Farm Mentorship Training and Support Groups for Educators of Aspiring and Beginning Farmers

In May 2020, New Entry circulated the National Apprenticeship Annual Survey to the national listservs to collect information on apprenticeship training programs, mentor resources, and professional development training topics desired. We received 25 responses to the National survey, with 11 farmer respondents and 14 service providers responding.

Additionally, in mid-June 2020, we circulated a "topic of interest poll" to our national networks to elicit training and professional development topics for our national FIELD School to be held in November 2020.  We had 43 respondents with 10 service providers demonstrating interest in apprenticeship topics, 16 in incubator topics and 17 who selected both.  A key priority that surfaced in this poll was service providers asking for more training on diversity, equity, and inclusion and to address racial justice in beginning farmer training programs.  We did offer a session on Racial Equity at our National FIELD School which was the most well-attended of the 12 sessions we hosted at the conference (98 people attended the session). NOTE:  we partnered with National Farm Viability Conference to host a virtual FIELD School in October 2021, so our process for soliciting topics of interest was a bit different for this co-hosted event].

In 2022, we issued a "topic of interest" poll to inform our national FIELD School held in October 2022 in Seattle, WA and 41 service providers responded, with 24% representing apprenticeship training programs, 34% representing incubator farm programs, 10% University/Extension, 10% Commercial farms or ranches that training beginning farmers, and 22% other. The majority of service providers were interested in sessions that focused on skills and resource sharing, panel discussions (hearing from multiple organizations with ample Q&A), and facilitated open discussions.  Some of the challenges expressed that service providers hoped to address in the event included:  how to recruit, vet, and train effective farm mentors; how historically majority white organizations can transition to serve more diverse/BIPOC farmers; housing affordability for apprentices; land access for "graduates"; how to attract apprentices/employees and afford higher wages (low wages, minimal benefits, health insurance); evaluation after program completion, among other topics.  We hosted 3 days of training including a field trip to The Organic Farm School (an apprenticeship program on Whidbey Island) and an apprenticeship/mentor training "track" featuring 5 workshops (see full program here).  The 2022 FIELD School was attended by 82 participants.

In preparation for our 2021 University of Maryland Farm Mentorship Training Program, UMD circulated a needs assessment survey in August 2020 and received 16 responses from farmers who indicated willingness to attend a virtual training in 2021, to indicate days of week, times of day for the training, and to select which training topics were of most interest to participants.  The feedback from this survey informed development of the Maryland mentor training topics.

Other program partners were reluctant to circulate additional surveys to their farmers and colleagues during the spring/summer/fall of 2020 or 2021 to solicit more formal feedback on mentor professional development.  Due to COVID-19 and the many pivots and stresses that farmers (and service providers) were making it was determined that additional surveys may not be well received.  Program staff in ME, NY, and other partners felt that they could incorporate feedback and elicit mentor needs more "organically" through conversations and existing programming through their normal feedback sessions, focus groups, or other ongoing interaction with farm mentors rather than launch a formal survey.  Both Glynwood, Groundswell, and MOFGA completed individual mentor/farmer needs assessments and collaborators brainstromed shared questions to "norm" the input and feedback across programs.  This approach resulted in less ability to formally "count" the target number of "respondents" we anticipated receiving, but the project team is confident that the input and professional development topics that we have selected for the trainings are relevant, necessary, and are important to mentors.  We developed and administered pre-training surveys in Maryland (2020), Maine (2021), and New York (2022) to support content development for those trainings. 

Results from the 2021 Maine pre-assessment surveys for the 2022 trainings (responses of 93 out of over 350 registrants) indicated that 78% of respondents considered themselves a farm mentor, though the majority - 54% - had less than five years as a mentor; 29% had mentored between 6-10 years and 16% for over 10 years.  On a self-assessment rating scale, the skill areas that mentors had the most variation in feeling skilled or unskilled included:  helping mentees develop strategies to meet goals; working with mentees to set farming goals; negotiating a path to farm ownership or careers in agriculture; helping mentees network effectively; helping mentees balance work with professional life; understanding impact as a role model; and helping mentees acquire resources.  (120 = 27 + 93; *not clear if all 93 respondents in 2021 are farmers since this was not a question on pre-survey, so we will "count" them as farmers for reporting purposes).

Results from the 2022 New York pre-assessment surveys to prepare for the November 2022 trainings (18 responses out of 24 participants) indicated that 85% of the respondents considered themselves a farm mentor.  The majority - 71% - had less than five years experience as a mentor; 21% had mentored between 6-10 years and 7% for over 10 years.  On the self-assessment rating scale, the skill areas that mentors felt most confident/skilled in included:  active listening; establishing trusting relationships; estimating mentees level of knowledge; building mentees confidence; and acknowledging mentees contributions on the farm.  Areas mentors felt less skilled in included:  helping mentees acquire resources; helping mentees network effectively; negotiating a path to farm ownership or careers in agriculture; and working with mentees to set clear expectations of the mentor/employer relationship.

The project team (collaborators) and project advisors met monthly (second Tuesdays of the month at 3pm EST) since the project launched and continued to meet monthly during 2021, 2022, and intermittently in 2023 as we wrapped up the project.  Average monthly attendance at meetings had 8-10 participants. For the Project Advisory team, several were unable to engage regularly in the project due to COVID-19 constraints/overwhelm.  They were consulted individually to inform about project progress and several participated in the national FIELD Schools (2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023), attended the Mentor Training Toolkit launch in December 2020, participated in the UMD Mentor Trainings in January 2021 and MOFGA Trainings in January/February 2022, contributed outreach to recruit participants for the StoryMap project, and supported development and input to the Glynwood trainings held in November 2022.  We reached out to Advisors to help circulate the follow up evaluation survey in fall 2023. Four of the five proposed Advisory Team members are farmers and their time was limited, though several have been incorporated as speakers to the educational programs offered.

New Entry hosted a webinar on the new Mentor Training Toolkit on December 15, 2020.  Over 52 people registered for the webinar and received access to the recording; 26 attended the live webinar.  The educational resources were promoted at the November 2020, October 2021, October 2022, and October 2023 national FIELD Schools, and an announcement about the Toolkit was emailed to three New Entry listservs (AgALN, NIFTI, and Combined National Programs lists) in 2020 and during the UMD Mentor Trainings in January 2021 reaching an estimated additional 1,100 people, in addition to posting the resource on New Entry's social media accounts. The Toolkit was also emailed to the 350 registrants of the MOFGA Mentor Training/Employment Series, and shared with the 24 participants at the NY Glynwood Mentor Training.

In 2023, New Entry also hosted 12, 1-hour monthly networking sessions as part of the FIELD Network (Incubator and Apprenticeship training programs) and an overview of the Mentor Training resources and Toolkit was presented during each of the introductory sessions, reaching 389 service providers and farmers. (Note: total registrants for 12 networking sessions was 486 and total attendees across the sessions was 389. Attendance averaged 49%-86% between registration and actual attendance. The networking sessions also do not represent a "unique count" of service providers as some may have attended more than one networking session).

31 service providers attended the 2020 FIELD School sessions on Registering Apprenticeship and Mentorship Training topics. For our 2021 FIELD School, we hosted sessions as part of the overall National Farm Viability Conference virtually. It was more difficult to track attendance and participant demographics, but the conference was targeted to services providers and in the registration data, 27% (103/378) of participants that registered said they planned to participate in sessions that are part of the FIELD School track. 158/378 were undecided about this when they registered, so they may have participated. We earmarked at least 8 FIELD School sessions at the conference were largely focused on topics relevant to mentors and trainers. 82 service providers attended the 2022 FIELD School in Seattle, WA and a portion of these providers participated in the 5 apprenticeship/mentor training workshop track. Additional sessions at the FIELD School included break-out sessions with "incubators" and "apprenticeship training programs" discussing key successes and challenges and open space conversations that also included mentor training themes. Unfortunately, we did not track specific numbers of attendees at each of the workshop sessions. In 2023, New Entry hosted the 2023 FIELD School in Kansas City, MO which was attended by 97 service providers and a portion of these providers attended the 5+ apprenticeship/mentor training workshop tracks and engaged in a focused conversation (led by Julie Sullivan from Quivira Coalition's NAP program) on how apprenticeship and mentor programs could be improved and strengthened with additional professional development support.

New Entry also hosted a Mentor Training workshop at the NOFA 2021 Summer Conference on July 31, 2021.  This workshop reached 6 participants live and others who may have watched the recording virtually.  Concepts of mentorship and an introduction to the Mentor Toolkit was covered.

The Mentor Training webpage received 252 page views between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021; and an additional 433 page views between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022; and an additional 224 page views between January 1, 2023 and November 30, 2023.

University of Maryland issued a survey to mentors in the state to gain input as to a virtual training session in winter 2021 and identify the training topics that most interested them.  17 farmers responded to the survey to inform training topics for the January 2021 training event.

A pre-assessment survey was also issue to participants registering for the Maryland 2021 winter mentor training series and 74 of the 96 participants completed the pre-assessment survey which informed topic areas for the training sessions.

Results from the 2021 Maine pre-assessment surveys for the 2022 trainings captured input and desired training topics from 93 registrants for the training sessions.  Unfortunately, the pre-assessment survey did not capture the "role" of participants other than to inquire about mentorship experience, so it is unclear if these respondents are all farmers or service providers or a combination.  For purposes of reporting, we will "count" all the respondents as farmers.  Feedback and information on learning needs and assessments was shared with speakers/presenters for the January/February 2022 training sessions to support content development and address learning needs.

Glynwood issued a pre-assessment survey to the 24 registrants of the November 2022 Mentor training.  18 of the 24 completed questionnaire prior to the event to inform planning and participants were most interested in giving and receiving feedback and supporting mentees with resources.

The January 11 - 13, 2021 training was hosted virtually by University of Maryland and had a total of 96 registrants who completed registration forms on the website.  Workshops were held from 2 - 5pm each day over three days in an online format (Zoom) and attendance followed as such:  1/11 - 207 minutes duration with 116 participants; 1/12 - 199 minutes duration with 77 participants; and 1/13 - 198 minutes duration with 89 participants.  We will issued a pre-survey to registrants and 74 responded to the pre-survey.  We also issued a "pre-question survey" for presenters and had 42 responses.  A post-survey was issued to all attendees and we received 34 post-survey responses.  The workshop registration page, speakers, and agenda can be found at this website:  https://iaa.umd.edu/farm-mentorship-training.

A presentation with all of the outcomes and evaluation data for the Maryland training can also be found here.  Results of the survey indicate that participants increased their knowledge by 20%. Respondents reported a 27% increase in quality of mentoring as a result of the training;100% of respondents plan to make changes in their mentoring as a result of the training;100% of respondents said that attending the training was a valuable use of their time; and 88% of respondents are interested in further training opportunities.  Additionally, for the vast majority of participants (83.3%), this was their first time participating in a formal mentor training program.

A conference presentation on Mentor Training and Resources was offered a the NOFA Summer Conference on July 31, 2021.  A total of 6 farmers participated and gained skills on mentorship strategies, resources, and learned about the Mentor Training Toolkit for additional support.

Additional webinars have not been coordinated to follow up with specific content from the Maryland trainings to date, though feedback from those sessions informed development of the January 2022 Maine trainings which focused on farm labor management and workplace culture.  The MOFGA online trainings were presented as webinars and the portions of the sessions that were recorded were posted on the New Entry YouTube Apprenticeship Playlist/Channel.  To date, the recorded sessions from 2022 have achieved a total of 527 views on YouTube (Supporting an Inclusive Workplace Culture - 316 views; Supporting Learning and Empowering Leaders on Staff - 121 views; Centering Workers on Farms - 90 views). Both the Maryland and Maine trainings also informed development of the 3-day agenda for the NY/Glynwood in-person training held in November 2022. Portions of the Glynwood training were also video recorded, however it was determined by the presenters and Glynwood staff that they did not wish to publicly post the videos to YouTube for further viewing as the content was developed specifically for attendees, so unfortunately, this content is not publicly available.

Additionally, as noted above, the annual FIELD Schools also contributed to ongoing sharing of knowledge and topics presented during these trainings.  For purposes of reporting, we are counting all views of the MOFGA online recordings as "farmers."

During our monthly partner calls in 2022, we discussed developing more formal mentor network development tools with project partners.  Most of the partners (MOFGA, Glynwood, Quivira, UMaryland IIA, Stone Barns, Groundswell, and others) already have fairly established mentor networks.  Most of the partners did not feel like it made sense to formalize a broader regional network as their existing mentors were already tapped to participate in the requirements of the individual programs' mentor training expectations and required trainings.  For example, the MOFGA apprenticeship program supports 19 apprentice mentor farmers throughout Maine (2022). They support on average 45 beginning farmer apprentices a year. The mentors meet twice as a group- once at the beginning of the season and once to reflect on the season. MOFGA staff conduct one on one check ins with the mentors throughout the season. As participating host farmers, mentors are required to attend labor management series training to connect with one another and gain skills on topics such as communication, balancing learning and doing on the farm, and how to build an inclusive workplace.  Similarly, the Glynwood Center manages the New York Hudson Valley's Regional and Decentralized Apprenticeship program, so already has ongoing mentor training programming and requirements, which included offering the November 2022, 3-day mentor training supported through this project.

The existing Mentor Training Toolkit has an entire chapter (Chapter 1) devoted to "Building Mentor Training Networks" so the group determined that was sufficient in terms of capturing best practices to establish mentor networks if other new programs emerged in the region and this particular objective was not completed or pursued as a result of existing information on the topic.

Based on feedback from the Maryland Mentor Trainings held in January 2021 and from focus groups and input sessions from farm mentors held in Maine in Fall 2021, the focus of the Maine 2022 Mentor Trainings centered around farm labor management and workplace culture.  In January and February, 2022, our partner, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association hosted a virtual, 5-part farm mentor training and labor management series designed for farmers and farm mentors that employ workers or host apprentices. This series centered farm workers' stories and guided farm managers and mentor farmers through crucial aspects of managing and mentoring including communication, building inclusive workplace cultures, and empowering staff and trainees. A keynote presentation by Not Our Farm, a national farm worker visibility project, kicked off the series with a human resources training led by career farmers who spent many years working on farms. Registration was capped at 350 online/virtual attendees and we had 350 registrants.  The program agenda for this virtual training series covered the following specific topics (for detailed workshop descriptions see links below):

• January 10th, 2022 from 3 - 6 pm EST:  Centering Workers on Farms with Not Your Farm (125 participants). A keynote presentation by Not Our Farm, a national farm worker visibility project, kicked off the series with a human resources training led by career farmers who have spent many years working on farms that are not their own. At this workshop we discussed the absolute necessity of centering workers in all aspects of our farming operations. We approached this through the lens of human resources (interviews, onboarding, working, training) and by hearing conversations and insights from experienced career farmers who have spent many years working on farms not their own. Not Our Farm is a worker visibility and support project that seeks to amplify the voices and experiences of workers on farms not their own.
• January 24th, 2022 from 4 - 6 pm EST:  Supporting and Inclusive Workplace Culture with Rock Steady Farm (90 participants). Rock Steady Farm presented on their workplace culture, farm policies, care focused approach, and on how to build an inclusive workplace on your farm, especially for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ workers. There was also a panel of inspiring farmers from across the country who spoke on their best practices and lessons learned on farmer rights and workplace culture building.
• February 7th, 2022 from 4 - 6 pm EST:  On Farm Communication with UMaine Extension and Apple Creek Farm (this session was cancelled due to a presenter emergency).  The goal for this workshop was for UMaine Extension and Apple Creek Farm to present on improving on-farm communication. The session plan included: communication essentials, practicing skills during break-out groups and how to build a communication plan for your farm. 
• February 14th, 2022 from 4 - 6 pm EST:  Employee Retention Strategies with South Paw Farm (55 participants). South Paw Farm staff and crew in Freedom Maine shared their experiences of what keeps them coming back to work year after year. The farm workers and farm owner of South Paw covered power dynamics, communication, building shared respect and their culture around conflict. A farmer round table discussion followed. (this session was not recorded)
• February 28th, 2022 from 4 - 6 pm EST:  Supporting Learning and Empowering Leaders in your Staff with San Juan Ranch and Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming (50 participants). Julie Sullivan from San Juan Ranch and staff from Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming presented about supporting the self-directed learning of your crew and apprentices. They discussed balancing learning and doing while farming, the experiential learning cycle for adult learners, and how to build respect and investment in your worker to create a more supportive workplace.

In the MOFGA post-survey workshop evaluations (N=64), participants were asked to rank their skills in various areas before and after attending the workshop series. Skill areas were ranked from “Not at all skilled” (1) to “Extremely skilled” (5). On average across all areas, the average score increased from before to after by 0.5. Areas that increased the most included: “Working with mentees/farm workers to set clear expectations of the mentoring or employer relationship” and “Employing strategies to improve communication with mentees/farm workers.” When asked if they now identify as a farm mentor after attending the training, nearly every respondent said “yes.”  The majority of participants in the training series also reported the facilitators/speakers to be “Very effective” or “Effective.” Zero participants reported that the facilitators were ineffective.  The majority of participants had not participated in formal mentor training prior to this series. In fact, only about 25% reported they had received any mentor training. 90% of participants reported that attending the training was a valuable use of their time. 80% responded that they were either “very likely” or “likely” to recommend this training to a colleague.

Over 95% of survey respondents expressed interest in follow-up trainings or sessions. 80% of respondents reported that they made changes in their mentoring or labor management. Some of these changes included: “creating an employee handbook”, “changes in communication”, and “being more intentional about carving out time and space for career planning and goal setting with mentees.” Participants also reported an increased quality of mentoring following the training. Most attendees rated their skills as average before the training and after the training, the reported quality of mentoring was high.

During 2022, the planning team revisited the Maryland and Maine workshop evaluations, feedback from organizers, and post-survey results to inform planning for the New York November 2022 event.  Additional roundtable discussions that Glynwood held with their mentors also informed development of the November 2022 training in New York.  The agenda for this 3-day session held at the Glynwood Center included a three-day participatory experience designed to help established and developing farm mentors build skills in team communications, cultural competency, and the development of an inclusive workplace culture. Meals were provided and overnight accommodations were available upon request.

A conference presentation on Mentor Training and Resources was offered a the NOFA Summer Conference on July 31, 2021. A total of 6 farmers participated and gained skills on mentorship strategies, resources, and learned about the Mentor Training Toolkit for additional support.

We had originally planned to target regional conferences to present highlights from the mentor trainings, however 2020 and 2021 were challenging years to figure out appropriate conference partners given it was the first time many winter agricultural conferences shifted to virtual/online formats.  Two conferences that were scheduled to attend by partners and present were canceled due to illness and/or lack of COVID precautions at the in-person venue.

Instead, to share resources more broadly, New Entry focused on sharing resources at our four annual FIELD Schools (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) which featured information on mentor training, the Mentor Toolkit, and other resources to improve mentor communication, professional development, and supporting improved workplace culture and inclusiveness. It is estimated that at least 160 service providers (40/year) attended the apprenticeship tracks at each of the annual FIELD Schools and benefited from the mentor training resources.

Program partners continued to facilitate localized mentor support groups through field visits, online, and in-person programming in 2022 and 2023 following the formal mentor trainings.  We learned through conversations with our five partners and their mentor feedback sessions on additional professional development support that face-to-face is the preferred method for facilitation of support groups.  Each of the project partners continued to utilize mentor-to-mentor support through monthly calls, in-person mentor meetups, and mentor/mentee social events.  Specific numbers of events and 1:1 mentor meetings were not captured for purposes of reporting outcomes, however, we did ask our core partners facilitating these mentor learning networks to provide some quotes on the benefits they gained from their participation in our monthly Mentor Training network calls and the following quotes share that benefit:

"The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association organized 5 labor management workshops as well as hosted peer support spaces for farmers hosting apprentices as part of this project. The labor management series had incredible reach with capping registrants at 350 for the series and a range of 50-125 attending each session. Through centering farm workers in farm manager education, the SARE funding supported MOFGA in shifting our perspectives of labor rights and how we train the next generation of farmer educators. The peer to peer space for farm managers hosting apprentices similarly allowed spaces for farmers to digest their experience with apprentices and share learning with one another." - MOFGA staff organizer

"The SARE-funded Mentor Training project had a positive impact on me professionally as well as on the program that I run at the MD Institute of Applied Agriculture. Especially during the peak isolation of the pandemic, it was extremely helpful to have regular virtual meetings with peers running similar programs across the country. I just felt less alone in trying to maintain a semblance of a program that is vitally hands-on when we had to be literally hands-off. While the Maryland training was the first to operate virtually in January 2021 (meaning we were learning as we went and there were some big lessons learned about delivering a virtual program), I consider it a success for the time." - Maryland Institute for Applied Agriculture program staff

"Glynwood and the farmer mentors in its network greatly benefited from participation in this project. It was valuable to be in dialogue with other farmer training service providers and a delight to host a successful multi-day mentor training. The participants were appreciative for the opportunity and Glynwood emerged with a great blueprint for subsequent mentor training efforts."  - Glynwood Apprenticeship Director

We developed a follow-up evaluation to distribute to attendees of the three regional trainings at the end of the project (fall 2023) to asses learning outcomes and any changes in practices or adoption of new behaviors as a result of the mentor trainings. This evaluation survey was sent to participants of three regional trainings: University of Maryland IAA/ CASA Future Harvest, Maine Organic Farming Gardening Association (MOFGA), and the Glynwood Center. There were a total of forty-nine respondents across the three trainings (n=49).  The full evaluation report with charts and graphs can be accessed here.  Respondents were asked how long they have been involved with crop/farm/livestock production or farm-based education. Of the forty-nine participants that responded to this question, 35% or seventeen of them have worked in the sector between 11 to 20 years, 33% or sixteen participants have worked in the sector between 6 to 10 years, 18% or nine participants have worked in the sector less than 5 years, and 14% or seven participants have worked in the sector more than 20 years.  We also asked about experience level of mentors and how many people and the experience level of their trainees.

Several participants manage or own a mix of farm operations. The greatest number of participants (35) identified their operation as “sustainable, organic, or regenerative agriculture.” Thirty participants also stated they “market directly to consumers,” twenty-six participants operate a “commercial / for-profit farm,” eighteen participants operate a “non-profit farm training / education program,” and seventeen participants’ operations are “rural.”  Respondents operate a wide range of total acres. The greatest number of participants (12) operate between 6 to 10 acres and eleven participants operate 1 to 5 acres. An equal number of participants (6) operate less than 1 acre, 11 to 25 acres, and 51 to 100 acres. The largest area that participants who responded to the survey operate are between 101 to 300 acres.

Since completing the Farm Mentorship Training/Labor Management Series, 35 participants said they identify as a farm mentor, 6 participants said they “Maybe” identify as farm mentors, and 5 said they do not identify as farm mentors. Participants were asked if they made any changes or planned to make any changes to their mentoring/management as a result of the training and 89% or forty-one of forty-six participants that responded to this question said “Yes” and the other five said “No.” Participants who answered “Yes” had the option to describe what changes they had already implemented as a result of the training, or that they planned to do so and we included several quotes in the detailed Evaluation report.

The evaluation asked how many people (workers, employees, interns, apprentices) participants have mentored over the last three years (2020 – 2023). Collectively the forty-nine respondents mentored over 522 mentees over the three-year grant period. Individually, some of the respondents had mentored as many as 50 mentees. One responded that has mentored 50 mentees has worked in the sector for 11 to 20 years and is currently working in a “commercial / for-profit farm” that is between 51 and 100 acres. The other respondent that has mentored 50 mentees has worked in the sector for 11 to 20 years, stated they have 3 years of experience mentoring, and their operation is “non-profit farm training / education” with 1 to 5 acres.

We then asked a series of questions about their: confidence in mentoring trainees and employees; the quality of their communication and attentive listening skills; ability to set expectations; emotional intelligence; and overall additional feedback.  Over 96% of respondents were interested in additional trainings and workshops on mentorship across a range of topics listed in the report.