Michigan Sustainable Farm Mentors Evaluation Infographic

Can five hours change the path to success for a beginning farmer? Yes! Survey results from the first year of the Michigan Sustainable Farm Mentors program show that meeting with an experienced farmer mentor and a peer for just 5 hours over the course of a year improved the triple bottom line for 7 beginning farmers. Just 2 meetings had positive impacts for 6 aspiring farmer mentees. And the mentors were inspired by their conversations with the mentees. This document shares quotes from a survey and charrette. Changes in farmers' Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Awareness of topics related to farm financials, soils/environment and personal/community sustainability were overwhelmingly positive for beginning farmers. The focus for aspiring farmers was on land/credit access and building farm/business skills.