Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Crop Production: crop rotation, irrigation, row covers (for season extension)
- Education and Training: decision support system, demonstration, farmer to farmer, focus group, mentoring, networking, workshop
- Production Systems: organic agriculture
Proposal abstract:
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.
Project objectives from proposal:
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.