This report presents a draft plan for a Hudson Valley-wide farmer apprenticeship program coordinated by the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming in Cold Spring, NY. The program supports host farms to provide robust apprenticeships by offering program structure, direct training, resource coordination and network building for apprentices and for mentors.

This toolkit is designed to introduce apprenticeship training programs to the topics and frameworks that mentors have identified as challenges and that are important for mentors to address to offer a successful learning experience for their trainees. While agricultural mentors are likely experts in their field with many years of experience running an agricultural business, they still benefit from improving their skills and capacities as mentors,

The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) Candidate Tipsheet provides mentor candidates with tips for what to include in their profile, and factors to consider when looking for apprentices. This includes what information should be shared and how to make an interesting profile for apprentice applications.

This template, authored by Quivira Coalition's New Agrarian Program, provides specific requirements and standards set for performance and expectations for mentors. It clearly states protocol for compensation, safety, communication, housing expectations and other important considerations for the workplace.

Rogue Farm Corps’ internship and apprenticeship programs are designed to train the next generation of farmers and ranchers through a structured, educational framework that includes on-farm training, classes, farm tours, discussion groups, and independent projects.  These programs are designed to meet the legal criteria for unpaid internships and apprenticeships. Host farmers partner with Rogue Farm Corps and serve as primary mentors for the interns and apprentices on their farm.

Onboarding: An orientation guide for your Apprentice’s first days. A tip sheet from Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA)

Thoughts on teaching adult learners from Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA)

Join Laura Paine from Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) to hear about DGA’s work on understanding and working with adult learners in an agricultural setting. DGA is a federally registered apprenticeship program with 150 approved farms across 11 states providing on-farm mentorship. Laura will share materials that DGA has been working on for professional development of ag apprenticeship masters/mentors.

Presenters: Abby Sadauckas, farmer and the project manager for the grant; Leslie Forstadt, Human Development Specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

You may have found yourself asking: “Why is it so hard to manage the people on my farm?” or “Why do apprentices take so much time?” or “How can I be a better mentor?” or “What’s the best approach for curriculum design for apprenticeship programs?”

Webinar recording: This online event launched the Ag Apprenticeship Toolkit and offered a briefing on the power of networks by Andrew Crosson of Rural Support Partners. This event included a tour of the Ag Apprenticeship Toolkit, the capstone resource from Year 1 of the National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network, and detailed how participation in networks can strengthen local, regional and national food systems work.