New Extension educator offers help to small farms, local food projects

Sarah Farley joined the University of Illinois Extension-Lake and McHenry County Aug. 17 She serves as the Local Food Systems and Small Farms Extension Educator.

In her role, she works to develop and deliver research-based programs to growers, collaborate with community partners, and extend University resources to meet the needs of those involved in the local food system.

Farley comes to the University of Illinois Extension with a myriad professional experiences including livestock and crop production, sales and marketing, agriculture entrepreneurship, risk management, positive youth development, and farm financial management.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Sarah Farley earned a B.S. in Animal Sciences, Agribusiness Management at Penn State University and a M.S. in Agriculture and Life Sciences from Virginia Tech.

Farley encourages individuals to contact her with questions related to their small farm enterprise or food system project. She can be reached by email at sfarley@illinois.edu or by phone at (847) 223-8627 (Lake County) or (815) 338-3737 (McHenry County).

For information on the Extension, visit extension.illinois.edu/lm or follow www.facebook.com/UIExtension.