Upstart University Courses
We’ve organized the courses from the top-down (lowest to highest numbers) in order of difficulty and logical progression for your business. Any courses without a course number are appropriate to take any time as needed or desired. Enjoy!
Want to know which courses YOU should take and when? Take this quiz and get a customized learning plan!
Upstart University Orientation
1000: Goals & Action Planning for Your Upstart Farm
To get started, let's assess your farm goals, analyze your current position, and organize an official timeline to keep things moving forward. By the end of this course, you'll have an action plan and mission statement!
1010: Hydroponic and Aquaponic Crops
By the end of this course, you'll have a good understanding of the different crop choices you have available to you as a hydroponic or aquaponic farmer and how to grow them successfully.
1011: Growing & Selling Microgreens
If you're a first time grower looking to develop your "green thumb" while starting to build a profitable basis for you farm, this course is for you! Microgreens are easy and cheap to grow, are saleable for a premium, and have incredible margins. In this course, you'll learn how to approach, grow, and sell microgreens successfully.
1020: The Four Markets
Upstart Farmers primarily serve four markets: Farmers' Markets, CSAs, Restaurants, and Grocery Stores. In this course, learn the benefits, challenges, and success strategies of each.
1021: Social Media Marketing for Farmers
In this course, learn the most effective secrets for using strategic social media marketing to promote your farm, conducting market research, and advertising your farm on a small budget.
1022: Farmers’ Market Success
In this course, you'll learn the steps of getting accepted into a competitive farmers' market and then how to make a good, lasting impression once you’re in. This includes how to impress not only all of the customers at the market, but also your market manager and even your fellow vendors.
1030: Choosing Your Production Method
In this course, you will learn about DWC, NFT, media beds, Bato buckets, aeroponics and vertical production including how each works and which are right for your farm.
1031: Aquaponic DWC: Design & Economics
Learn how to create a basic conceptual design for an aquaponic farm, layout fish tanks, filtration, and growing systems, determine plant and fish production, estimate farm revenue and expenses, and more.
1032: Bato Buckets & Vine Crop Production
Bato buckets are a popular hydroponic system for growing vining crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. Whether they're your stand-alone growing method, or a supplementary system, they make a great addition to any farm.
1033: Understanding ZipGrow
Vertical growing is increasingly becoming a prominent hydroponic production method in urban, indoor and greenhouse environments. This course is for anyone looking to understand ZipGrow vertical growing technology,
1039: Market Research for Farmers
Before writing your business plan, pulling money out of savings, or even trying to get an investor, you must determine if your business idea is feasible through market research. Learn how to conduct market research as a farmer in this course.
1040: Intro to Business Planning
When you're looking to start an Upstart Farm, a business plan is essential. This course will walk you through the 6 key sections of a business plan and how to research and write each.
1050: Funding Your Farm
In this course, you will organize prerequisite documents for funding, explore options to organically scale or self-fund your business, learn the basics of crowdfunding, discover USDA microloans for farmers, and identify potential grant opportunities for your farm.
1055: Sales for Farmers
Most people don't get into farming to become a salesperson. But, when it comes down to it, part of your role as a farmer is to sell. Being a good salesperson is actually easier than you think, and it can be one of the keys to making your business a success. And we’re going to show you how.
1060: Farm Compliance and Food Safety
If you're selling your produce, odds are that you'll need to understand Food Safety/HACCP, sanitation procedures, compliance, and Food Defense before many markets accept you. Get the info you need in this course.
1070: Farm Insurance: Finding the Right Policy
In this webinar course, we’re going to help you navigate farm insurance and understand how to get the right policy for your modern farm.
1090: Humidity Management: Tools & Tech for Indoor Growers
Humidity is a big problem for indoor growers. In this course, you'll learn what humidity is, how it affects your plants, and how to control it properly.
1091: HVAC Design for Indoor Growers
This course will introduce HVAC design concepts and systems used for managing the climate of an indoor growing operation, including information on systems, sizing, designs, costs, and more.
1092: Energy Efficient Heating & Cooling for Greenhouses
Wondering how to heat or cool a greenhouse effectively, in a way that is sustainable and energy-efficient. If so, you're in the right place.
1099: Lighting for Upstart Farmers
Light and lighting is hugely important for planning your vertical farm. Learn the fundamentals of lighting for Upstart Farmers in this course.
2000: Seeds & Seedlings
Need help with seed starting? In this course, learn everything from seed anatomy, sourcing, and storage, to optimal growth practices, storage, and transplantation for seedlings.
2010: Insect Pest Management
Understanding how to properly manage insect pest problems on your farm will help you be successful and profitable. In this course, learn insect ecology, management and applications.
2020: Plant Pathology for Upstart Farmers
This course will explain how pathogens function in an ecology, what pathogens are and what makes one different from another, what they do in your farm, control methods, and some common pathogens and their controls.
2030: Intro to Hydroponics
Looking to run a hydroponic system? This course will give you a full walkthrough of everything you need to know to get started and be successful including system and nutrient management, crop management, plumbing and layouts, and more.
2040: Hydroponic Nutrients & Fertilizers
Properly understanding how nutrients and fertilizers work in a hydroponic system, as well as how to mix and manage them, is vital to your farm's success. This course provides a variety of visual explanations and demonstrations of hydroponic nutrients and fertilizers to help you master this important concept.
2050: Foundations of Aquaponics
Looking to start an aquaponic farm? This course provides over 12 hours of in-depth information on how to start and run an aquaponic system successfully. Appropriate for all experience levels!
Intro to Aquaponics – Mini Course
This course focuses on how things work in aquaponic systems, why they work that way, and what this means for your decision to go with hydroponics or aquaponics.
Aquaponic System Design – Mini Course
The Aquaponic System Design Course exists to give people the theoretical, scientific and practical basis for designing, starting and managing aquaponic systems of all sizes.
Hydroponic Substrate Selection – Mini Course
Hydroponic medium & substrate selection is one of the most important grower decisions! Learn which plugs, media, and other substrates are right for you in this course.
The Farm to Food Truck Model – Mini Course
Starting out small? Want to have a successful farming business, but maintain flexibility? Looking for a creative way to serve your market? Then the farm to food truck model might be for you. By the end of this online course, you'll know whether or not farm to food truck is a good business model for your personal and business goals and your market, and how to get started and succeed with it.
Greenhouses for Small Farmers – Mini Course
A greenhouse can be a rather intimidating investment - not just because cost, but also because it involves a lot of decision making which can impact your ability to grow crops efficiently. In this course, we'll answer your most urgent questions and help simplify the process.
LED Lighting for Indoor Farmers – Mini Course
Whether you're growing indoors or just providing supplemental lighting for the plants in your greenhouse, LED lighting should be on your radar. Get the info you need in this course.
Law for Upstart Farmers – Part 1: Intro to Organics – Mini Course
In this course, we'll focus on the relevant laws surrounding organic production in the United States, including labeling, pros and cons, practices and issues facing organic producers, and more.
Law for Upstart Farmers – Part 2: Basic Legal Research Skills – Mini Course
This course will outline a strategy for conducting your own legal research, discuss the resources you'll need and how to access them, and how to apply them.
Law for Upstart Farmers – Part 3: Intro Food Labeling & Weighing – Mini Course
Proper labeling and weighing of produce is a regulatory area that every Upstart Farmer will encounter. Learn the proper techniques & methods in this course.
Crowdfunding Campaign Success – Mini Course
This webinar course dives deep into the most important elements for having a successful campaign including things like how to authentically earn community support, what gifts to give, how to master your social and email promotions, and even how to turn your campaign success into long-term sales.
Organic Hydroponic Advocacy – Mini Course
In this course, we'll discuss the organic industry and markets, and the debate of hydroponics organics. We'll look at the answers that policy makers have created to the containerized organic agriculture question and how that affects real farmers.
SketchUp Basics – Mini Course
Green Walls for Restaurants – Mini Course
In this mini course, guest lecturer Teryl Chapel of City Planet Farms, gives insight into how to contract green walls for restaurants.
Upstart University Courses: Detailed View
We’ve organized the courses from the top-down (lowest to highest numbers) in order of difficulty and logical progression for your business. Any courses without a course number are appropriate to take any time as needed or desired. Enjoy!
Want to know which courses YOU should take and when? Take this quiz and get a customized learning plan!
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1000 Level Courses
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2000 Level Courses
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Mini Courses
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UPSTART U COURSES
We’ve organized the courses from the top-down (lowest to highest numbers) in order of difficulty and logical progression for your business. Any courses without a course number are appropriate to take any time as needed or desired. Enjoy!
Want to know which courses YOU should take and when? Take this quiz and get a customized learning plan!
Upstart University Orientation
1000: Goals & Action Planning for Your Upstart Farm
To get started, let's assess your farm goals, analyze your current position, and organize an official timeline to keep things moving forward. By the end of this course, you'll have an action plan and mission statement!
1010: Hydroponic and Aquaponic Crops
By the end of this course, you'll have a good understanding of the different crop choices you have available to you as a hydroponic or aquaponic farmer and how to grow them successfully.
1011: Growing & Selling Microgreens
If you're a first time grower looking to develop your "green thumb" while starting to build a profitable basis for you farm, this course is for you! Microgreens are easy and cheap to grow, are saleable for a premium, and have incredible margins. In this course, you'll learn how to approach, grow, and sell microgreens successfully.
1020: The Four Markets
Upstart Farmers primarily serve four markets: Farmers' Markets, CSAs, Restaurants, and Grocery Stores. In this course, learn the benefits, challenges, and success strategies of each.
1021: Social Media Marketing for Farmers
In this course, learn the most effective secrets for using strategic social media marketing to promote your farm, conducting market research, and advertising your farm on a small budget.
1022: Farmers’ Market Success
In this course, you'll learn the steps of getting accepted into a competitive farmers' market and then how to make a good, lasting impression once you’re in. This includes how to impress not only all of the customers at the market, but also your market manager and even your fellow vendors.
1030: Choosing Your Production Method
In this course, you will learn about DWC, NFT, media beds, Bato buckets, aeroponics and vertical production including how each works and which are right for your farm.
1031: Aquaponic DWC: Design & Economics
Learn how to create a basic conceptual design for an aquaponic farm, layout fish tanks, filtration, and growing systems, determine plant and fish production, estimate farm revenue and expenses, and more.
1032: Bato Buckets & Vine Crop Production
Bato buckets are a popular hydroponic system for growing vining crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. Whether they're your stand-alone growing method, or a supplementary system, they make a great addition to any farm.
1033: Understanding ZipGrow
Vertical growing is increasingly becoming a prominent hydroponic production method in urban, indoor and greenhouse environments. This course is for anyone looking to understand ZipGrow vertical growing technology,
1039: Market Research for Farmers
Before writing your business plan, pulling money out of savings, or even trying to get an investor, you must determine if your business idea is feasible through market research. Learn how to conduct market research as a farmer in this course.
1040: Intro to Business Planning
When you're looking to start an Upstart Farm, a business plan is essential. This course will walk you through the 6 key sections of a business plan and how to research and write each.
1050: Funding Your Farm
In this course, you will organize prerequisite documents for funding, explore options to organically scale or self-fund your business, learn the basics of crowdfunding, discover USDA microloans for farmers, and identify potential grant opportunities for your farm.
1055: Sales for Farmers
Most people don't get into farming to become a salesperson. But, when it comes down to it, part of your role as a farmer is to sell. Being a good salesperson is actually easier than you think, and it can be one of the keys to making your business a success. And we’re going to show you how.
1060: Farm Compliance and Food Safety
If you're selling your produce, odds are that you'll need to understand Food Safety/HACCP, sanitation procedures, compliance, and Food Defense before many markets accept you. Get the info you need in this course.
1070: Farm Insurance: Finding the Right Policy
In this webinar course, we’re going to help you navigate farm insurance and understand how to get the right policy for your modern farm.
1090: Humidity Management: Tools & Tech for Indoor Growers
Humidity is a big problem for indoor growers. In this course, you'll learn what humidity is, how it affects your plants, and how to control it properly.
1091: HVAC Design for Indoor Growers
This course will introduce HVAC design concepts and systems used for managing the climate of an indoor growing operation, including information on systems, sizing, designs, costs, and more.
1092: Energy Efficient Heating & Cooling for Greenhouses
Wondering how to heat or cool a greenhouse effectively, in a way that is sustainable and energy-efficient. If so, you're in the right place.
1099: Lighting for Upstart Farmers
Light and lighting is hugely important for planning your vertical farm. Learn the fundamentals of lighting for Upstart Farmers in this course.
2000: Seeds & Seedlings
Need help with seed starting? In this course, learn everything from seed anatomy, sourcing, and storage, to optimal growth practices, storage, and transplantation for seedlings.
2010: Insect Pest Management
Understanding how to properly manage insect pest problems on your farm will help you be successful and profitable. In this course, learn insect ecology, management and applications.
2020: Plant Pathology for Upstart Farmers
This course will explain how pathogens function in an ecology, what pathogens are and what makes one different from another, what they do in your farm, control methods, and some common pathogens and their controls.
2030: Intro to Hydroponics
Looking to run a hydroponic system? This course will give you a full walkthrough of everything you need to know to get started and be successful including system and nutrient management, crop management, plumbing and layouts, and more.
2040: Hydroponic Nutrients & Fertilizers
Properly understanding how nutrients and fertilizers work in a hydroponic system, as well as how to mix and manage them, is vital to your farm's success. This course provides a variety of visual explanations and demonstrations of hydroponic nutrients and fertilizers to help you master this important concept.
2050: Foundations of Aquaponics
Looking to start an aquaponic farm? This course provides over 12 hours of in-depth information on how to start and run an aquaponic system successfully. Appropriate for all experience levels!
Intro to Aquaponics – Mini Course
This course focuses on how things work in aquaponic systems, why they work that way, and what this means for your decision to go with hydroponics or aquaponics.
Aquaponic System Design – Mini Course
The Aquaponic System Design Course exists to give people the theoretical, scientific and practical basis for designing, starting and managing aquaponic systems of all sizes.
Hydroponic Substrate Selection – Mini Course
Hydroponic medium & substrate selection is one of the most important grower decisions! Learn which plugs, media, and other substrates are right for you in this course.
The Farm to Food Truck Model – Mini Course
Starting out small? Want to have a successful farming business, but maintain flexibility? Looking for a creative way to serve your market? Then the farm to food truck model might be for you. By the end of this online course, you'll know whether or not farm to food truck is a good business model for your personal and business goals and your market, and how to get started and succeed with it.
Greenhouses for Small Farmers – Mini Course
A greenhouse can be a rather intimidating investment - not just because cost, but also because it involves a lot of decision making which can impact your ability to grow crops efficiently. In this course, we'll answer your most urgent questions and help simplify the process.
LED Lighting for Indoor Farmers – Mini Course
Whether you're growing indoors or just providing supplemental lighting for the plants in your greenhouse, LED lighting should be on your radar. Get the info you need in this course.
Law for Upstart Farmers – Part 1: Intro to Organics – Mini Course
In this course, we'll focus on the relevant laws surrounding organic production in the United States, including labeling, pros and cons, practices and issues facing organic producers, and more.
Law for Upstart Farmers – Part 2: Basic Legal Research Skills – Mini Course
This course will outline a strategy for conducting your own legal research, discuss the resources you'll need and how to access them, and how to apply them.
Law for Upstart Farmers – Part 3: Intro Food Labeling & Weighing – Mini Course
Proper labeling and weighing of produce is a regulatory area that every Upstart Farmer will encounter. Learn the proper techniques & methods in this course.
Crowdfunding Campaign Success – Mini Course
This webinar course dives deep into the most important elements for having a successful campaign including things like how to authentically earn community support, what gifts to give, how to master your social and email promotions, and even how to turn your campaign success into long-term sales.
Organic Hydroponic Advocacy – Mini Course
In this course, we'll discuss the organic industry and markets, and the debate of hydroponics organics. We'll look at the answers that policy makers have created to the containerized organic agriculture question and how that affects real farmers.
SketchUp Basics – Mini Course
Green Walls for Restaurants – Mini Course
In this mini course, guest lecturer Teryl Chapel of City Planet Farms, gives insight into how to contract green walls for restaurants.