Connect with Our New Mentorship Program
The application deadline for the 2023 cohort has passed. Stay tuned for future rounds of our mentorship program.
Why are we launching a mentorship program? We surveyed farmers in 2021 about what support they needed, and the number one request was a farmer-to-farmer Mentorship Program. With the help of a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the State of Indiana, the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition and Partners IN Food and Farming are doing just that. The program will connect Mentors (specialty crop farmers who have been farming for 7+ years) with Mentees (those in the beginning of their farming journeys). Our goal is to share knowledge and experience, and to create connections within the farming community.
How will it work? The pilot program will launch in the spring of 2023 and run through the summer and fall. Mentor/Mentee pairs are expected to attend two group in-person gatherings, visit each other's farms at least once, and meet for a total of 6 phone/online meetings over the course of six months. We provide a workbook to guide each interaction, and resources on topics from high tunnel production to farm finances.
Benefits of Participating in the Mentorship Program
For Mentors
Why are we launching a mentorship program? We surveyed farmers in 2021 about what support they needed, and the number one request was a farmer-to-farmer Mentorship Program. With the help of a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the State of Indiana, the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition and Partners IN Food and Farming are doing just that. The program will connect Mentors (specialty crop farmers who have been farming for 7+ years) with Mentees (those in the beginning of their farming journeys). Our goal is to share knowledge and experience, and to create connections within the farming community.
How will it work? The pilot program will launch in the spring of 2023 and run through the summer and fall. Mentor/Mentee pairs are expected to attend two group in-person gatherings, visit each other's farms at least once, and meet for a total of 6 phone/online meetings over the course of six months. We provide a workbook to guide each interaction, and resources on topics from high tunnel production to farm finances.
Benefits of Participating in the Mentorship Program
For Mentors
- Gain valuable hands on experience in mentoring/teaching that you can apply on your own farm
- Share your professional expertise with the next generation of farmers
- Give back to your farming community through meaningful connection with beginning farmers as well as other mentor farmers in the state of Indiana
- $1,000 stipend to compensate for time spent in the program
- Curious about serving as a Mentor? Click here to read more about how Mentors will help their mentees, what's expected, and what's not.
- Grow your farming network, including other beginning farmers and mentors
- Connect with someone who’s successfully navigated life as a specialty crop farmer
- Seek guidance on a range of farm topics such as work/life balance, financial planning, marketing, planting and harvesting techniques, managing imposter syndrome, and more
- $1,000 stipend to compensate for time spent in the program
- Interested in being paired with a Mentor? Click here to read more about what's expected of Mentees, what you might gain and how you'd contribute.