Neutral fermions present new opportunities for testing models of many-body quantum systems, realizing precision atom interferometry, producing ultra-cold molecules, and investigating fundamental forces. However, since they were first observed, quantum degenerate Fermi gases (DFGs) have continued to be challenging to produce, and have been realized in only a handful of laboratories^,,,,,,,,. In this letter, we report the production of a DFG using a simple apparatus based on a microfabricated magnetic trap. Similar approaches applied to Bose–Einstein condensation of ⁸⁷Rb (refs ,) have accelerated evaporative cooling and eliminated the need for multiple vacuum chambers. We demonstrate sympathetic cooling for the first time in a microtrap, and cool ⁴⁰K to Fermi degeneracy in just six seconds—faster than has been possible in conventional magnetic traps. To understand our sympathetic cooling trajectory, we measure the temperature dependence of the ⁴⁰ K–⁸⁷Rb cross-section and observe its Ramsauer–Townsend reduction.