take on farming as my life's work."
~Carolyn Leadley, '08

"The Organic Farmer Training Program is a phenomenal wealth of knowledge and skill education taught by ingenious and available individuals. The OFTP is also very affordable, one would be hard-pressed to find a better value in any field of education today."
~John Hanlon '10

" Michigan State's Organic Farmer Training Program gave me a foundation of knowledge that I was able to use immediately at my job working with gardeners in the Detroit Garden Resource Program."
~Leah Retherford '07

"It's hard to recognize the difference between my perception of agriculture and plants and ecosystems before the program started to now after its completed.  It's not until I talk with other farmer friends and family and see their eyes grow wide with amazement as I speak of Carbon-Nitrogen ratios or the effectiveness of crop rotation for disease and pest suppression that I am reminded of what an educational gift I was given."
~Jae Gerhart '10

"The OFTP was by far the most intensive, hands-on, and directed way for me to learn how to effectively grow food year round, feed the community, and understand how farming systems as a whole work."
~Emily Hannewald '09

"The small cohort size allowed for strong connections to develop among the students, and enabled the staff to always be ‘present’ when a student needed anything at all." ~Maggie Kantola '10