Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Through this project, we reached 140 participants in the first year of which 6 were apprentices. These participants were involved in trainings and field days. The target audience was mostly beginning farmers with over half of the participants being women. At our field day events, we had meaningful engagement from the Latinx community. Changes/Problems:We initially intended on having farmers craft business plans during their first few months as apprentices, but found that our participants were not quite ready for this step. In hindsight this makes sense: farmers who are not yet confident in their production skills and who have very little experience running their own businesses need more data before they can confidently construct a plan to provide useful guidance. Our plan moving forward is to work closely with our farmer apprentices to ensure they have the training they need to create a map forward for their farming futures. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We provided an Apprenticeship programand Field Days during this first year of the project. Apprenticeship Program Six apprentices went through an intensive training program covering 18 different topics and touring multiple farming operations in the region. The training curricum covered irrigation, crop planning, marketing, LEAN design, soil health, cooperative farming, seed saving, rotational grazing, composting, and other topics critical to farm management. The course guided participants through each of these learning topics with in-classroom lessons and on-farm training. Tours of partner farms reinforced lessons learned and provided the apprentices with a variety of perspectives on successful farming strategies. Field Days We conducted seven field days in Year 1. These community field days created connections and opportunities for shared learning. Local farmers and community partners learned about farming techniques and the fundamential skills needed to launch and manage farming operations. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Below we have outlined the steps we intend to move forward in the next reporting period organized by objective. Objective 1: Develop and Launch "The Ecosystem Resource Lab" website: an educational and community portal for farmers of all skill levels. Develop framework for sharing information through the Resource Hub. Partner with hired website developer skilled in bilingual web platforms to create a bilingual website. Pilot website, collect feedback, and refine. Create a marketing plan for "The Ecosystem Resource Lab" to be disseminated through the Farm Collaborative's network, including partner channels. Objective 2: Prepare to launch The Farm Collaborative Apprenticeship Program. Develop and formalize The Ecosystem Resource Lab. Create marketing and recruitment plan for Y2 apprenticeshipprograms engaging key outreach partners throughout the region Execute recruitment plan including an application deadline for formal Apprenticeship Program Objective 3: Provide farmer training on production, business planning, finances, marketing, land access, and climate smart agriculture Select Apprentices for Y2. Launch and run the updated Apprenticeship Programs for Y2. Objective 4: Ensure long-term farm viability and success of apprentices through individualized resource matching and continued relationship building within the farmer community. Connect farmers with local resources, including but not limited to zero interest loan opportunities via the 2Forks Club, equipment library, marketing opportunities (especially through the farm-to-food pantry program), local housing library, connecting to partner land access organizations, and more, including tailored business support classes for farmers. 15 farmers receive tailored support in Y2 Empower enrollees in the apprenticeship program to educate their peers, including field day attendees and the next cohort of beginning farmers Conduct one-on-one sessions with 15 enrollees to discuss local solutions and obstacles to young farmers launching businesses. Sustain farmer engagement through farm meet ups, virtual gatherings, and/or online social platforms with 100+ farmers remaining engaged with The Farm Collaborative and partners in Y2.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Many "beginning farmers" are ready to step into management, or have placed themselves in farm ownership positions, and are not interested in an apprenticeship-level program. Similarly, many could-be farmers are "just looking" and need avenues for guided first steps. This BFRDP project is designed to educate farmers of all skill levels in the western fork of Colorado through tailored training and programming. Through our work, we have been able to work with both new and experienced farmers. Below we have outlined our accomplishments across the four major objectives of this grant. Objective 1: Develop and Launch "The Ecosystem Resource Lab" website: an educational and community portal for farmers of all skill levels. We have met with farmers and developed our framework to share information through this resource hub. We hired a web developer beginning in December of 2023 and are on track to launch an updated website in 2025 that will serve as an ecosystem resource lab. Objective 2: Prepare to launch The Farm Collaborative Apprenticeship Program. We hired the Agricultural Programs Manager and the Ecosystem Support Manager. We have developed a curriculum for the program including learning modules, on-farm training, and farm visits. We worked with 6 apprentices to trial the new and improved apprenticeship program in Year 1. Feedback showed that the new curriculum materials were well received. Objective 3: Provide farmer training on production, business planning, finances, marketing, land access, and climate smart agriculture. Apprenticeship Program: 6 apprentices were engaged with education on soil health and climate smart practices like rainwater harvesting. They were also very interested in our general nursery and irrigation courses and are looking forward to learning more about seed saving this fall. We plan to bring our lessons learned from year 1 of curriculum development to our regional partners for feedback, and to integrate our partners' work into the curriculum more heavily in year 2. Field Days: We conducted seven field days in 2024 serving 134. Based on farmer feedback, we will provide complimentary webinars during the winter season. The webinars will help us develop web content, and will reach a broader audience (since farmers can watch from their homes and avoid travel). They will also well position us for in-person field days in Year 2. Objective 4: Ensure long-term farm viability and success of farmers through individualized resource matching and continued relationship building within the farmer community. Via our Apprenticeship program, we conducted an assessment where all participants filled out a survey on where they are in the context of their farming journey. We found our farmers were not quite ready to write a business plan. Instead, most of these beginning farmers were oriented into getting a taste of farming "on the ground" to gather the information and experience needed to craft a useful business plan for themselves in the future. Our 2Forks Loan program continues to accept applications from farmers who are seeking financing for their ventures. In the first year of this program, we were able to redesign the Apprenticeship Program to serve 6 pilot participants setting them up for future growth. This pilot year also allowed us to refine our delivery methods and ensure that our curriculum was sound. We coupled this with a robust field day program that served 134 existing farmers in the region where existing farmers could learn how to move into more management and ownership opportunities.

Publications