There are many excellent resources for beginning farmers. A very useful website for all sustainable farmers, beginners or otherwise, is ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas). This website contains lots of practical production and farming systems information.
 

The Minnesota Farm Opportunities website has extensive information about alternative or non-traditional crops, livestock, and farming systems.
 

It can be very helpful for a beginning farmer to network with experienced farmers. The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota is a farmer-run organization with twelve chapters around the state. These chapters sponsor field days and workshops where beginners can learn a lot from those who are already farming.  Also, the Minnesota Organic Farmers Information Exchange  (MOFIE) lists organic farmers who are willing to serve as mentors.
 

Be sure to check our MISA Calendar for field days and seminars offered by a variety of organizations. 
 

There are some classes available especially for beginning farmers. The Land Stewardship Project has the "Farm Beginnings" program; part of the program is matching prospective farmers with mentors. The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at the University of Wisconsin runs a School for Beginning Dairy Farmers and a School for Beginning Market Growers.
 

MISA has some publications that can be helpful. Resources for Beginning Farmers is just what it says -- great resources organized into sections such as goal-setting, business planning, farming knowledge, financing, and transitions.  The Goal Setting Handbook is a good document for anyone considering major changes such as beginning farming.  For more detailed business planning for a new enterprise, we have an excellent tool called Building a Sustainable Business.
 

Financial support is often an area of concern for beginning (as well as not-so-beginning) farmers. If you have a good business plan in hand, you can certainly approach a local banker about a loan.  Another option is Farm Credit Services, which is a system of financial cooperatives that specializes in mortgages for agricultural land, and short- and intermediate-term operating loans. Minnesota farmers can take advantage of a number of conservation programs that provide cost-share for various conservation activities, and sometimes payments for forgoing production on fragile lands or crucial habitat areas. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture also has some financing programs for farmers.