Farmer Campus Online Course

Helping farmers and ranchers face a future of fire

Farmers Build Wildfire Resilience

 Self-led Online Course | Open Enrollment 

Prepare your farm and community for fire

Drawing on decades of training small-farmers amidst climate change, Farmer Campus in collaboration with Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), brings you an interactive self-led course  that will give you the toolkit needed to reduce the human, production, financial and legal risks from wildfires. You’ll access an engaging online curriculum combined with hands-on activities and a live network of fellow producers. Garner actionable solutions, deepen your understanding and leave with a practical Wildfire Resilience plan to help you, your farm and your community face a future of fire.

The unpredictability and sheer magnitude of fires can leave you feeling threatened and helpless.

The size, longevity and intensity of wildfires is rapidly increasing in the Western region, with record breaking fire seasons every year. This trend is expected to increase as the region gets warmer and drier due to climate change. As a result, agricultural producers are faced with severe property, crop, livestock, labor and market losses and uncertainty. This course addresses producers’ increasing need for resources, support systems and enlivening networks to build resilience for fire response, so you don’t have to face fires alone.

Key Topic Areas

Land Management for Fire Preparedness and Mitigation

Emergency Response, Preparing Your Home, Family and Livestock

Understanding Fire Ecology and Reading your Land

Community Preparedness and Organizing for Recovery

Insurance and Finances

Health and Food Safety: During and After Fire

By taking this course you will:

Assess your farm or ranch and community's unique risks to fires

Create and implement a Fire Resilience Plan to reduce fire related risk on your farm

Connect with experts and peers in-person and online to form strong regional prevention and response networks

Connect with a multigenerational network of farmers, educators and experts

Understand insurance programs and government assistance

Gain an overview of fire ecology and cultural burning

Now that I have taken this course, I feel less afraid of fire and more respectful of it.  I feel more confident on how to co-exist with it, how to prepare, how to recover, and how to work with the community.

Course Alumni 2020

How learning happens

Online Lessons

Starting learning without leaving your farm. Combines community-driven practical, and scientific knowledge in 9 online modules featuring videos, podcasts and activities.

Farmer Networks

Learn alongside farmer-to-farmer private forums, compare ideas and co-create solutions with fellow producers in fire prone regions.

Community Educators

All materials were made just for you and include experts from the field as well as stories from farmers who have overcome fire related disasters.

Resilience Plan

Assess your farm's vulnerabilities, risks and strengths to create an actionable plan to improve your farm, family, and community's preparedness.

Applied Activities

Each module includes an on-farm Applied Activity, helping you analyze and apply new principles and practices while reflecting how different concepts relate to your own farm and/or community.

Personalized

You set the pace to shape learning around your busy schedule. Offering video, podcasts, discussion forums, readings and multimedia, this course is designed for all learning styles.

Course FAQ

This course is now a “Self-Led” Course, so you’ll set your timeframe, workload and the pace. There will be occasional live workshops you can attend in person and online, but you can complete course content when it is most convenient for you. 

We have made special pre-recorded materials for each of the 9 modules, such as podcasts and videos, totaling no more than an hour of material. In addition, you’ll have hands-on Applied Activities that can be put in practice right away and combine to make your Resilience Plan.

A computer & high speed internet connection to watch videos; a farm or land suitable for doing the practical Applied Activities; self-motivation to structure your time and complete lessons. You must also have a strong interest and desire to practice fire resilient farming/ranching

Course materials are highly applicable for farmers, interns, apprentices, agricultural professionals, educators, students, and anyone with an interest in fire resilience in an agricultural context. 

While the content is accessible for many different learning backgrounds and styles, this course is currently tailored for those with a minimum of basic English reading and comprehension. 

Note: There is no scale requirement for your operation. Prior experience with fire resilient farming not required. Background in organic/sustainable farming and ranching also not required.

This course is free. All course materials are freely accessible for farmers and ranchers.

Non-farmers and those that are able are encouraged to submit a donation as this course is being subsidized intentionally for farmers. But no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

The course content is tailored for people currently farming or ranching in California and the West coast, but anyone regardless of region or profession are encouraged to join. 

So glad you asked! Click the “Enroll” button at the top to register for the course. This will take you to an application form.

You will then get a link to the Farmer Campus Online Learning Platform which houses our curriculum, network and classroom, where you’ll make a profile and then be taken to your course. 

If you’d like to get in touch, email <contact@farmercampus.com>. Please note we are part-time staff. Thank you for your patience with a response!

We look forward to learning with you.

Testimonials

I really like the community building in the course, where I got to meet lots of other farmers and ranchers. I realized my fears and feelings of being overwhelmed by the fires and what to do are quite common, and it’s okay to keep persevering from there. Thank you for this course!
Jeanne Yu
Fencing Pony
This course gave me a more refined understanding of how to assess degrees of danger and factors that contribute to it, kept the issue front and center in my mind and encouraged me to prioritize taking action. Wildfires are going to continue increasing, and the more knowledge we have, the better prepared we will be.
Starhawk
Golden Rabbit Ranch
A must-do course. We are well into making real progress with several resiliency challenges. The best time to have gained this knowledge and experience was a long time ago, the next best time is NOW.
Brandon Bredo
Hanzell Farm & Vineyard

Created in Community

Our Network

Enriched by contributions and resources from our network of farmers, ranchers, scientists, and community field experts across the country.

Farmers & Field Experts

With deep appreciation for contributions from the farming and ranching community, and for sharing your stories of disaster, community, and resilience.

Sponsors & Contributors

Made possible by generous support from our sponsors and contributing University Extensions, Academics, Nonprofits, Disaster Relief Agents and Professionals. 

Start Preparing for Wildfire Today

Join a cohort of farmers working to build fire resilience 

Let us know you're interested

Email us at contact@farmercampus.com
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award Numbers 2018-70027-28587, RMA21CPT0011602, and Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program G226-22-W8617. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.  Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, any reference to specific brands or types of products or services does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for those products or services.