Adult Education Programs – Iowa Farmers Union

NFU Women’s Conference

Held each January, the Women’s Conference offers an opportunity for Farmers Union women from around the country to meet, share their stories, hear from women leaders, attend educational workshops on farm business planning and management, and work together to develop skills and strategies for pursuing leadership opportunities.

The 2019 NFU Women’s Conference will be held on January 13-17th in San Diego, CA. Scholarships are available for participants.

Click here for more information about this year’s conference

NFU Beginning Farmers Institute

The NFU Beginning Farmers Institute provides an opportunity for beginning farmers and farm couples from around the country to network and develop their leadership and farm business management skills through a series of interactive educational sessions. The year-long BFI program includes three main in-person sessions:

a September session in Washington, DC that includes an opportunity to participate in the NFU Fall Legislative Fly-in;
a November session in Minneapolis that includes farm tours and an opportunity to tour and learn about local cooperatives; and
a March session that includes an opportunity to attend and participate in the National Farmers Union Annual Convention.

Check out NFU’s Beginning Farmer Forum for more information about the program and how to apply.

NFU Fall Legislative Fly-In

The annual NFU Fall Legislative Fly-In provides an opportunity for Farmers Union members from around the country to travel to Washington, DC and participate in grassroots lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. IFU leaders and members have the chance during this annual gathering to meet with members of the Iowa congressional delegation and their staff and talk about the challenges and opportunities facing family farms in Iowa.

IFU provides two scholarships each year to allow first-time participants to attend the Fall Legislative Fly-In at no personal cost.

IFU Educational Webinars

IFU offers educational webinars throughout the year for our members on a variety of topics related to policy and leadership development. To find out about future educational webinars hosted by IFU, check out our Events Calendar or sign up to receive IFU email updates. Click here to view broadcasts of past webinars.

IFU Educational Workshops

IFU sponsors educational workshops and field days each year on a wide variety of topics. Previously covered topics include:

farmland access & affordability
federal programs for beginning farmers
risk management considerations for beginning farmers
local foods marketing
food safety regulation
policy priorities for beginning farmers
Iowa’s strategy to reduce farm-based nitrogen & phosphorus pollution
risk management considerations for direct market farms

To hear about future educational workshops hosted by IFU, check out our Events Calendar page or sign up to receive IFU email updates.

Questions? Please contact [email protected]