Growing Ag CEOs program held statewide in 2013

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BROOKINGS — Like the chief executive officer of any corporation, an Ag CEO is a manager and visionary for their agricultural enterprise, says Heather Gessner, SDSU Extension livestock business management field specialist.

The Growing Ag CEOs program will be held statewide in 2013 with locations in Aberdeen, Watertown, Alcester, Winner, Eagle Butte and Belle Fourche.

SDSU Extension’s Growing Ag CEOs program focuses on teaching beginning farmers to use a systems approach to farm business planning. The program will be held on four to five consecutive evenings depending on the location and the topics presented during the sessions. Sessions run from 5:30 to 8 p.m., allowing those with an additional job to participate during the evening.

“Ag CEOs is a program geared toward beginning farmers,” said Gessner, a program organizer. “This group of producers is being charged with feeding 9 billion people by the year 2050. With the changes to agriculture during the past 20 to 40 years, their skill set needs to change in order to accomplish that goal and remain a viable and sustainable operation.”

To address these changes the general topics for the sessions include: farm vision, resource inventory and management (family, land, crops and livestock), and financial record creation, budgets development and analysis and production topics (personalized to the group).

More date and location information can be found online at www.igrow.org or by calling Heather Gessner, 605-782-3290; or Adele Harty, 605-394-1722; or by contacting an Extension regional center: Aberdeen, 605-626-2870; Lemmon, 605-374-4177; Mitchell, 605-995-7378; Pierre, 605-773-8120; Rapid City, 605-394-1722; Sioux Falls, 605-782-3290; Watertown, 605-882-5140; and Winner, 605-842-1267. For locations, visit iGrow.org.

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