Progress report for ONE24-436
Project Information
American Farmland Trust (AFT) seeks to pilot a mentorship program that reduces gendered barriers to entry and improves farming outcomes for women in New York. To achieve this, two farmer-mentors will lead the development and implementation of the program, providing a two-year direct educational experience for up to four mentees with the goal of creating viable farm business plans. AFT staff will provide structure, outreach, and support to the teams, while offering immersive integration into AFT programmatic areas: Women for the Land, the Demonstration Farm Network, and Farmland for a New Generation. The project will strengthen connections within New York’s farming community and elevate women as leaders in agriculture. As a pilot, the program’s approach, breadth, and impact will be evaluated by participants to determine its effectiveness.
This project seeks to pilot a mentorship program that reduces
gendered barriers to entry and improves farming outcomes for
women in New York. To achieve this, two farmer-mentors will lead
the development and implementation of the program, providing a
two-year direct educational experience for up to four mentees
with the goal of creating viable farm business plans. AFT staff
will provide structure, outreach, and support to the teams, while
offering immersive integration into AFT programmatic resources.
The project will strengthen connections within New York’s farming
community and elevate women as leaders in agriculture. As a
pilot, the program’s approach, breadth, and impact will be
evaluated by participants to determine its effectiveness.
Our innovative approach will provide a foundation to establish a
more comprehensive mentorship network that reduces gendered
barriers to beginning women farmers. With this funding, we will:
-
Empower women leaders: two women organic
vegetable producers will lead this project as mentors. -
Train beginning farmers: four new entry
farming mentees will have structured experiential training with
their mentors and guided access to educational tools and
resources. -
Reduce gender barriers to new-entry farmers: a
beginning farmer training curriculum with a gender-equity
foundation will be developed in partnership with
farmer-mentors. -
Improve farm outcomes for women: each mentee
will create a farm business plan at the culmination of the
project and present the plan to the team for feedback and
support. -
Strengthen the farming community: the cohort
will have an immersive two-year training, participating in
Women for the Land Learning Circles, Soil Health Field Days,
partnership opportunities, and Demonstration Farm Network
tours. -
Elevate women in agriculture: the program will
be advertised, and its participants will be elevated through
storytelling campaigns on AFT’s website, email newsletters, and
social media channels. -
Evaluate the effectiveness of a gender-sensitive
approach to farm mentorship: program
participants will evaluate their experience and provide
feedback.
Agrarian mentorship provides intentional experiential learning that facilitates improved outcomes for beginning farmers. Developing a successful mentorship program requires deep understanding of the needs of the local farming community and an effective strategy to support, educate, and empower beginning farmers8. New and aspiring farmers are drawn to agriculture from a multitude of socioeconomic backgrounds, educational levels, skillsets, and motivations. Despite these differences, barriers to success for new farmers still occur based on age, race, and gender1.
American Farmland Trust (AFT) believes a mentorship program rooted in gender identity will have a higher chance of success in overcoming barriers to entry and lead to improved outcomes for beginning women farmers. According to the 2022 Agricultural Census, 63% of New York farms have at least one female operator, and 43% of new or beginning farmers in the state identify as a woman10. Women farmworkers are also on the rise, constituting over 28% of the total farm labor force in 20214. Though women are a strong and growing presence in agriculture, they face steeper barriers to entry than men due to both institutionalized and internalized sexism. These barriers present disparities in outcomes for women in agriculture: lack of leadership roles, lower profitability, higher exit rates, and exclusion from resources4. Women with intersecting identities of race, age, or sexual orientation appear to have compounded barriers that further limit their success, though data is scarce. Importantly, women primary producers represent greater racial and ethnic diversity compared to men and stand out as drivers of local food system economies. They are producing the fruits, vegetables, poultry, and nursery crops that feed our communities and prioritizing their social, economic, and environmental values around their identity as a farmer. With one-third of American farmland changing hands over the next twenty years7, women will be critical drivers of our agrarian economy, and it is imperative the barriers to their success are understood, acknowledged, and rectified.
For women to be successful in agriculture, they need to have a community that recognizes gender-based barriers, and collective knowledge to overcome these challenges. A combination of peer-based networking, educational resources, and experiential learning provide a strong start for a beginning farmer. However, adding a deep personal connection with an experienced farmer who has faced and overcome the same personal barriers offers a higher likelihood of success. This project will weave together three established AFT programs to pilot an immersive gender-sensitive mentorship program for women farmers. Our multifaceted approach builds upon AFT’s strong Women for the Land community and integrates AFT’s deep local connections with sustainable agriculture leaders in the Demonstration Farm Network, along with guided access to beginner farmer resources developed through our Farmland for a New Generation program. Two experienced women farmers will lead the development of this program in close partnership with AFT, who will support these farmers through curriculum development, mentor support, and immersion in our intersecting on-the-ground programming in western New York.
We envision a program that empowers women leaders and deeply connects beginner farmers with not only their mentor, but a larger network of agriculturalists facing similar identity-based barriers. We will pull together both experienced stewards of the land and service provider partners to provide a holistic immersion that strengthens the agricultural community and improves outcomes for beginning women farmers. Participants will be elevated through a strategic communications campaign with the potential to reach a national audience. At completion, the program’s effectiveness will be evaluated by participants with the goal of establishing a practical, gender-sensitive approach to farm mentorship for women in agriculture that can be adapted to serve other marginalized populations9.
Cooperators
- - Producer
Research
Objective 1: Empower women leaders. Two women organic vegetable producers in western NY have been selected to lead this project as mentors. Both are respected agricultural leaders dedicated to sustainable practices, who have interacted with AFT programs for several years. Both have signed letters of support for the project and understand the timeline, expectations, and desired outcomes. They will work together to develop a training curriculum and participate in team check-ins and immersive learning opportunities. They will develop the mentee application and select their own mentees, so they have the highest likelihood of success. Our mentors are willing to share personal guidance, provide feedback, and welcome mentees onto their operations throughout the course of the project. AFT staff will provide guidance, structure, and support to the mentors.
Objective 2: Train beginning farmers.
- Application Process. An application will be developed by the mentors to recruit beginning/new entry farmers as mentees. It will include a question identifying if and how the applicants have faced gender-related barriers to entry. The application will be shared widely through AFT networks and social media channels. Mentees will self-identify their gender, and the program aims to serve anyone who identifies as a woman, including cis-gendered women, transfeminine women, and femme-presenting non-binary people who are marginalized by misogyny or impacted by women-related issues. Aspiring, beginning and new entry farmers are all welcome to participate. The application will be submitted online through AFT’s platform, Salsa Engage. This platform efficiently collects and aggregates demographic information and survey responses, which AFT will share with the mentors. Mentors will each select up to two mentees they feel are the best fit for their operation, personality, and goals.
- Educational Curriculum. One mentor has developed an organic
vegetable production mentorship program curriculum, which will
serve as the educational basis of training for this project. The
modules and resources will be uploaded to AFT’s Mighty Networks
platform, an online social media and resource database that
enables document sharing, newsfeeds, and forums. Our mentor’s
two-year curriculum includes learning modules on the following
topics, which she has implemented and honed over the past several
years:
- Tools & Tractor Safety
- Propagation Greenhouse Management
- Field Planting: Rows, Crop Planning & Rotation
- Irrigation Systems
- Cultivation/Weed Control
- Harvest & Post Harvest Handling/Food Safety
- Soils, Cover Crops, and Climate Adaptation
- Pests and Diseases/Deer Fencing
- Farm Business Planning: Strategic and Financial Planning, Marketing & Branding, Legal Regulations
In addition, AFT staff will use existing Farmland for a New Generation-New York online resource library to assist the mentors in creating additional modules for a more holistic approach:
- Farmer-Mentee agreement + goal setting
- Holistic Visioning
- Land Access
- Capital & Grant Programs
- Immersive Mentorship. Mentors and mentees will establish a working relationship that provides on-farm access and personal connection that fits within their schedules and needs. The level of support and expectations will be set within each mentor/mentee pair. AFT will set quarterly team check-ins to ensure the program is running smoothly and offer guidance, support, or conflict resolution wherever necessary.
Objective 3: Reduce gender barriers to new-entry farmers. AFT’s Women for the Land practitioners are highly skilled facilitators fluent in gender equity conversations. Gender barrier information, collected during the application process, will be discussed during quarterly team check-ins. AFT Women for the Land program has compiled resources to assist new entry women farmers, and will share these resources via an additional educational module focusing on Overcoming Gender Barriers. Open conversations and connections among the project team and within the larger Women for the Land community (Objective 5) will deepen participants understanding of gender barriers and provide a toolkit to overcome these challenges.
Objective 4: Improve farm outcomes for women. Following the completion of the educational modules and immersive experiences, the project team will meet with FarmNet partners to learn about drafting a business plan. Each mentee will create their own farm business plan with assistance from FarmNet, mentors, and AFT as needed. At a virtual meeting in November of the second year, each mentee will present their plan to the team for feedback and will have the opportunity to revise their plan. Acceptable business plans will include:
- Farm Profile and Mission
- Strategic Plan
- Operations Support (infrastructure, land, equipment, etc.)
- Marketing Approach
- Production Plan
- Labor Needs
- Financial Plan
- Risk Assessment
- Action Items
Objective 5: Strengthen the farming community. The mentor teams will be immersed into the larger Women for the Land community in western New York. Currently, AFT hosts 4-6 Learning Circles locally each year, and the cohort will be invited to participate in at least two during this program. Learning Circles are well attended by women in all stages of agriculture, as well as service providers and partner organizations. Given their small size (20-30 attendees) and informal settings, they offer an ideal opportunity to connect with other members of the wider agrarian community. If interested, mentors/mentees will also be added to the bi-monthly New York and Women for the Land national newsletter subscriptions. Newsletters are an important tool to share events, opportunities, and peer stories. The cohort will also be added to AFT’s Women for the Land New York Mighty Networks platform. This online site allows for easy connection to peers and access to shared resources, news, and events. Additionally, using AFT’s Demonstration Farm Network, project teams will tour farms each year of the program to see other operations and meet experienced farmers. AFT regularly hosts free-of-charge soil health and climate adaptation field days throughout the state. The cohort will be invited to attend.
Objective 6: Elevate women in agriculture. Storytelling campaigns are effective methods of elevating leaders and unifying community. Utilizing AFT’s national reach, program participants will be elevated through storytelling campaigns on AFT’s website, email newsletters, and social media channels. Importantly, each mentee and mentor will be highlighted individually. AFT has a strong communications team, design software, and templates ready to showcase these participants and their farming journey. AFT’s Women for the Land New York program has a dedicated website with farmer profiles.
Objective 7: Evaluate the effectiveness of a gender-sensitive approach to farm mentorship. AFT social scientists have developed effective program evaluation surveys that rate the relative success of participants acquiring new knowledge or skills. Respondents rate their likelihood of taking action, relative confidence in topical areas before and after attending the program, topics that should have been covered but were not, and overall suggestions for improvement. AFT will also include questions that rate the program’s effectiveness in overcoming gender barriers. AFT will utilize this survey as a basis to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and will host a virtual discussion at the end of the project with all participants encouraged to provide feedback/guidance for improvement. AFT will evaluate the survey responses, recommendations from the participant discussion, and synthesize this information into a report that summarizes the program’s impact. The report will be published online via an AFT blog post and shared with the larger Women for the Land community through a newsletter update. If participants feel the program was effective, AFT will explore opportunities to expand to the larger Women for the Land community in New York. Once established, AFT envisions creating a more holistic approach for other historically underserved agrarians in the state who would benefit from an identity-centered mentorship program.
Education & Outreach Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
The mentorship application was opened on January 10, 2025 and advertised on American Farmland Trust New York’s Facebook and Instagram pages. The application was linked online at www.farmland.org/project/women-for-the-land-new-york. Both farmer-mentors shared the advertisement as well, with instagram likes totaling nearly 200 within 24 hours of posting.
AFT will lead the outreach of this project: advertising the program for recruitment, elevating participants as leaders through storytelling campaigns, and publishing results. As an organization with national reach, AFT has an active and engaged supporter network, with over 150,000 people currently connecting through social media, email newsletters, and website clicks. The Women for the Land New York program has a bi-monthly newsletter subscription reaching over 300 subscribers with a 42% open rate, roughly double that of comparable email newsletters, and AFT-New York news and social channels reach 25,705 followers.
Using in-house professional standards, AFT will design and circulate engaging advertisements to recruit mentees within the New York farming community. Links to the program and application will be sent via email to all New York subscribers and published on social media channels. Currently, AFT’s New York Facebook and Instagram following is comprised of 70% women. AFT routinely publishes press releases to Morning AgClips to announce new initiatives and opportunities that are relevant to a broader agricultural community in New York – and would be able to leverage this news service to announce the New York Farm Women’s Mentorship Pilot Project.
During the project, AFT will elevate program participants through storytelling campaigns. Both mentees and mentors will be profiled in the Women for the Land New York bi-monthly newsletters, on AFT-New York social media channels, and through the national Women for the Land network newsletter reaching an additional 15,000 subscribers nation-wide. AFT routinely profiles farmers and has a library of tools to easily accomplish this goal. Personal narratives about finding connection, farming aspirations, and overcoming challenges strongly resonate with AFT’s audience.
At the end of the project, participants will evaluate the program’s effectiveness. AFT will summarize lessons learned and offer recommendations for improvement and next steps. This information will be shared via a blog post and advertised in the AFT New York and Women for the Land-NY newsletters and social media feeds, reaching a potential 25,700 people. Blog posts remain on the AFT website for at least five years, while newsletter links remain active for up to two years, ensuring long term access to information about this project.