Applications for the 2026 Organic Farmer Training Program are now open!
August 24, 2025 - February 22, 2026 Scholarship application deadline is November 15. Applications for Detroit encouraged by November 15. Applications accepted until the cohort is full.
Contact: Katie Brandt at oftp@msu.edu or her cell 616-885-7776
Apply for the 2026 Organic Farmer Training Program!
- OFTP application form
- Your resume or CV
- 2 letters of recommendation (employers, colleagues, farmers you’ve worked or volunteered for, farm customers, etc)
- Visit the Farm or Meet online (contact us to schedule a time)
- OPTIONAL - Scholarship application and financial need form for one of the two OFTP scholarship:
- Detroit Farmers Scholarship for farmers from Detroit/Hamtramck/Highland Park
- Transition to Organic Scholarship for farmers committed to transitioning their farm to organic
Email scans/photos of documents & questions to oftp@msu.edu
About the 2026 MSU Organic Farmer Training Program:
The MSU Organic Farmer Training Program will have 3 hands-on learning sites for 2026! The OFTP will have a hybrid format with:
- 5 Monday field trips + 1 weekend for field trip to visit 20+ sustainable farms together with both groups
- 14 days for interactive online learning together with both groups
- 5 days for hands-on learning as a full group on farms in Detroit, East Lansing and Grand Rapids
- Choose your learning site for the remaining 8 days:
- Keep Growing Detroit
- MSU Student Organic Farm in East Lansing
- New City Farm in Grand Rapids
New farmers learn real hands-on farm skills while planning for a farm that fits their values, goals, skills, land and markets. Check out the full schedule to see how the OFTP can help you make your farm dreams a reality. This experience is defined by its learning community of aspiring and beginning farmers, farmworkers, homesteaders, educational gardeners and OFTP instructors who all support each other in learning skills for farming, business planning and creating positive community change. It worked for 2019 graduate Heather Fuson, who says “Before OFTP I had a vision, but when I left I had a plan.”
We are now accepting applications for the Detroit, East Lansing and Grand Rapids learning sites! The Detroit site typically fills soon after the scholarship deadline on November 15. Applications for other sites are accepted on a rolling basis until early February or when the cohort is full.
The 2026 OFTP takes place on Mondays from 9:30am-4:30pm from February 23 to November 9 (NO CLASS Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Labor Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day) There is one weekend trip to Chicago (Sunday through Tuesday, July 19 to 21. You can see the proposed schedule HERE .
How much does the program cost?
Program fees for 2026 are $3,900 plus the cost of books and materials (~$200).
What are the scholarship options?
- Detroit Farmer Scholarship for people farming, gardening or living in Detroit, Hamtramck or Highland Park
- Scholarship application for farmers from Detroit/Hamtramck/Highland Park
- Financial need form for farmers from Detroit/Hamtramck/Highland Park
- Transition to Organic Scholarship for farmers committed to pursuing organic certification, who are also TOPP mentees or are willing to sign up for the mentorship program
- Greenstone Cultivate Growth Grant – $500/$1,000 grants for beginning farmers who want to attend OFTP, conferences, etc. or get professional services. It is $500 for anyone or $1,000 for Greenstone customers/members. The application is simple, they tend to fund most who apply and then they write an article about you and your farm if you're funded.
- Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund - Up to $5,000 for farm equipment, supplies or education - https://farmvetco.org/fvfellowship/
- National Young Farmers Coalition Young Farmer Grants for farm or education $5,000 https://www.youngfarmers.org/youngfarmergrants/
- Michigan SARE Travel Scholarships$500 for travel to in-state and out-of-state conferences and classes https://www.canr.msu.edu/misare/michigan-sare-travel-scholarship
- Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program (OTECP) - up to $200 in USDA assistance for educational programs for certified organic farmers or farmers transitioning to organic – This USDA assistance should be available for anyone who qualifies
- CCOF Future Organic Farmer Grant - $5,000 for Vocational and Higher Ed Students – apply between mid-March and mid-April. Very competitive.
- American Farmland Trust Brighter Future Fund may fund the OFTP if you can show that it will help your farm to: 1) Improve farm viability; 2) Access, transfer, or permanently protect farmland; or 3) Adopt regenerative agricultural practices
How do I pay for the OFTP?
- Card payments: https://commerce.cashnet.com/msu_3843?&itemcode=3843-oftp
- Cash
- Check
- Americorps Education Awards
- Most 529 plans
- Some MET plans
- Michigan Works! PATH program (unemployment training)
- Please ask about other payment options
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