Eager to Learn More about the Fellowship? You're in the Right Place.
These FAQs will help you learn about the Fellowship. You can also email us if you have questions: fellows@hoosieryfc.org
Tell Me About How You've Updated the Fellowship based on Farmer Input.
For the first two years, our Fellowship was a statewide program, and was entirely virtual program due to Covid. Past Fellows told us that in-person was key, so we're making this year's Fellowship a county-level program. Driving distance and travel time should be less of a barrier. Past Fellows also shared that the program shouldn't be a full year long - - that hosting the program in the winter months would help farmers have time to engage, so this year the Fellowship will run February-April.
Once we knew we were bringing the program to Monroe County, we paid to consult with three BIPOC farmers who grow and sell there. These farmers poured over our application, our selection rubric, our selection process, and our outreach materials, and then we met in person to discuss their ideas. They provided both big picture feedback, and guidance on the nitty gritty. We want this program to be useful to BIPOC farmers in Monroe County, and we are indebted to our BIPOC farmer consultants for helping us update and adapt the program for 2023. Key updates include:
Once we knew we were bringing the program to Monroe County, we paid to consult with three BIPOC farmers who grow and sell there. These farmers poured over our application, our selection rubric, our selection process, and our outreach materials, and then we met in person to discuss their ideas. They provided both big picture feedback, and guidance on the nitty gritty. We want this program to be useful to BIPOC farmers in Monroe County, and we are indebted to our BIPOC farmer consultants for helping us update and adapt the program for 2023. Key updates include:
- Making the selection progress more objective by focusing on five main questions for applicants;
- Re-imagining the deliverable into something the farmers had more control over (previously, it had to be a video; now it can be a video or podcast, and our staff will help the farmers find allies to create the project if desired);
- Including farmers in years 1-10 (it was previously years 3-10);
- Redefining what "viable" means (no longer focused only on economic viability, this now also emphasizes contributions to community, ecology, etc.); and
- Asking each Fellow to organize one of the monthly meetings, putting them in a position of power and leadership (as opposed to zoom calls that we facilitate).
Why Does the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition Offer the Fellowship?
HYFC was founded in order to help connect beginning farmers around our state. Over the years, we have gathered at conferences and field days, participated in workshops and phone calls. What we heard was no surprise: even in good company, capital is hard to come by! An anonymous donor heard this as well, and offered to provide a capital infusion to a group of promising beginning farmers. That let us launch the Fellowship in 2019. The goal is to help farmers increase their impact on the food system. We’ve linked the award money to time spent investing as a cohort on purpose: we’re simultaneously propelling the Fellows’ individual farms - and accelerating the development of our small farm community in Indiana. The upcoming Fellowship will be our third year hosting the Fellowship, and we are eager to host this localized, in-person iteration.
More about the Network of Peers
HYFC Fellows form a special group of farming peers who will be able to help, nurture and support one another throughout the Fellowship. The goal of the cohort model is to create a network of allies for Fellows to rely on when they need practical, technical or emotional support. Together, our Fellows will:
More about the Compensation
Thanks to generous support from the City of Bloomington, we are able to offer our three Fellows $5,000 as compensation for their participation in the Fellowship. We break this into a $500 mileage stipend and a $4,500 Fellowship award. Please note that this is taxable income.
The goal of the funding is to acknowledge the work farmers put into being Fellows, and to allow beginning farmers to build their farm’s capacity, scale up their farm to the next level, and/or intensify their farm’s impact on local and regional food systems throughout Indiana. Ideally, the funds will offset costs incurred by participating in the Fellowship, and let the farmer tackle a major farm project that will advance their growing businesses.
The Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition’s goal for offering this Fellowship is to help beginning Hoosier farmers attain the economic and social capital necessary to solidify their role as successful, sustainable farmers building the food systems of our future.
More about the Network of Peers
HYFC Fellows form a special group of farming peers who will be able to help, nurture and support one another throughout the Fellowship. The goal of the cohort model is to create a network of allies for Fellows to rely on when they need practical, technical or emotional support. Together, our Fellows will:
- This cohort of Black Farmers, Indigenous Farmers, and Farmers of Color will meet 5 times over the course of February, March, and April of 2023. Fellows kick off their time together with a mini-retreat (3 hours) to get to know each other, start building trust, and share what they’re up to on their farms. Each month, one Fellow will host a monthly meeting (ideally structured as a casual farm tour for the other Fellows, followed by rich discussion). This monthly meeting will be a chance to share ideas and lessons learned as the Fellows hone their growing and business plans for the year ahead. In April, Fellows will gather one last time for a mini-retreat (3 hours) to reflect, share their videos/podcasts, contemplate takeaways from their time as Fellows, and give feedback on the Fellowship program.
- Join HYFC in our effort to connect beginning farmers statewide by sharing about your Fellowship experience via video or podcast. Fellows will create a 5 min video or 5-10 minute podcast sharing highlights from their experience. Highlights to share might be information or ideas gleaned from visiting other farms, projects they were able to complete. Fellows can produces this on their own or HYFC will find allies in the community to help
More about the Compensation
Thanks to generous support from the City of Bloomington, we are able to offer our three Fellows $5,000 as compensation for their participation in the Fellowship. We break this into a $500 mileage stipend and a $4,500 Fellowship award. Please note that this is taxable income.
The goal of the funding is to acknowledge the work farmers put into being Fellows, and to allow beginning farmers to build their farm’s capacity, scale up their farm to the next level, and/or intensify their farm’s impact on local and regional food systems throughout Indiana. Ideally, the funds will offset costs incurred by participating in the Fellowship, and let the farmer tackle a major farm project that will advance their growing businesses.
The Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition’s goal for offering this Fellowship is to help beginning Hoosier farmers attain the economic and social capital necessary to solidify their role as successful, sustainable farmers building the food systems of our future.
How Does the Fellowship Aim to Build Equity?
The Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition is committed to furthering racial equity in agriculture. We acknowledge that our food system is a racist system, and that white farmers and eaters have been offered advantages that have been kept from Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color.
We want to use the resources of this Fellowship to contribute a more equitable food system in Indiana. We know that this program is just a start, but our 2021 Fellowship held three (3) of the seven Fellowships for BIPOC farmers, and for our 2023 Fellowship, all three (3) Fellowships will be offered to Black farmers, Indigenous farmers, and other farmers of Color.
To read our full solidarity statement, click here.
We want to use the resources of this Fellowship to contribute a more equitable food system in Indiana. We know that this program is just a start, but our 2021 Fellowship held three (3) of the seven Fellowships for BIPOC farmers, and for our 2023 Fellowship, all three (3) Fellowships will be offered to Black farmers, Indigenous farmers, and other farmers of Color.
To read our full solidarity statement, click here.
If I'm Selected as a Fellow, What Am I Agreeing To?
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1. Participate in all fellowship activities for three months (February, March, and April 2023). This cohort of Black Farmers, Indigenous Farmers, and Farmers of Color will meet 5 times over the course of February, March, and April of 2023.
2. Help increase community and camaraderie among Indiana farmers by sharing about your Fellowship experience. Fellows will create a 5 min video or 5-10 minute podcast sharing highlights from their experience. Highlights to share might be information or ideas gleaned from visiting other farms, projects they were able to complete. Fellows can produces this on their own or HYFC will find allies in the community to help
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Who's Eligible in 2023? Who's Not?
- You must be a beginning farmer entering years 1-10 of your farming operation. This Fellowship is designed to help promising farmers who are viable and growing - and who are poised to make a larger impact on the food system. We've tried to lay this out in a little diagram below, but each farm has a unique backstory. If yours doesn’t fit neatly into this “Year 1-10” category, but you’re still occupying the space of a new farmer / beginning farmer who’s ready to jump forward, email us to explain why you meet the eligibility qualifications.
- For for-profit farms, applicant must be a lead farmer or owner.
- For non-profit farms without “owners,” applicant must be the lead farmer/farm manager.
- Farmer part-owners of cooperative or collective farms are qualified to apply. Please select just one owner to represent the operation in the application.
- You must use farm practices that protect natural resources for future generations.
- You must be farming or ranching in Indiana.
- You must be a black farmer, a farmer of color, or an indigenous farmer to apply.
- Staff and Board members of the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition are not eligible to apply.
- Our 2020 and 2021 Fellows are not eligible to apply.
How Will HYFC Select the Fellows?
All applications are reviewed by a committee that includes HYFC board members as well as Monroe county residents who are farmers and/or farmer allies. Representation matters, and so we are recruiting BIPOC community members to serve on this committee. The selection committee will evaluate each farmer applicant using this rubric, asking:
- Do you have a clear vision for your farm, and what progress have you made toward that vision so far?
- Describe why your farm is "viable" and primed to take a step forward. Viability could be in terms of finances/income, but it might also be how you contribute to your community, how you're restoring nature, etc.
- What are your "SMART" goals for strengthening your farm (Details below)?
- Do you have an idea for how the Fellowship funds will help you improve your farm and/or impact the food system in Indiana?
- Are you ready and willing to engage with the other Fellows? What resources will you bring to this community?
How do I Apply to be a Fellow?
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Each year we run the Fellowship, we invite beginning farmers to apply using a simple google form.
The application gives you space to share your particulars (name, address, etc.), tell us about you and your farm, and describe your farming progress - and how you would utilize the Fellowship to take a step forward. We recommend filling it out all at once. Here is a read-only version of the 2023 application so you can get a sense of how it works. Email us if you have questions! |
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