CORVALLIS, Ore. — Farmers and ranchers across Oregon and beyond have a new online tool to help them prepare for drought, extreme weather and other climate-related risks.
Growing Farms: Building Climate Resilience for Farmers and Ranchers is a self-paced online course offered through Oregon State University’s Professional and Continuing Education unit.
“Climate resilience looks different on every farm, and this course helps people figure out what it means for theirs.”
The course was developed by the OSU Center for Resilient Agriculture and Food Systems in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the OSU Extension Service Small Farms Program. It launched in October 2025.
Nate Stacey, assistant professor of practice and small farms Extension specialist who coordinates the Extension Small Farms Program, said the course is part of a broader Oregon State strategy to help producers adapt to ongoing challenges such as drought, water scarcity and extreme weather while strengthening economic stability.
“This work is about giving farmers practical tools they can use right now,” Stacey said. “Climate resilience looks different on every farm, and this course helps people figure out what it means for theirs.”
The course was created as part of a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program project focused on advancing farm viability through education, hands-on learning and peer networks.
A step-by-step approach to planning
The course guides participants through a structured planning process. It begins with an assessment of a farm or ranch and then moves into planning and preparedness.
The course includes four modules:
- Assessing Your Farm or Ranch for Climate Resilience
- Building Resilience, Part I
- Building Resilience, Part II
- Climate Change: Preparing for Natural Disasters
“The first module helps farmers assess their own property,” Stacey said. “They work through guided lessons and worksheets, and this helps them evaluate climate stresses — current and future — and identify vulnerable areas in their farm or ranch operations.”
From there, the middle modules focus on planning based on what participants learn about their own risks and needs.
“You’ve assessed where you’re at with your farm,” Stacey said. “Then the next modules are the planning of what you can do to prepare and build in resilience in your farm.”
Stacey said the final module on disaster preparedness helps producers think through how they would respond if something went wrong.
“That one is really thinking about if something really bad happens, how do you set yourself up to deal with that?” he said.
Participants evaluate their farm or ranch across seven areas: landscape, water, soil, crops, livestock, human health and financial health. The objective is for participants to walk away with a personalized Climate Resilience Action Plan.
Tools, examples and real-world experience
The format was designed for ease of use, so each module includes learning materials, assessment worksheets, resilience goals and supplemental climate resilience fact sheets. Short videos feature Oregon farmers sharing how they are adapting to climate challenges.
Stacey said the course is designed for producers who may not have time to travel for in-person training during busy seasons.
“I think what makes it appealing is that they don’t have to go somewhere,” Stacey said. “They can work through it at their own pace.”
Designed to be affordable — and revisited over time
The course costs $60 and provides 24 months of access, giving participants time to return to the materials as they refine plans over multiple seasons.
“It’s kind of a process,” Stacey said. “You do something one growing season and then do it again the next growing season and work your way through it.”
He said keeping the cost low was intentional.
“We’ve talked about keeping the fee low so we can provide the online course at a reasonable cost,” Stacey said.
Part of a broader education effort
Growing Farms is one component of a broader effort to support beginning farmers and ranchers as they move toward stable, profitable businesses.
The project paired online learning with hands-on field days at teaching farms, workshops on topics such as dry farming and irrigation scheduling, and farmer-led peer networks organized by geography, gender and production system.
Together, those efforts reached nearly 1,000 participants during the life of the project.
The online course also complements related business planning education, including updates to the Know Your Cost to Grow program, which helps farmers better understand production costs and financial decision-making.
Built for flexible use
Stacey said the course’s modular format also makes it useful beyond self-paced learning. The same materials can be used in hybrid settings, where educators or partners walk farmers through specific sections in workshops and help them apply the worksheets and fact sheets.
“The way we built it is that modular approach allows someone to teach it as a hybrid course,” Stacey said.
Members of the Small Farms team — Evie Smith, Maud Powell, Heidi Noordijk, Diane Choplin and Teagan Moran — as well as Audrey Comerford of the OSU Extension agritourism program and Shayan Ghajar and Lucas Nebert of the OSU organic agriculture team were instrumental in creating the course. Kristin Pool provided video production support, and David Cheney supported course production.
