1. Advancing the Beginning Farmer PIPELINE
Chris Wayne, Grow NYC
Jennifer Hashley, New Entry

2. FARMroots Beginning Farmer Program
Stage Specific Programming
Farm Beginnings 10-week Course
Shoulder-to-Shoulder Mentorship
Kiva Loans (Superlender)
3 Years Technical Assistance
Land
Capital
Markets

3. New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

4. Beginning Farmer Development Stages
Prospective Farmers Beginning Farmers
Recruits
*Explorer
* Planner
* Start-up
Re-strategizers
*Enterprise
Establishers

5. Explorer Expected Years before Farm Start: 3-10 years
Experience: little to no commercial ag experience
Commitment: curiosity, but no financial commitment and minimal time-based commitment; does not have commitment of family or partners, conceptually not committed
Understanding of regional Ag Resources: minimal, does not have knowledge of regional landscape; depends on service providers for all basic information
Current Ag Network: underdeveloped; not connected to other farmers or service providers
Current Resource: May have access to land, capital, markets, assets
People need to stay here until they have a clear sense of their enterprises or their interest in an agricultural career – they need exposure here to larger agricultural landscape and potential professions
Doesn’t need to be linear either – people move back to explorer stage for new enterprises –
Understanding the responsibility of owning land
NYFC working on a lease calculator – affordability calculator

6. 2nd Career Farmer
Has access to resources (land, capital, markets, assets) but only exploring
Additionally helpful to identify commonalities amongst all farmers
Legacy farmers
Ability to break down barriers
Speed at which a beginning farmer may be able to move through stages
Growing New Farmers and DACUM core competencies – exploring the small farm dream

7. Explorer
Questions:
What new audiences might BFR service providers be overlooking for outreach?
What training programs already exist for Explorer BFR’s?
What are some of the core competencies that an Explorer BFR should have before they move to the Planner stage?
What skills do BFR service providers need to develop to better serve Explorers?
How can BFR service providers better service Explorers?
What are the bottlenecks that keep Explorers from moving to Planners?

8. Planner Expected Years before Farm Start: 2-5 years
Experience: at least one full season of commercial ag experience with enterprises they are considering
Commitment: has shown some financial commitment and allots some portion of weekly time to planning farm business; has interest from family or partners
Understanding of regional Ag Resources: generally understands what resources are available but without any technical knowledge
Current Ag Network: somewhat developed; indirectly connected to other farmers or service providers

9. Planner
Questions:
What successful training programs already exist for Planner BFR’s?
What are some of the core competencies that a Planner BFR should have before they move to the Start-Up stage?
What skills do BFR service providers need to develop to better serve Planners?
How can BFR service providers better service Planners?
What are the bottlenecks that keep Planners from moving to Start-up BFR?

10. Start-Up
Expected Years before Farm Start: 1 year away from starting own farm or within first 1-3 years of business ownership
Experience: two or more full seasons of ag experience; ideally in a farm management position or other position of business responsibility
Commitment: has shown legitimate financial investment and allots at least 50% time/week to develop farm business; has commitment of family or partners to begin business
Understanding of regional Ag Resources: knows where to look for agricultural resources, needs support from service providers to assist in technical areas
Current Ag Network: well developed; is directly associated with at least one mentor farmer; a variety of other farmers and appropriate service providers

11. Start-Up
Questions:
What successful training programs already exist for Start-Up BFR’s?
What are some of the core competencies that a Start-Up BFR should have before they move to the Enterprise stage?
What skills do BFR service providers need to develop to better serve Start-Ups?
How can BFR service providers better service Start-Ups?
What are the bottlenecks that keep Start-Ups from moving to Enterprise BFR stage?

12. Enterprise Expected Years before Farm Start: 4-10 years farming
Experience: three years of business ownership
Commitment: devoted to lifetime of farming and expends majority of resources and time on the farm business
Understanding of regional Ag Resources: well-developed, works with service providers only on technical issues
Current Ag Network: well developed, including a range of mentor farmers and service providers

13. Enterprise Questions:
What successful training programs already exist for Enterprise BFR’s?
What are some of the core competencies that a Enterprise BFR should have?
What are the bottlenecks that keep Enterprise BFRs from becoming successful Career Farmers?
How can BFR service providers better service Enterprise BFRs?
What skills do BFR service providers need to develop to better serve Enterprise BFRs?

14. Group Breakout
Break into groups that you predominantly serve (or count off)
Discuss your programs’ ability to serve beginning farmers at this stage of development
Discuss the gaps in beginning farmer training that are causing bottlenecks
What would it take to expand the pipeline at the different stages of development?
How do we develop efficiencies to move people through the pipeline (faster, more qualified?)?