Entrepreneurship Program Teaches the Business of Farming

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

For producers who spend a lot of time working at their businesses rather than on their businesses, the University of Saskatchewan is offering a program that will help them to learn how to switch hats.

The Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program (AEP) is a week-long, intensive school open to producers of all kinds who want to learn about farm management, including how to successfully manage change, capital and risk. The 2008 session will mark the 10th anniversary of the program.

Program Co-ordinator Pat Englund says the initiative addresses a wide variety of agribusiness issues and questions, including content suggested by producers.

"The content is largely based on business planning, financial planning, marketing, finance and accounting, and different farm management issues," Englund said. "There's an Aboriginal dimension, too, as well as an agribusiness simulation where participants break into groups and make decisions based on a devised situation."

This year's program will also include sessions on two very popular topics - personal financial planning and farm succession planning.

With the AEP, you never know who your classmates might be. Englund says a diverse collection of participants make up the program each year.

"It really appeals to a wide variety of people - first and foremost, producers. We've had them from all three Prairie provinces," she noted. "Last year, we saw some people from the Canadian Wheat Board, Ducks Unlimited and Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, as well as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. We also saw people from credit unions and banks, as well as agribusiness consultants, lenders, entrepreneurs, economic development professionals, venture capitalists and manufacturers."

The AEP features four instructors from the professorial staff at the University of Saskatchewan. Two professors from the College of Agriculture and Bioresources and two from the Edwards School of Business will each teach portions of the program.

The 2008 AEP session has room for approximately 40 participants. It runs from January 20 to 26 in Saskatoon. More information will soon be posted on the program's website at http://agribusiness.usask.ca/.

Tuition for the program is $1,250 for producers and $1,500 for non-producers. However, producers interested in attending can apply for sponsorship funding through a program offered by the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan (ACS), formally the Saskatchewan Council for Community Development.

"There's an application form on our website, at http://www.agcouncil.ca/," said Bev Magill, a project officer with ACS. "We like to pick a variety of folks with different experiences, coming from different backgrounds, producing different crops, or maybe they're doing something different on their farm altogether."

The ACS sponsorship is $1,000 and can be used toward tuition, travel, accommodations or any other expenses that producers taking the AEP may incur.

If you are interested in applying for sponsorship, Magill says completed applications must reach her office by January 14, 2008. Those who are already receiving funding from the Canadian Agricultural Skills Service (CASS) to take the program will not be eligible for ACS sponsorship.

For more information, contact:
Pat Englund, Program Co-ordinator
Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program
Phone: (306) 665-1678

Bev Magill, Project Officer
Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan
Phone: (306) 975-8928
E-mail: magillb@agcouncil.ca
Website: http://www.agcouncil.ca/