Exploring Your Farm Dream

Start Your Journey, Grow Your Dream

A reflective, confidence-building introduction to agriculture designed for adults exploring what’s next.

If you’ve been imagining a life connected to the land, whether tending a homestead, raising livestock, growing vegetables, or contributing to your local food system, this course can help. Exploring Your Farm Dream gives you the space, structure, and guidance to discover what that path could look like for you.

This self-paced online course meets you right where you are: curious, motivated, and ready to take a thoughtful first step. Rather than pushing you toward an immediate farm or ranch investment, it helps you understand what fits your life, your resources, and your long-term goals. With support from Colorado State University Extension faculty and real stories from Colorado producers, you’ll build clarity, confidence, and a realistic sense of the opportunities ahead.

A Low-Pressure, High-Value Introduction to the World of Agriculture

This course is created specifically for adults who are new to agriculture, especially those considering a second career, planning for retirement, or seeking a more purposeful way to connect with their community and the land. Many participants arrive with a love of nutritious food, a passion for sustainability, or a growing interest in homesteading. What they often need is guidance, reflection, and a trusted resource to help them decide whether agriculture is the right next chapter.

Through ten engaging modules, you’ll explore:

• What motivates your interest in farming or ranching
• How different scales of agriculture, from backyard production to commercial operations, match your lifestyle
• The financial, environmental, and personal considerations that shape readiness
• The networks, resources, and opportunities available across Colorado’s food system

The course is flexible, supportive, and intentionally designed to help you explore while still gaining knowledge you can build on for years to come.

Learn From the Field, Take the First Step

Guidance rooted in Colorado realities

Agriculture looks different in the Mountain West. That’s why this course blends CSU Extension expertise with insights from Colorado producers representing a wide range of backgrounds, identities, and production styles. Their stories ground your learning in real experiences, from water access to market trends to community values.

Discover your place in the food system

Your contribution to agriculture doesn’t have to mean launching a large operation. Many find meaningful paths through community food work, volunteer roles, advocacy, small-scale production, or local entrepreneurship. This course helps you see the full range of possibilities.

Learn at your pace with support that lasts

Move through the content whenever it fits your schedule. Along the way, you’ll gain access to Colorado networks, professionals, and CSU Extension resources, keeping you connected to Colorado State University long after the final module.

Who This Course Is For

You’ll feel right at home here if you are:

• Interested in homesteading, sustainability, or local food production
• Looking for a meaningful community connection
• Curious about farming or ranching but unsure where to begin
• Exploring a second or late-career shift
• Retired or nearing retirement and seeking a purposeful new direction
• A Colorado resident ready to understand the realities of agriculture in your state

No experience is required—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

What You Can Do with What You Learn

Whether you plan to cultivate a small plot or aspire to a larger operation, you’ll walk away with clarity and direction. Past learners have used this course to pursue roles such as:

• Beginning farmer or rancher
• Micro-farm or homestead operator
• Direct-market vegetable producer
• Community agriculture program volunteer or coordinator
• Local food advocate or educator
• Agricultural worker or assistant manager
• Beginning livestock producer
• Local food entrepreneur

Others use it as a stepping stone into apprenticeships, specialized training, or certificate and degree programs.

Exploring Your Farm Dream gives you the tools to explore agriculture with purpose, grounding your curiosity in realistic goals and regionally relevant insight. When you’re ready to take that first step, we’ll walk alongside you, helping you understand where you fit in the larger food system and how your interests can take root.

Begin your journey today—and grow your dream with confidence.