Join the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project and the FIELD Network to connect with staff of land-based farm incubator and apprenticeship training programs!  Share challenges faced by land-based training programs supporting a diversity of beginning farmers and brainstorm ideas, solutions, and shared resources.  Network in breakout groups to mix and mingle with other incubator farm program staff and apprenticeship staff across the country to connect and share project updates!

October's Networking Topic is:  Farmer Recruitment Strategies.  Farmer training and incubator/apprentice programs can't exist without new farmers or farmers-in-training entering the program every year, and there is no one size fits all approach to finding and recruiting these individuals. Join Ethan Page and Douglas Nelson of Central Wyoming College's Farm Incubator Program to discuss farmer recruitment best practices and approaches. Based in Lander, Wyoming, CWC's Farm Training and Incubator started in 2021 with the goal of training more specialty crop farmers for the region. Lander is a small (pop. 7,500), rural town based in one of the least populated states in the US. Being able to attract new producers to the area, or train more to farm regionally, is a challenge looming on the horizon as the pool of local program participants narrows. Therefore, a need exists to identify ways to attract new participants from areas outside the area.

Join your peers to discuss questions like:

• What are some specific strategies that you use to attract program participants?
• Are there any specific websites, publications, events, etc. that are useful for recruitment?
• What kind of funding does it take to reach outside your local area?
• Are there any organizations you work with that help to spread the word and/or advertise on your behalf?

Network Presenters:

Ethan Page is a faculty member at CWC focusing on local food and agriculture, based in Lander, WY. With a background in environmental science, production agriculture, and hydroponics, he teaches and oversees the farmer training program and associated degrees and certificates in Regenerative Small-Scale Farming.

Douglas Nelson is the farm manager for the farmer training program and oversees the incubator. He's an incubator himself, a degree seeking student in CWC's Regenerative Small-Scale Farming associates program, and lives and sells his produce in Thermopolis, WY.

Even if you don’t have all the answers, come and learn and share challenges with your peers.  We host monthly networking sessions throughout the year (First Fridays of the month at 1pm EST) as a way to connect, continue to learn from one another, build the network, and engage in topic-based discussions of interest (bring your enthusiasm for a topic you’d like to discuss). If you have new staff working with your incubator farm program or your apprenticeship training program, please invite them to come and network and meet their peers across the country to build connections.   Learn more about the FIELD Network here.

Come with questions you’d like to get diverse perspectives from peers across the country.  We are open to a diversity of conversation topics – come ready to share and/or gain new perspective on some of your sticky programmatic challenges!  If you have a topic you’d like to host at a future session, please email Jennifer to discuss ideas:  jennifer.hashley@tufts.edu.

Get ready for our 12th Annual FIELD School in 2023 - join us in Kansas City, Missouri in partnership with Cultivate KC - October 23 - 25, 2023! Registration is Now Open!