Progress 08/15/16 to 08/14/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project is agricultural service providers or farm mentors operating or seeking to establish internship and apprenticeship training programs and experiential learning on farms and ranches. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The final year of the project provided opportunities for apprenticeship staff to participate in workshops and professional development through the 2020 FIELD School and the workshops presented to build capacity of farm mentors (noted above). Due to COVID-19, the annual FIELD School was held as a "track" in partnership with the annual Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Sustainable Agriculture Conference. This partnership helped provide program staff in the Southeast Region greater awareness of the Ag Apprenticehsip Learning Network, its resources and allowed for the FIELD School to continue to bring together professionals for networking, learning, and ongoing professional development. The monthly FIELD Network monthly calls and listserv communications were also opportunities for staff to connect, network, share resources, and gain skills to improve their programs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of this project have been disseminated and posted to local, state, and national listservs and through New Entry's email database of over 10,000 subscribers. All project resources are posted to the BFRDP Clearinghouse and on the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project Ag Apprenticeship Resource Library, posted here: https://www.nesfp.org/agapprenticeship/library. During the reporting period (August 15, 2020 - October 1, 2021), the apprenticeship resource library received 498 unique page views. To further call attention to the FIELD School sessions, emails and multiple reminders were distributed to drive attendance and to direct practitioners to follow up recordings. For the main resource developed during the final year of the project, a webinar was promoted and held on December 15, 2020 to introduce the Mentor Training Toolkit and review the contents and chapters of the toolkit by each of the authors who presented information contained in the toolkit and where to go for additional resources. During the reporting period, the Mentor Training Toolkit had 363 unique page views (a proxy for downloads). This resource library will remain in operation and resources will continue to be added to the library beyond the grant period as a continued resource for service providers. The AgALN Listserv current has 168 subscribers and hosts discussions between practitioners who post jobs, circulate workshop announcements, and ask programmatic questions and seek guidance from peers. This listserv will remain in operation beyond the grant period as a continued resource for service providers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 6: During this period, a team of authors and editors assembled to continue to research, review existing resources, and draft the Mentor Training Toolkit. The collaboration involved staff from New Entry, Quivira Coalition, Land For Good, and Photonimbus Consulting who worked together to interview and develop case studies with 20 organizations. Development of the Toolkit resulted in six chapters of content spanning 183 pages. A webinar was held on December 15, 2020 to present the Toolkit to our national networks of incubator and apprenticeship training programs; 51 agricultural service providers registered and 27 attended. Presenters discussed content and examples from each of the six chapters and responded to questions and answers. On July 31, 2021 a presentation about the Mentor Toolkit and building mentor networks was presented virtually at the NOFA Massachusetts Summer Conference. Six participants attended and the session was recorded and is available to registered participants to view for a year following the conference. Additionally, this project was able to leverage additional federal funds to support continued efforts to strengthen farm/ranch mentor skills. Building on the work completed through this project, partners submitted and secured a Northeast SARE Professional Development Grant to expand mentor training resources. Through this project, a series of mentor trainings will be conducted in Maryland, Maine, and New York between 2021-2023. The first training was held in January 11-13, 2021 over three afternoons hosted by the University of Maryland Institute for Applied Agriculture and CASA Future Harvest. Collaborators on this SARE project, which formed out of our work together establishing the National Ag Apprenticeship Network include: New Entry, Quivira Coalition, Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association, Glynwood Center, Groundswell, Stone Barns, University of Maryland Institute for Applied Agriculture, CASA Future Harvest, NOFA Vermont, and others. The Toolkit developed through this project will serve as a valuable resource in rolling out the regional mentor trainings in the Northeast (and beyond). Objective 7: During this period, New Entry held the 2020 FIELD School virtually as a "track" within the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Sustainable Agriculture Conference on November 5-8, 2020. The FIELD School was comprised of 12 sessions that included the following topics: Online Learning for Beginning Farmers Building Racial Equity in Beginning Farmer Training Programs Land Access Connections for Graduates of Farmer Training Programs Overview of University-Based Farmer Training Programs Cooperative Development to Support Farm Enterprise Registering an Agricultural Apprenticeship Farmer Training Program Planning and Evaluation (GREW Resources and Applied Lessons) Food Access Innovations in Farmer Training Programs So You're Thinking of starting an Incubator Farm? FIELD Network - Future of the Network Farm Policy and Advocacy - What Can we Expect Post-Election Future of Beginning Farmer Training In total over 246 unique individuals attended the FIELD School workshops at the conference. Also during this time, the FIELD Network leadership team continued to meet monthly to advance goals of the network and share resources, challenges, opportunities, and to develop new program ideas for future collaboration. A total of 13 monthly, 1-hour meetings were held with an average of 8 participants per meeting. Each meeting opens with program updates and a peer check-in, followed by reports from the various working groups within the Network (the systems change group; the data collection group; and the education committee). Opportunities identified during these meetings included collaboration around COVID-related support for mentors and apprentices which resulted in two workshop/webinars related to sharing information about program support for farm mentors and apprentices and safety guidance documents shared between programs. Additionally, other collaborations between programs resulted in workshop proposals submitted to other regional/national farm and food conferences to share the resources developed through this project and to inform attendees of Network resources. Objective 8: Track and Evaluate Outcomes: Document and assess the effectiveness of project outputs and develop a framework to evaluate apprenticeship outcomes. New Entry issued a program evaluation of the National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network through a survey distributed to attendees and participants in annual gatherings, webinars, listserv discussions, and the leadership team to determine effectiveness of the project's goals and to determine how the program's resources and educational materials were being utilized, adopted, and any impacts or outcomes that could be reported. The survey was distributed to the AgALN Network and partners in June 2021. Those who participated in the evaluation survey reported that the Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network: Increased the number of resources available to my program Increased the quality of resources available to my program Increased mentor capacities to provide effective on-farm learning experiences Increase the skillset of mentors in my program Increased my program's knowledge and application of DOL labor laws for farm workers Increased my program's ability to share resources with other similar programs Streamlined my search for resources by using the Apprenticeship Resource Library When asked if programs were thinking about mentoring and/or mentor training differently now that you have participated in the AgALN workshops, webinars, or FIELD Schools, respondents shared the following comments: "It's so useful to know about how others run their programs, what challenges they've encountered, and tools and resources so that we don't all have to reinvent the wheel." "Networking and learning from other programs, mentors and producers has greatly informed our program at Quivira Coalition's NAP, and my own work as Mentor Training and Support staff and as a mentor. The work of AgALN and FIELD has been a boon to our program and by extension to all our mentors and apprentices." "The AgALN resources have been incredibly helpful. We began researching how we could establish an apprenticeship program in 2017 and launched our program in 2020 (just prior to Covid). We could not have been successful without the resources and networks provided through AgALN and New Entry." "I recognize the value of personal mentoring on an even deeper level." "I've benefitted from the community of practice in many ways. The network has made it easier for me to connect with peer for conversations about program development. I've benefitted from the work I've done with peers in discussing anti-racism practices in farmer training and in developing farmer mentor tools." When asked to comment on the value of the network, respondents shared: "The network is invaluable to us! It's so important to have a group that is bringing apprenticeship programs together so that we can share resources and best practices, troubleshoot common challenges, and ultimately strengthen our programs and better serve the beginning farmers and ranchers who we work with." "If training the next generation to produce food sustainably, in the face of climate change and other challenges, is considered desirable and necessary to our survival, the work done by this organization and its companion organizations is imperative, inspiring, and a source of hope." "The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food launched their apprenticeship program in 2020. The AgALN project decreased our research time, led to connections with other, similar programs, and improved the quality of our program. The network and resources have been incredibly impactful to our program."

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Sullivan, Julie, Jennifer Hashley, Virginie Pointeau, Kathy Ruhf, Sarah Laves and Alessandra Cancalosi. 2020. Mentor Training Toolkit. Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. Beverly, MA.

Progress 08/15/19 to 08/14/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience for this professional development project (Educational Enhancement Team) are ag service providers, nonprofits, and other land-based beginning farmer trainers who offer internships, apprenticeships, and other forms of on-farm experiential education. These service providers target the following types of producers in their networks: • Limited resource producers • Organic producers • Small farms • Specialty crop producers • Women The core partners and advisory partners were assembled in Year 1. We have established regular monthly conference calls which we require core partners to attend and encourage advisory partners to attend and participate as well. These phone calls/online Zoom meetings are used to plan the AgALN Annual Gathering, discuss best practices for completing different aspects of the project and workflows, and plan for the long-term sustainability of the AgALN group network. All regular monthly calls were completed during Year 4 of the project. Changes/Problems:The Coronavirus pandemic caused challenges and delays in completing our project within the initial 1-year no-cost extension (by August 15, 2020). We knew early on that the challenges would make it difficult to complete our major deliverable, the Mentor Training Toolkit given the capacity of partner organizations to contribute to the document and other ongoing priority changes. However, despite the delays, we have been able to move forward with all of our goals and objectives and with the approval of a second no-cost extension, we will be able to complete all of the goals and objectives outlined in our initial proposal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Objective 7: Support a Community of Practice Annual Gathering / FIELD School One of the core ways we promote a Community of Practice is through annual convenings of apprenticeship training programs to come together, learn from one another, receive professional development, and network. The 2019 AgALN Annual Gathering was held November 4 - 6, 2019 in Ithaca, NY in partnership with Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming. The AgALN Annual Gathering was combined with our annual National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) FIELD School to bring together land-based beginning farmer training organizations who operate apprenticeship and incubator programs. The annual event is now named the "National FIELD School." The 2019 conference featured 24 workshops with two tracks: an incubator workshop track; an apprenticeship workshop track, two field trip tracks, and then two tracks featuring blended incubator/apprenticeship topics in a Resource Showcase or World Café-style discussion. Over 60 participants representing 49 organizations from 24 states and Canada attended the 3-day event. The 2019 FIELD School conference brochure is uploaded to RVS and available here: View the 2019 Conference Brochure and Workshop Descriptions. We also spent significant effort in 2020 planning for our 2020 National FIELD School. Originally, the plan was to host the FIELD School in Seattle, WA in collaboration with Viva Farms and the Organic Growers School. Fortunately, we had not yet signed venue, catering, or bus contracts when the Coronavirus pandemic hit and the economy shut down. We were able to quickly pivot and organize to determine that a Virtual event would be most prudent. We joined the "Food and Farm Conference Event Planners" listserv and networked with other food/ag conferences that were organizing virtual events. We ended up forming a collaboration with Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Sustainable Agriculture Conference to host our FIELD School as a "track" within their larger conference. This event is planned for November 4 - 8, 2020 and will be reported on in our Year 5 (second, no-cost extension) progress report. The planning committee included representatives from New Entry, Quivira Coalition, University of California Santa Cruz Apprenticeship, Rogue Farm Corps, Steward, Ft. Lewis College, and California Farm Academy. More information on the 2019 and 2020 National FIELD Schools can be found on our website: https://www.nesfp.org/national-and-state-networks/nifti-agaln-field-school Community of Practice Another key outcome of Year 4 was planning ahead for the future of the AgALN and NIFTI Network that New Entry, in collaboration with other leading food systems organizations, has coordinated for the past 8+ years, the NIFTI - National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (established in 2012) and AgALN - Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network (established in 2016 through this BFRDP award). After almost a decade of facilitating connections between organizations, network facilitation, educational resource development, development of ag resource libraries with shared information, technical assistance referrals and support, webinars, and annual gatherings, we realized it was time to evaluate the impact of the networks and to chart a new, compelling path forward. With BFRDP funding support for the network wrapping up and maintaining stable staffing for the network over the past 2 years proving challenging, we wanted to bring together key stakeholders to continue to chart a course forward and secure resources to continue to facilitate a vibrant national network, a clear and shared vision, goals, and workplan for the future of the network. The AgALN Network, consisting of agrarian incubator programs, internships and apprenticeships from around the country, convened March 9-11, 2020 at TomKat Ranch in Pescadero, CA to discuss these challenges and explore possible paths forward. Over the course of three days, 23 convening attendees from 16 organizations discussed the value and purpose of the network (more were invited and scheduled to participate, but due to March COVID-19 travel advisories/precautions were unable to attend). We also discussed various approaches to and options for ongoing resource development, and possible organizational and leadership structures moving forward--including the need for greater member participation to alleviate the burden of responsibility held almost entirely by New Entry to this point, among other topics. A Summary Document with the goals and outcomes of the convening (uploaded to RVS) provides an overview of the topics and discussions over the course of three days, organized into the sequential discussion steps that were used as part of the facilitation framework, with each step in the process building on the previous: Define, Discover, Dream, Design, and Delivery. As a result of the convening, we determined that there are three main areas of focus for the network moving forward: systems change, data collection/analysis, and education. All of these key program areas are driven by a core commitment to racial equity and inclusion and a robust communication and marketing strategy to reach key stakeholders. Since the convening, the attendees of the gathering have formed a leadership team to discuss network governance and key roles, develop a value proposition and key objectives, rename the network (its new name - moving from two distinct networks of NIFTI/AgALN will be now known as "The FIELD Network" - FIELD is an acronym for Farm Incubation and Education through Land-based skills Development). We formed working groups and have been meeting monthly to focus on data collection (revamping the 2020 Incubator and Apprenticeship Surveys, starting an updated census of programs); educational programs (we formed a committee to plan for the 2020 FIELD School and workshops, speaker selection, and program focus); and systems change to address policy barriers and opportunities for collective action. The group has also been active in the newly formed "Anti-Racism in Beginning Farmer Programs" group to make sure that the FIELD Network is focused on removing barriers to participation for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, immigrants and refugees to the beginning farming community and to insure greater representation of BIPOC-led farmer training efforts within the network. Overall, the convening launched new energy and momentum into the continuation of the work that AgALN has been facilitating over the last 4 years and we are excited to build more buy in and expand the composition of the networks as we move forward. The efforts of this BFRDP project have also had outcomes related to project partners enhancing their current programming based on continued collaboration within the Community of Practice. For example, as a result of this BFRDP collaboration, and interest in ongoing Mentor Training and development, a group of collaborators in the Northeast came together to apply for and received a 3-year Northeast SARE Professional Development Grant to train farm mentors in improving their on-farm education and training efforts. Collaborators include: New Entry, MOFGA, NOFA Vermont, Glynwood Center, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming, University of Maryland's Institute for Applied Agriculture and University of Maryland Cooperative Extension, CASA Future Harvest, and Quivira Coalition. We will be planning a series of Mentor Trainings in Maryland (2021), Maine (2022), and New York (2023). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Objective 5. Disseminate Educational Resources. We continue to use the AgALN Listerv to disseminate relevant information about apprenticeship and mentor resources. The listserv currently has 172 subscribers (as of November 2020). New Entry supplements listserv announcements by sending e-newsletters to our mailing lists of Ag Apprenticeship, Incubator programs, and other beginning farmer training organizations totaling another 2,892 subscribers. To date (2016-2020), we have hosted eleven webinars for agricultural apprenticeship audiences, many of them focusing on the legal aspects of farm employment law and supporting apprentices in learning approaches; the titles of the webinars are below. In fall 2019, we partnered with MOFGA to host two webinars on: Communications for successful farm relationships (10/15/19), Supporting Beginning Farmer Learning (10/28/19). When COVID-19 hit, we hosted an additional two webinars: one in partnership with IRC (International Rescue Committee) to offer a workshop on March 18, 2020 titled "On-Farm COVID-19 Preparations for Farmer Training Programs" (unfortunately due to technical mishap with Zoom, the webinar was not recorded), attended by 318 participants, and we hosted another workshop on June 19, 2020 with Farm Commons and Quivira Coalition with 29 participants. The following webinars are recorded and posted to the New Entry website: Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship webinar: Working with adult learners, professional development of ag apprenticeship masters/mentors Employment Law for the Farm: Q&A A Conversation with Lowcountry Local First and the Responsive Evolution of an Incubator and Apprenticeship Program Creating A Mutually Rewarding Apprenticeship Experience: Understanding New Farmer Typologies and Skill Acquisition Ag Employment Law and Your Farm The Power of Networks & the Ag Apprenticeship Network Toolkit Agriculture Apprenticeships: Resources for Best Practices Communications for successful farm relationships (2019) Supporting Beginning Farmer Learning (2019) COVID-19 safety and sanitation preparations for land-based training programs (2020) COVID-19 resources for incubator and apprenticeship training programs (2020) Additional Program outreach was conducted by our partner organizations throughout Year 4; specific promotion and outreach supported by New Entry efforts included promoting Quivira Coalition's 2019-2020 Mentor Training Call series, noted below. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?New Entry requested a second, 10-month no-cost extension (August 15, 2020-June 30, 2021) to expand outreach for the Apprenticeship Learning Network. Due to COVID-19 related project delays, progress on our Mentor Toolkit was delayed beyond the end date of the award and we needed additional time to research, draft, edit, and finalize chapter contents. Additionally, the annual survey which helps collect data and will be used to update the National Apprenticeship Map requires additional revisions after analyzing the past three years of data. We will be working with project partners and our new Data Collection Working Group to overhaul the survey questions and test the survey instrument with partners. The updated (2019) survey was distributed in late May 2020 and we are still analyzing data this fall to update database and maps. In-person mentor trainings will be moved online this winter due to travel restrictions due to COVID-19. We are scheduling mentor trainings virtually on the subject areas contained in the Toolkit this winter (January - March 2021). We also have planned (and at time of reporting) comleted another national gathering of apprenticeship training programs, held November 4-8, 2020 virtually in collaboration with Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Sustainable Agriculture Conference. The 9th Annual National FIELD School was a "track" within the larger SAC event online. We reconfigured the conference as a series of webinars, virtual meetings and breakout discussion groups, with themes centered around lessons learned from COVID response and planning for 2021 operations. We are also interested in hosting a monthly series of webinars and discussion groups on centering racial equity in apprenticeship and incubator programs. We will host additional webinars between December 2020 - April 2021. We also plan to continue to work with project partners and network members to enhance the evaluation capacity and data collection process among apprenticeship training programs (April - June 2021).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1-4. Completed during Year 1. Objective 5 - Year 4 results are reported in "dissemination to communities of interest" section below. Objective 6. Strengthen Farm/Ranch Mentor Skills. During Year 4, all of our core partners were involved in mentor trainings and education events, though the majority of our focus together was to draft and publish the Mentor Training Toolkit (more below). Quivira Coalition also hosted monthly mentor support group calls between October 2019 and February 2020, conducted by conference call which lasted 1 hour each session on a different topic. The calls were offered to the public, promoted through the AgALN network, as well as to participating mentors in the New Agrarian Program (NAP) and all mentor calls were recorded and posted to Quivira's website: https://quiviracoalition.org/mentor/ The bulk of the work in year 4 centered around producing and publishing our Mentor Training Toolkit, titled: Supporting Mentors to Teach Next Generation Agrarians - A Farm/Ranch Mentor Training Toolkit. We had originally aimed to finalize and publish the Toolkit in April or May 2020 when the Coronavirus Pandemic hit and created significant delays in pulling authors, contracts, and content together in the spring. We then moved our deadline to end of July, but as progress proved slow in reaching partners for required resource information, case studies, and after the murders of George Floyd and the racial justice "awakening" we also determined we needed to add a new Chapter on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Apprenticeship Training Programs. We realized that the Toolkit would not be able to be drafted, edited, reviewed by external partners, and designed and fully completed before the end of the project and thus required requesting a second no-cost extension to provide more time beyond the mid-August end date. The Toolkit was finalized on November 1, 2020 just ahead of our 2020 National FIELD School. The Toolkit is posted to the New Entry website: https://nesfp.org/resources/apprenticeship/mentor-training-toolkit and outreach emails have been shared broadly through the Listservs and posted to the RVS Library. The Toolkit contains 183 pages and six chapters covering: ·Introduction: Purpose of the Mentor Training Toolkit; How to Use this Toolkit; Background of the Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network; Acknowledgements; Definitions; Network Training Programs & Acronyms; Gender Pronouns ·CHAPTER 1: Building Mentor Networks - Determine your program mission and focus; Identifying Potential Mentors, Outreach and Recruiting; Vetting Mentors for your Program; Onboarding Strategies for New Mentors ·CHAPTER 2: Training Topics for Mentors - Mentoring Principles for Experiential Education; Mentor Skills and Attributes; Communication Between Trainees and Mentors; Conflict: Normal and Useful; Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences, and Personality as it Affects Learning; Feedback and Assessment; Balancing Education and Getting Work Done; Tools to Help; Setting Expectations; Working Across Intergenerational Difference ·CHAPTER 3: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Definitions; Getting Started; Working with a Consultant; Defining your Organization's DEI Values; Resources and Final Thoughts ·CHAPTER 4: Continuing Education and Peer-to-Peer Support for Mentors - Getting Started; Network Components; Sustaining the Network ·CHAPTER 5: Mentoring a Potential Successor - Farm Entry and Exit; What is Farm Succession?; Recruiting a Successor; Trainee or Successor?; Family Apprenticeships; Preparing the On-Farm Mentor; Preparing the Trainee; Roles and Expectations; The Offer; The Process; Training On-Farm Mentors ·CHAPTER 6: Resources for Mentors - Farmer Training Resources by Organization; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resources (Racial Justice Resources; Ableism; Ageism; Classism; Gender and Sexism; Intersectionality; Inclusivity; Sexual Orientation and Heterosexism); Farmer Training Resources by Topic (Adult Learners; Communication and Feedback; Conflict Resolution; Emotional Intelligence; Equity Statements; Farm Succession; Generational Differences; Goal Setting & Expectations For Mentors and Mentees; Learning, Working, and Personality Styles; Legal Resources for Agricultural Employment; Mentoring and Leadership; Templates, Sample Documents and Models ·Conclusion - Next Steps for the Use of this Toolkit; Toolkit Feedback and Ongoing Mentor Resource-Sharing Throughout the toolkit, case studies, examples, and resource links, and highlight lessons learned from over 20 experienced apprenticeship and mentor training programs are shared. Case studies of different apprenticeship and beginning farmer training programs throughout the toolkit illustrate different approaches that organizations have used to support their mentors. Where applicable, sample training agendas, application forms, interview questions, resource handouts, checklists, or other programmatic material shared by existing programs are included either in the Resource section (Chapter 6) or if unavailable online, content was posted in the AgALN Resource Library and links to those were referenced. We are planning to launch the Mentor Training Toolkit through a webinar to discuss training resources, case study highlights, and ways to use the material on December 15th, 2020. The Toolkit will also serve as a guiding reference in preparation of our January 2021 Mentor Training in collaboration with University of Maryland Institute of Applied Agriculture and the UMD Cooperative Extension (see description of SARE Mentor Training Professional Development Collaboration below). Objective 7: Results for Year 4 are reported in "opportunities for training and professional development" section below. Objective 8: Track and Evaluate Outcomes. For 2019-2020, we focused on evaluating the annual Ag Apprenticeship survey data and looked for key information to highlight and published a 2017-2019 Apprenticeship Infographic that shares data across the apprenticeship training programs who completed the annual surveys. This is published on our website: https://www.nesfp.org/resources/apprenticeship/apprenticeship-program-highlights-2017-2019 As noted above, we also updated the annual survey in collaboration with the Data Collection Working Group and administered the 2020 survey between July - September 2020. We received 25 responses from Apprenticeship programs. We are currently in the process of analyzing data and we will publish an new Infographic on data in early 2021. We are working to streamline the annual survey process by exploring a way to auto-populate organizational contact information and other "static" program level data into the survey to reduce the burden of time required to complete the surveys each year. This way, programs can focus on the outcomes and impact metrics unique to each calendar year, rather than spending time completing data that does not change from year to year. New Entry not only requests annual surveys and progress reports from each of our core partners on core activities, but we also seek feedback on how the network has impacted their program development. Quotes from the partner feedback on participation in the network were included in Year 3 report and additional quotes from the 2020 survey are included in Year 4 RVS report. Additionally, individual workshop evaluations were conducted following all field school workshops, the annual gathering/conference, and through individual partner trainings. Evaluation summaries of specific trainings and our annual Apprenticeship Survey are uploaded and available in RVS.

Publications

Progress 08/15/18 to 08/14/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience for this professional development project (Educational Enhancement Team) are ag service providers, nonprofits, and other beginning farmer trainers who offer internships, apprenticeships, and other forms of on-farm experiential education. These service providers target the following types of producers in their networks: Limited resource producers Organic producers Small farms Specialty crop producers Women The core partners and advisory partners were assembled in Year 1. We have established a monthly conference call time which we require core partners to attend and encourage advisory partners to attend and participate as well. These phone calls are used to work towards planning the AgALN Annual Gathering and to discuss best practices for completing different aspects of the project and begin brainstorming about future funding sources for the AgALN group as well. All regular monthly calls were completed during Year 3 of the project, although March 2019 took the form of individual partner calls to check in on final deliverables, matching funds, and to assess vision for the future of the network. Changes/Problems:No changes or problems to report. We requested a 1-year no cost extension to continue to meet our deliverables and facilitate the community of practice and develop additional resources. We are on target to accomplish all we set out to do and more. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have presented about AgALN at national conferences, including a panel and breakout session at the 2018 BFRDP PD conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in early October 2018. The 2018 AgALN Annual Gathering was held October 29-31, 2018 as a pre-conference to the 2018 Regenerate Conference hosted by Quivira Coalition, Holistic Management International, and the American Grassfed Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had 55 people attend the one and a half day Gathering. The Gathering involved farm tours to two nearby farms, 'Grow the Grower' program and Chispas Farm and an evening networking reception. The second day featured eight presentations/workshops about supporting farm mentors and strengthening ag apprentice programs, talk titles are listed below. "Building an Agroecological Apprentice Program" "S.I.C.(Simplicity, Innovation, Creativity): Farming with Veterans & AccessingVABenefits" "A Look at Evaluations and Skills Assessments: Discussion on Tools, Tips, and Techniques" "The Care and Feeding of Mentors: Support and Skills for Long-Term Mentoring" "Mentoring a Successor: What's Different?" "Strategies for Building Successful Apprentice Programs: A Look at Several Different Programs Across the Country" "Passing laws to support ag apprenticeships: HowCO's Ag Workforce Development Program can offer a roadmap for other states" "Formal apprenticeship showcase: Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship (PASA) + Organic Vegetable Farm Manager Apprenticeship (University of Wisconsin-Madison)" We closed the Gathering with group discussions related to ag apprenticeships. During the Gathering, core and advisory partners were able tomeet and discuss building a list of standards for apprenticeship programs, these standards will be used to determine who is eligible to be placed on our Ag Apprentice Map. We also discussed remaining grant objectives of the project and how to leverage future funding to continue to the work of this network. We set up technical assistance (TA) for our network and promoted it at the AgALN Annual Gathering. New and established apprentice mentors will be able to speak to one of our core partners for up to an hour and get questions answered and guidance about their apprenticeship program. The efforts of this project also have had outcomes related to project partners enhancing their current programming based on continued collaboration within the Community of Practice. For example, Quivira Coalition is working with their current NAP mentors to develop a 2nd year journeyperson curriculum as part of this AgALN effort to build opportunity along the career pathway. They also reorganized their Mentor Training calls to better serve people interested in attending the trainings who are considering offering apprenticeships or internships on their own farms, ranches, or through their organization. Enrollment for the 2019-2020 call series is over 35 attendees and growing. These are the types of outcomes we hope to see through the ongoing community of practice and resulting outcomes of this project. Planning is currently underway to host the 2019 Annual Gathering in Ithaca, NY on November 4 - 5, 2019 in partnership with Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming. The AgALN Annual Gathering will be combined with our annual National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) Field School to bring together land-based beginning farmer training organizations who operate apprenticeship and incubator programs. The event will be renamed the "National Field School" and will feature 24 workshops with two tracks: an incubator workshop track; an apprenticeship workshop track, two field trip tracks, and then two tracks featuring blended incubator/apprenticeship topics in a Resource Showcase or World Café-style discussion. More information on the 2019 National Field School can be found on our website: https://www.nesfp.org/national-and-state-networks/nifti-agaln-field-school How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continue to use the AgALN Listerv to disseminate relevant information about apprenticeship and mentor resources. The listserv currently has 166 subscribers (as of October 2019). New Entry supplements listserv announcements by sending e-newsletters to our mailing lists of Ag Apprenticeship, Incubator programs, and other beginning farmer training organizations totaling another 1,393 subscribers. To date (2016-2019), we have hosted seven webinars related to ag apprenticeships in general, many of them focusing on the legal aspects of farm employment law and supporting apprentices in learning approaches; the titles of the webinars are below. We are also currently working with MOFGA to host five additional webinars this fall 2019 on topics including: Communications for successful farm relationships (10/15/19), Supporting Beginning Farmer Learning (10/28/19), and a three-part series on supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive spaces on farms (winter 2020). The following webinars are recorded and posted to the New Entry website: Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship webinar: Working with adult learners, professional development of ag apprenticeship masters/mentors Employment Law for the Farm: Q&A A Conversation with Lowcountry Local First and the Responsive Evolution of an Incubator and Apprenticeship Program Creating A Mutually Rewarding Apprenticeship Experience: Understanding New Farmer Typologies and Skill Acquisition Ag Employment Law and Your Farm The Power of Networks & the Ag Apprenticeship Network Toolkit Agriculture Apprenticeships: Resources for Best Practices Additional Program outreach was conducted by our partner organizations throughout Year 3: Vilicus Farm Training Institute in Montana contributed to the project through outreach in Year three by attending multiple conferences throughout the year to serve as an ambassador for the AgALN network and the resources developed. Vilicus attended the National Biodynamic Conference in Portland, Oregon November 14 - 16, 2018 and presented on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Montana Organic Association Conference in Bozeman, Montana December 4 - 6, 2018 and presented on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Organic Alberta Conference January 23-27, 2019 and presented on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Montana Summit on Agricultural Finance in Pray, Montana February 6-7, 2019 and networked and shared information on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Agrarian Career Path Development and Risk Sharing Convening in Fargo, North Dakota on June 28, 2019 and networked and shared information on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute participated in an RSF Social Finance conference on July 5, 2019 and shared information on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) presented a workshop for 30 attendees on Ag Careers and Apprenticeships at the Farmer Veteran Coalition Conference on November 15, 2018 in Kansas City, MO and provide outreach on the AgALN and resources available through the network, resource libraries, and listserv. DGA also support network outreach through two panel discussion at the GrassWorks Grazing Conference in Wisconsin Dells, WI on February 1, 2019. The first workshop engaged 35 farmers on "Getting Started in a Tough Dairy Economy." The panel consisted of three DGA Journeyworkers and Apprentices. The second panel discussion engaged 45 farmers and was titled, "Scaling Up Your Operation, Working with Employees" and featured three of DGA's Master Farmers as presenters. Quivira Coalition in New Mexico worked throughout the intermountain West to conduct several outreach and training events. Quivira held a Western Ranch Management and Ecosystem Stewardship Field Course in collaboration with Colorado State University on August 3 - 6, 2019, in Saguache CO with 10 attendees. During this field course a 1-hr presentation on agrarian apprenticeship and AgALN was offered and conversation and training regarding becoming an apprentice was ongoing during the period. Quivira also conducted a Ranching 101 - Recruiting Apprenticeship workshop in Saguache, CO with 7 participants on September 20-22, 2019. They offered two workshops at the National Grazing Lands Conference December 3 - 5, 2019 in Reno, Nevada. The first workshop on December 3 was "Best Practices for Mentoring Apprentices" attended by 25 participants and the event at the conference held on December 4th included a Career Connect Job Fair and the fair promoted the AgALN network to at least 15 participants. Quivira Coalition also participated in other networking events with with various organizations and programs regarding building out the professional training trajectory for people pre- and post-apprenticeships, included meetings with Fibershed, Grazing School of the West, Savory Center hubs, regional programs, Land Link programs in Western states, and other groups. They also introduced the AgALN program to the Colorado Coalition to Enhance Working Lands, a group of stakeholders, organizations, agency personnel, university faculty, and others coordinating education and policy in the state of Colorado. Quivira also organized and hosted a Next Generation panel at the annual 2018 conference for Quivira Coalition, Holistic Management International and American Grassfed Association in October 2018. Rogue Farm Corps in Oregon helped raise awareness of the resources developed in this project and met with the new Director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture to keep them up to date on Rogue's program and beginning farmer and rancher development issues. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the Year 4 (Extension), our goals and activities will be the following: Continue to develop ag apprenticeship case studies to add to and update the Apprenticeship Toolkit Convene two additional national gatherings of ag apprenticeship programs to solidify network and explore the strengths and challenges of the apprenticeship model with members of a national CoP (November 2019 - Ithaca, NY; January 2020 - Paicines, CA) Develop and disseminate technical assistance protocol to help assist ag apprentice program staff Produce and record 5 additional webinars related to ag apprentice topics Core partners continue to host regional 'Train-the-Trainer' events in their geographic areas Distill information gathered at the 2019 National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network's annual gathering into topics for additional resources and webinars. Implement standards and post programs on National Ag Apprentice map Develop Mentor Training Tookit as a how-to guide for professional development to share among apprenticeship training programs Implement technical assistance and referral process More outreach and promotion of national network to grow listserv, toolkit downloads, webinars views, etc. Work to evaluate and report on national ag apprentice efforts by publishing annual survey results over 3-year period

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During Year 3 of the grant (2018-2019), we have continued to make progress on our objectives of the grant project for the Ag Apprentice Learning Group (AgALN). We continue to use the AgALN Listerv to disseminate relevant information about apprenticeship and mentor resources. The listserv currently has 166 subscribers (as of October 2019). New Entry supplements listserv announcements by sending e-newsletters to our mailing lists of Ag Apprenticeship, Incubator programs, and other beginning farmer training organizations totaling another 1,393 subscribers.Additional Program outreach was conducted by our partner organizations throughout Year 3: Vilicus Farm Training Institute in Montana contributed to the project through outreach in Year three by attending multiple conferences throughout the year to serve as an ambassador for the AgALN network and the resources developed. Vilicus attended the National Biodynamic Conference in Portland, Oregon November 14 - 16, 2018 and presented on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Montana Organic Association Conference in Bozeman, Montana December 4 - 6, 2018 and presented on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Organic Alberta Conference January 23-27, 2019 and presented on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Montana Summit on Agricultural Finance in Pray, Montana February 6-7, 2019 and networked and shared information on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute attended the Agrarian Career Path Development and Risk Sharing Convening in Fargo, North Dakota on June 28, 2019 and networked and shared information on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Vilicus Farm Training Institute participated in an RSF Social Finance conference on July 5, 2019 and shared information on apprenticeship models and the AgALN. Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) presented a workshop for 30 attendees on Ag Careers and Apprenticeships at the Farmer Veteran Coalition Conference on November 15, 2018 in Kansas City, MO and provide outreach on the AgALN and resources available through the network, resource libraries, and listserv. DGA also support network outreach through two panel discussion at the GrassWorks Grazing Conference in Wisconsin Dells, WI on February 1, 2019. The first workshop engaged 35 farmers on "Getting Started in a Tough Dairy Economy." The panel consisted of three DGA Journeyworkers and Apprentices. The second panel discussion engaged 45 farmers and was titled, "Scaling Up Your Operation, Working with Employees" and featured three of DGA's Master Farmers as presenters. Quivira Coalition in New Mexico worked throughout the intermountain West to conduct several outreach and training events. Quivira held a Western Ranch Management and Ecosystem Stewardship Field Course in collaboration with Colorado State University on August 3 - 6, 2019, in Saguache CO with 10 attendees. During this field course a 1-hr presentation on agrarian apprenticeship and AgALN was offered and conversation and training regarding becoming an apprentice was ongoing during the period. Quivira also conducted a Ranching 101 - Recruiting Apprenticeship workshop in Saguache, CO with 7 participants on September 20-22, 2019. They offered two workshops at the National Grazing Lands Conference December 3 - 5, 2019 in Reno, Nevada. The first workshop on December 3 was "Best Practices for Mentoring Apprentices" attended by 25 participants and the event at the conference held on December 4th included a Career Connect Job Fair and the fair promoted the AgALN network to at least 15 participants. Quivira Coalition also participated in other networking events with with various organizations and programs regarding building out the professional training trajectory for people pre- and post-apprenticeships, included meetings with Fibershed, Grazing School of the West, Savory Center hubs, regional programs, Land Link programs in Western states, and other groups. They also introduced the AgALN program to the Colorado Coalition to Enhance Working Lands, a group of stakeholders, organizations, agency personnel, university faculty, and others coordinating education and policy in the state of Colorado. Quivira also organized and hosted a Next Generation panel at the annual 2018 conference for Quivira Coalition, Holistic Management International and American Grassfed Association in October 2018. Rogue Farm Corps in Oregon helped raise awareness of the resources developed in this project and met with the new Director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture to keep them up to date on Rogue's program and beginning farmer and rancher development issues. Objective 6. Strengthen Farm/Ranch Mentor Skills. During this project period, all of our core partners were involved in mentor trainings and education events as the focus of our Year 3 activities. Please refer to the RVS report for all the workshop dates, topics, and number of attendees. We set up technical assistance (TA) for our network and promoted it at the 2018 AgALN Annual Gathering. New and established apprentice mentors will be able to speak to one of our core partners for up to an hour and get questions answered and guidance about their apprenticeship program. The efforts of this project also have had outcomes related to project partners enhancing their current programming based on continued collaboration within the Community of Practice. For example, Quivira Coalition is working with their current NAP mentors to develop a 2nd year journeyperson curriculum as part of this AgALN effort to build opportunity along the career pathway. They also reorganized their Mentor Training calls to better serve people interested in attending the trainings who are considering offering apprenticeships or internships on their own farms, ranches, or through their organization. Enrollment for the 2019-2020 call series is over 35 attendees and growing. These are the types of outcomes we hope to see through the ongoing community of practice and resulting outcomes of this project. Planning is currently underway to host the 2019 Annual Gathering in Ithaca, NY on November 4 - 5, 2019 in partnership with Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming. The AgALN Annual Gathering will be combined with our annual National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) Field School to bring together land-based beginning farmer training organizations who operate apprenticeship and incubator programs. The event will be renamed the "National Field School" and will feature 24 workshops with two tracks: an incubator workshop track; an apprenticeship workshop track, two field trip tracks, and then two tracks featuring blended incubator/apprenticeship topics in a Resource Showcase or World Café-style discussion. More information on the 2019 National Field School can be found on our website: https://www.nesfp.org/national-and-state-networks/nifti-agaln-field-school

Publications

Progress 08/15/17 to 08/14/18

Outputs
Target Audience:As an Educational Enhancement Team project, to date, the project partners, consisting of non-profits and commercial farms active in apprenticeship training, have been the primary audience of the work. These partners have participated in resource aggregation and development, as well as monthly calls dedicated to advancing the project objectives. Within the past year, the target audience has expanded to include farmers and ranchers across the country as program work moved towards developing a community of practice through distribution of an Annual Survey and formation of the National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network listserv. The farmers and ranchers we aim to engage in the project are those who desire to learn more about opportunities for engaging learners in their operations through starting or refining ag apprenticeship programs. These farmers and ranchers engage in diverse practices from dairy to ranching to horticulture. Our work aims to establish best practices in mentorship that will apply to a wide variety of farming and ranching operations. These include: Limited resource producers Organic producers Small farms Specialty crop producers Women Changes/Problems:No major changes to the scope of work. As can be expected with large group projects, work to complete the drafting and finalization of the Ag Apprenticeship Toolkit took longer than originally expected, however, the conversations which caused this process to be prolonged have greatly benefited the CoP and help us arrive at a common understanding of the work to be completed and some of the challenges we share. As we began resource aggregation, it was clear that our core partners had a wealth of varying experience with on farm labor and learning arrangements. This provided enormous benefit to the work of constructing a table of contents for the toolkit, and exploring how we might compile a comprehensive tool for new farm and ranch mentors. It wasn't until drafting of the toolkit began, that we arrived at our first significant challenge: how to define an apprenticeship. Within our partner group, there are many understandings of how and why apprenticeships are structured and implemented. Some of our partners work within the provisions of the DOL to implement Registered Apprentices, while others work with farmers whose compliance with labor laws is questionable, still others work within DOL criteria for unpaid internships. Within this diverse group, opinions about how apprenticeship arrangements should be structured came front and center, and these conversations took significantly more time than expected, revealing that we are truly in the beginning stages of coming together as a Community of Practice and defining shared language and values. However, arriving at an operating definition of an apprenticeship proved critical to understanding our audience and motivation. Through many months of conversation and research the group decided that a primary value of our work is to identify all available legal options for structuring labor/learning on the farm or ranch and after doing that, to focus on the mentor/learner relationship and how to build programs to support communication, accountability and continuous learning and improvement. We also feel that distinguishing between Registered Apprenticeships, which follow DOL guidelines, and ag apprenticeships, which vary in structure, is important. We provide definitions for these terms in the introduction of the toolkit. If we were to start this project again, knowing what we know now, we would have begun the work of this grant by discussing our values related to on farm learning and labor, as well as our operating definitions and understandings of our work. Establishing this common ground as a first step in the process of working together would have provided a strong foundation of shared understanding to build from as we advanced more routine aspects of the work. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Total Meetings: 34 Total Meeting Participants: 401 Total Webinars: 7 Total Webinar Participants: 578 Total Website Visits: 1171 Total Online Course Participants: 0 Year 2 Meetings 9/5/2017: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 12 10/3/2017: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 5 11/1/2017: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 6 12/4/2017: Boston, MA -- Number of Attendees 12 12/5/2017: Boston, MA -- Number of Attendees 39 10/29/2018: Albuquerque, NM -- Number of Attendees 12 10/29/2018: Albuquerque, NM -- Number of Attendees 40 10/30/2018: Albuquerque, NM -- Number of Attendees 55 1/9/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 6 5/1/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 6 6/5/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 9 6/26/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 11 7/10/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 8 8/7/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 8 9/4/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 6 10/2/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 8 5/30/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 3 7/27/2018: Honolulu, HI -- Number of Attendees 25 2/6/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 6 4/17/2018: online, MA -- Number of Attendees 6 Webinars 6/19/2018: Number of Attendees 40 5/31/2018: Number of Attendees 100 5/11/2018: Number of Attendees 77 4/10/2018: Number of Attendees 100 3/14/2018: Number of Attendees 100 3/6/2018: Number of Attendees 61 1/17/2018: Number of Attendees 100 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The following educational resources have been developed and disseminated to national audiences as part of this project: Internal Resource Database BFRDP Working Group Page which currently houses resources that will constitute a searchable resource library for Apprenticeship Programs Agricultural Labor Laws To be published after review and formatting. Will be reviewed by advisory partners and DOL by Dec 2018. Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship webinar 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. Employment Law for the Farm: Q & A Webinar Producers ask employment law questions to a leading expert in Massachusetts. Beth O'Neal, an employment law attorney and partner at Conn Kavanaugh in Boston. A Conversation with Lowcountry Local First and the Responsive Evolution of an Incubator and Apprenticeship Program Brian Wheat from Lowcountry Local First (https://lowcountrylocalfirst.org/) describes their Good Farming initiative supports sustainable agriculture and is designed to grow and connect the local food system by training new farmers, supporting existing farm businesses and educating consumers. Additionally, they provide consulting services for private companies, municipal government, and anchor institutions to cultivate local farms and fill gaps in economic development activities. Lowcountry Local First has transitioned their farmer training program from an incubator farm model to an apprenticeship model that incorporates apprenticeships with local food businesses as well as farms, providing pathways to careers in food throughout the value chain. Creating A Mutually Rewarding Apprenticeship Experience: Understanding New Farmer Typologies and Skill Aquisition Presenters introduced two curriculum tools, the New England Small Farm Institute's DACUM and the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. Using these tools as a starting place, Abby and Leslie discuss how key interpersonal skills can make or break the success of your apprenticeship program. The presentation will provide professional development for mentor farmers to better understand how skills are built and how to have positive working relationships and decrease conflict on the farm. Ag Employment Law and Your Farm Webinar presented by Beth O'Neal, an employment law attorney and partner at Conn Kavanaugh in Boston. The Power of Networks & the Ag Apprenticeship Network Toolkit Network Resources and Approaches, an online event which will launched the Ag Apprenticeship Toolkit and offered a briefing on the power of networks by Andrew Crosson of Rural Support Partners. Agriculture Apprenticeships: Resources for Best Practices In this presentation, Megan Fehrman, of Rogue Farm Corps, introduced the National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network. This network works to support ag apprenticeship programs by sharing best practices, knowledge and resources, coordinating local and regional training-of-trainer efforts for farm educators and mentors, and fostering peer-to-peer dialogue with programs across the country. She introduced their new toolkit of resources for ag apprentices and the farmers who host them. Lorien E. MacAuley, PhD, of Virginia Tech, presented on her recent research to uncover political implications of ag apprenticeship. In her recent critical ethnographic case study, she worked alongside 19 apprentices on six farms, conducted interviews (n=25) of farmers and ag apprentices, and analyzed documents (n=407) circulated by the local mediating organization who organizes networking and educational opportunities for ag apprentices. A discussion of the findings will explore issues of power, privilege, and equity in ag apprenticeship, as mediated by the values system of the alternative agrifood movement. The study highlights a few directions to explore in ag apprenticeships to maximize the potential for diversity, social justice, and viability of small farm systems. Ag Apprentice Toolkit Version 1.0 This toolkit provides peer reviewed guidance for starting an on-farm/ranch agricultural apprenticeship program, and is intended to serve as a resource guide that unites existing ag apprenticeship programs, shares best practices, and outlines the development and maintenance of a successful professional agricultural training program. This toolkit also seeks to coherently outline the state and federal Department of Labor (DOL) laws surrounding on-farm apprenticeships and the standards that must be met in order to comply with these laws, in hopes of protecting training programs through encouraging movement towards legally compliant structures for on farm labor and learning. Apprentice Case Studies_Tuscon Village Interviews were conducted with ag apprentice programs around the country to highlight different programs and obtain insight about their organization and strengths. Apprentice Case Study_Farm School -Case study highlighting Farm School apprentice program. Apprentice case study_Persephone Farm - Case study highlighting Persephone Farm Apprentice Case Study_Ranchlands- Case study highlighting Ranchlands. Apprentice Case Study_Sprouting Farm -Case study highlighting Sprouting Farm 2018 AgALN Annual Gathering Agenda -Agenda for AgALN Annual Gathering in Albuquerque, NM. 2017 AgALN Annual Gathering Agenda Agenda for 2017 Annual Gathering in Boston, MA. For promotional materials, we also distributed the following: 2017 Network Launch Communications Announce the Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network, sent to core and advisory partners for dissemination, also sent to COMFOOD and Food Policy Networks listserv, CRAFT Listservs, Food Hub listservs 2017 Pre-Conference Promotion -Ag Apprenticeship Projects Nationwide 2018 AgALN Promotional Postcard-Side 1 General postcard to let interested individuals know what the AgALN network is and resources we have available to support their work 2018 AgALN Promotional Postcard-Side 2 Postcard to educate interested individuals about AgALN and resources we have available to support their work What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Steps taken to date include: Assemble core team Initiate core team Review existing materials Establish platform for communication and resource sharing Aggregate existing materials and decide on naming protocol Establish shared language and definition of common terms Establish timelines for resource review and annotation Conduct Resource Review and Gaps Analysis Develop Draft Table of Contents for Ag Apprenticeship Toolkit Meet in person to participate in visioning for the future of an apprenticeship network, sharing of skills and strengths of members of the network, and mapping of the role of next generation agrarians in the food system Incorporate learning from gathering into project goals Partners select Toolkit sections to draft Drafting of toolkit Review of draft begins Engagement of advisory partners for input and review Begin development of network resources: website, map, listserv, survey Finalize development of resource, website, map, listserv and survey after review by partners Announce network & distribute survey Establish relationship with DOL representative Begin development of ag apprenticeship case studies Convene two national gatherings of ag apprenticeship programs to solidify network and explore the strengths and challenges of the apprenticeship model with members of a national CoP Develop and disseminate technical assistance protocol to help assist ag apprentice program staff Seven webinars related to ag apprentice labor and other topics have been completed and recorded Steps to be taken include: Distill information gathered at the National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network's annual gathering into topics for resources and webinars. Core partners host regional 'Train-the-Trainer' events in their geographic areas Develop resource toolkit on Mentor Training topics for professional development to share among apprenticeship training programs Implement technical assistance and referral process More outreach and promotion of listserv, toolkit, webinars, etc. Work to evaluate and report on national ag apprentice efforts Implement standards for Ag Apprentice map

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During Year 2 of the grant, we have continued to make progress on our objectives of the grant project for the Ag Apprentice Learning Group (AgALN). Objective 1. Coordinate Project Team. The core partners and advisory partners were assembled in Year 1. We have established a monthly conference call time which we require core partners to attend and encourage advisory partners to attend and participate as well. These phone calls are used to work towards planning the AgALN Annual Gathering and to discuss best practices for completing different aspects of the project and begin brainstorming about future funding sources for the AgALN group as well. All monthly calls were completed during Year 2 of the project. Objectives 2-4 were completed during Year 1. Objective 5. Disseminate Educational Resources. We have hosted seven webinars related to ag apprenticeships, titles of the webinars are below. Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship webinar: Working with adult learners, professional development of ag apprenticeship masters/mentors Employment Law for the Farm: Q&A A Conversation with Lowcountry Local First and the Responsive Evolution of an Incubator and Apprenticeship Program Creating A Mutually Rewarding Apprenticeship Experience: Understanding New Farmer Typologies and Skill Acquisition Ag Employment Law and Your Farm The Power of Networks & the Ag Apprenticeship Network Toolkit Agriculture Apprenticeships: Resources for Best Practices We also presented about the AgALN network and creating diverse apprenticeship programs at the July 2018 SAEA (Sustainable Ag Educators Association) Conference in Hawaii (Rogue Farm Corps - Megan Ferhman was present at the conference and Jennifer Hashley and Lorien MacAulley presented remotely). Objective 6. Strengthen Farm/Ranch Mentor Skills. This will be a focus for Year 3 of the grant. Objective 7: Support a Community of Practice The 2018 AgALN Annual Gathering was held October 29-31, 2018 as a pre-conference to the 2018 Regenerate Conference hosted by Quivira Coalition, Holistic Management International, and the American Grassfed Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had 55 people attend the one and a half day Gathering. The Gathering involved farm tours to two nearby farms, 'Grow the Grower' program and Chispas Farm and an evening networking reception. The second day featured eight presentations/workshops about supporting farm mentors and strengthening ag apprentice programs, talk titles are listed below. "Building an Agroecological Apprentice Program" "S.I.C.(Simplicity, Innovation, Creativity): Farming with Veterans & AccessingVABenefits" "A Look at Evaluations and Skills Assessments: Discussion on Tools, Tips, and Techniques" "The Care and Feeding of Mentors: Support and Skills for Long-Term Mentoring" "Mentoring a Successor: What's Different?" "Strategies for Building Successful Apprentice Programs: A Look at Several Different Programs Across the Country" "Passing laws to support ag apprenticeships: HowCO's Ag Workforce Development Program can offer a roadmap for other states" "Formal apprenticeship showcase: Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship (PASA) + Organic Vegetable Farm Manager Apprenticeship (University of Wisconsin-Madison)" We closed the Gathering with group discussions related to ag apprenticeships. During the Gathering, core and advisory partners were able tomeet and discuss building a list of standards for apprenticeship programs, these standards will be used to determine who is eligible to be placed on our Ag Apprentice Map. We also discussed remaining grant objectives of the project and how to leverage future funding to continue to the work of this network. We set up technical assistance (TA) for our network and promoted it at the AgALN Annual Gathering. New and established apprentice mentors will be able to speak to one of our core partners for up to an hour and get questions answered and guidance about their apprenticeship program. We have presented about AgALN at national conferences, including a panel and breakout session at the 2018 BFRDP PD conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In July, one of our core partners from Rogue Farm Corps and PD from New Entry presented about the network at the Sustainable Agriculture Educator's Association Meeting in Hawaii. Objective 8: Track and Evaluate Outcomes. This will be a focus for Year 3 of the grant.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, 2018. A Guide to Developing or Improving an Ag Apprenticeship Training Program on Your Farm or Ranch This toolkit was developed by the Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network, including New Entry and the following partners: Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Rogue Farm Corps, Quivira Coalition, Vilicus Farms.

Progress 08/15/16 to 08/14/17

Outputs
Target Audience:To date, the project partners, consisting of non-profits and commercial farms active in apprenticeship training, have been the primary audience of the work. These partners have participated in resource aggregation and development, as well as monthly calls dedicated to advancing the project objectives. WIthin the past two months, the target audience has expanded to include farmers and ranchers across the country as program work movedtowards developing a community of practice through distribution of an Annual Survey and formation of the National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network listserv. The farmers and ranchers we aim to engage in the project are those who desire to learn more about opportunities for engaging learners in their operations through starting or refining ag apprenticeship programs. These farmers and ranchers engage in diverse practices from dairy to ranching to horticulture. Our work aims to establish best practices in mentorship that will apply to a wide variety of farming and ranching operations. Changes/Problems:Work to complete the drafting and finalization of the Ag Apprenticeship Toolkit has taken longer than originally expected, however, the conversations which caused this process to be prolonged have greatly benefited the CoP and help us arrive at a common understanding of the work to be completed and some of the challenges we share. As we began resource aggregation, it was clear that our core partners had a wealth of varying experience with on farm labor and learning arrangements. This provided enormous benefit to the work of constructing a table of contents for the toolkit, and exploring how we might compile a comprehensive tool for new farm and ranch mentors. It wasn't until drafting of the toolkit began, that we arrived at our first significant challenge: how to define an apprenticeship. Within our partner group, there are many understandings of how and why apprenticeships are structured and implemented. Some of our partners work within the provisions of the DOL to implement Registered Apprentices, while others work with farmers whose compliance with labor laws is questionable, still others work within DOL criteria for unpaid internships. Within this diverse group, opinions about how apprenticeship arrangements should be structured came front and center, and these conversations took significantly more time than expected, revealing that we are truly in the beginning stages of coming together as a Community of Practice and defining shared language and values. However, arriving at an operating definition of an apprenticeship proved critical to understanding our audience and motivation. Through many months of conversation and research the group decided that a primary value of our work is to identify all available legal options for structuring labor/learning on the farm or ranch and after doing that, to focus on the mentor/learner relationship and how to build programs to support communication, accountability and continuous learning and improvement. We also feel that distinguishing between Registered Apprenticeships, which follow DOL guidelines, and ag apprenticeships, which vary in structure, is important. We provide definitions for these terms in the introduction of the toolkit. The time spent in exploration of terms and values have resulted in a delay on full liaising with the DOL and completion of the toolkit, however we are on track to complete these project components before January 2018. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The first National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network meeting will take place on December 5th, and will include professional development training on the topic of: Legal Structures for on-Farm/Ranch Labor and Learning, Establishing Expectations and Effective Communications with Apprentices, Developing Apprenticeship Curriculum, Farm/Ranch Mentor Professional Development Opportunities and Needs,Feedback, Assessment and Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Program, Outreach and Recruitment to Find the Best Candidates, Career Services and Ongoing Support for Apprentices, and Policy Innovations, Funding, and Research Needed to Support Field-Based Learning. This opportunity is open to up to 50 people and participants will help define the future of the Community of Practice. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from the Ag Apprenticeship Annual Survey will not be available until December, but they will be disseminated widely via partner networks through the development of an infographic. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Throughout the next reporting period, significant work will be accomplished towards Objectives 3, 5 and 7. Towards fulfillment of Objective 3: Continue to liaisewith the US Department of Labor and Federal Education and Training Administration and State Bureaus of Labor to review materials and enter into dialogue about agricultural labor challenges. Once review by the DOL is complete, we will finalize a"plain language" fact sheet on farm labor laws for farm/ranch mentors. Towards fulfillment of Objective 5: Using results from the Ag Apprenticeship Annual Survey, New Entry and project partners will design and deliver a series of educational Webinars to showcase topics and materials from Toolkit. We hope to host four webinars per year on topics TBD. New Entry and core/advisory partners will completed RFPs to present ag apprenticeship resources at regional and national conferences Towards fulfillment of Objective 5: New Entry will continue CoP efforts by maintaining and expanding the existing ag apprenticeship map and listserv, and byhosting an annual in-person national gathering/conference of Apprenticeship Training Programs in 2018 and 2019. Toolkit resources and fact sheetswill be widely shared as they are developed.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? New Entry's National Team is making steady progress on the objectives defined in the original proposal. Progress to date is captured below under the corresponding objectives. Very few challenges have arisen in the work so far; those which have will be mentioned. Objective 1. Coordinate Project Team New Entry's Director and National Apprenticeship Coordinator have successfully assembled a group of core partners, including 5 programs from across the country that are all either hosting an apprenticeship program or providing support to apprenticeship programs in some way. These organizations are: Vilicus Farms, MT Dairy Grazing Association, WI Quivira Coalition, NM Rogue Farm Corps, OR Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association, ME Core partner involvement to date has consisted of participation in monthly web meetings, which have been devoted to harmonizing definitions of options for on-farm labor and learning, discussing network strategy, aggregating and organizing program materials, drafting an Apprenticeship Toolkit, refining a National Ag Apprenticeship Survey, and planning a National Ag Apprenticeship Network meeting. In June, the New Entry team hosted the first web meeting for an expanded group of over 20 advisory team members. This call introduced the work of the core team to date, presented levels of possible engagement in the project, and provided an opportunity for questions and discussion. A follow-up survey was distributed after the call, and results were used to determine how and when to engage advisory partners based on their desired level of engagement and the amount of time they have to contribute to the work. Objective 2: Assess Resources Throughout the first two months of this project, core partners contributed to a centralized resource library on apprenticeship program definition, development and implementation. Resources were collected from partners using a Google Site, which is currently just being used internally, and are grouped according to the following categories: Apprenticeship Programs Contracts Curriculum Evaluation Fundraising Mentors Recruitment Toolkit There are over 150 resources in this holding library, which have all been annotated in anticipation of their inclusion in a public, searchable Resource Library which will be hosted on New Entry's website. This library is currently being built by New Entry's web developer. It is anticipated that New Entry's advisory partners will also contribute to this library, bringing the number of resources to over 250 by the completion of this grant. Objective 3: Research Formal Apprenticeship Requirements Research into the Department of Labor (DOL) requirements is underway. All DOL fact sheets and resources related to Apprenticeship work and relevant labor laws have been indexed, annotated, and compiled into a draft plain language fact sheet on options for on-farm labor and learning. Our next step in this process is a scheduled meeting with DOL contacts to vet our materials and expand or refine as necessary. Objective 4: Develop a Comprehensive Apprenticeship Training "Toolkit." Core partners, with leadership from New Entry and working from the resources aggregated in completion of Objective 2, have completed a draft and preliminary review of an Apprenticeship Training "Toolkit." This toolkit, now at 140 pages, is built from the table of contents listed below. The only challenges in this project to date have resulted from differing opinions on terminology for options for hands-on learning on farms, which arose during the toolkit drafting process. As a group, core partners and New Entry staff have spent a significant amount of time considering the benefits and drawbacks of existing legal categories for on-farm labor, and how they both restrict and benefit mentors and mentees. We have agreed on operating definitions of terms which honor existing practices while encouraging legal compliance. The Toolkit is currently being reviewed and edited for tone and consistency by a single editor, and it will then be sent to advisory partners for their review. Graphic design and formatting will follow to complete the final guide which will be posted online and broadly disseminated. Toolkit Table Of Contents Introduction About the Toolkit Vision and Major Objectives Methodology Options for structuring on-Farm Labor and Learning Internship Programs Apprenticeship Programs Farm Employees Educational Partnerships Building an Apprenticeship Program Laying the Groundwork Roles & Responsibilities Finding the Right Person Fundraising Developing Your Apprenticeship Curriculum What Skills Need to Be Taught Establishing Expectations Feedback and Assessment Hosting and Employment Compensation Housing Allowance Food Compensation Additional Policies Employment Contract Career Services & Ongoing Support Evaluating the Apprenticeship Program Tracking Graduates Toolkit Resources and References Case Studies Objective 5: Disseminate Educational Resources Dissemination of educational materials has not yet begun, but a website, including an interactive map of apprenticeship programs has been built, and a listserv has been formed. We have disseminated the Ag Apprenticeship Annual Survey which will be used to identify areas in which farm and ranch mentors desire training. Core partners will then design a series of webinars and trainings according to topics articulated by survey respondents. Objective 6: Support a Community of Practice (CoP) Peer-to-peer sharing has already taken root among the core team, and will continue to deepen as the project progresses. An Apprenticeship Gathering was held in Paicines, CA coordinated by our partner, Quivira Coalition from February 1 - 4, 2017 with over 22 organizations represented. The three-day meeting covered visioning for the future of an apprenticeship network, sharing skills and strengths of members of the network, and mapping the role of next generation agrarians in the food system. A pre-conference to the Community Food Systems Conference, taking place in Boston December 6-7, 2017, is scheduled for December 5th, and will be an opportunity to explore the challenges ahead and opportunities for expanded action, plus highlight efforts underway to strengthen support for Apprenticeship Training programs across the country. The pre-conference is designed to engage programs and farm and ranch mentors in sessions that will improve their practical training skills and enhance next generation farmer outcomes. Currently, the agenda includes sessions on: Legal Structures for on-Farm/Ranch Labor and Learning Strategies for Building a Successful Apprenticeship Program Outreach and Recruitment to Find the Best Candidates Developing Apprenticeship Curriculum Establishing Expectations and Effective Communications with Apprentices Feedback, Assessment and Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Program Farm/Ranch Mentor - Professional Development Opportunities and Needs Career Services and Ongoing Support for Apprentices Policy Innovations, Funding, and Research Needed to Support Field-Based Learning As the network begins to coalesce around this event, we hope to build interest in future CoP events, including webinars, regional training and opportunities for technical assistance.

Publications