Young Agrarians Business Mentorship Network - Applications Now Open!

The Young Agrarians Business Mentorship Network (BMN) is now accepting applications!

Young Agrarians (YA) is a farmer to farmer educational resource network for new and young ecological, organic, and regenerative farmers in Canada. It is volunteer-driven, with farmers across the country organizing on-farm events and building community to create spaces for knowledge sharing and growth. YA is comprised of people new to agriculture, rural or urban, who value food, farmers, ecology, and community. Their core focus demographic is 20-40 years but they accept agrarians of all ages.

The Business Mentorship Network aims to provide new farmers, next generation farmers, or farmers adding a new enterprise to an existing farm business with an opportunity to build their business knowledge and use it to grow their farm operations and achieve long-term viability.

The YA Business Mentorship Network matches up new farmers (1-5 years in business) with seasoned farmers to cultivate their skills. Mentees receive approximately 30-hours of mentorship, primarily in the late winter/spring planting season with check-ins during the summer season. Mentors will help analyze your operations and chart a course to move forwards towards financial sustainability, overcome obstacles, and achieve your business goals. Mentorships can be by phone, email, and site visits where possible.

Farmers in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba can apply to be mentors or mentees with YA between October 1 - 31, 2023.

The BMN provides:

• 30 hours of one-on-one mentorship with an experienced farmer.
• A mentorship framework, business resources, and support from the BMN program coordinator to facilitate your mentorship process.
• A financial literacy webinar series with content and Q&A sessions focused on business and financial development.
• A private Facebook group and monthly Kitchen Table Meet-Up Sessions during the summer to share questions, challenges and victories with other BMN Mentees.
• Access to the Young Agrarians network to help you get to know other farmers in your community.

Program commitments include:

• Participate in 30 hours of mentorship over the course of the year, scheduled to meet your needs.
• Participate in the orientation sessions, webinar series, and a closing session.
• Submit previous year and current year financial metrics, land in production, and volume of food produced.
• Complete two blog posts, one in the spring and one in the fall.
• Add your farm and 1-3 of your favourite resources to the Young Agrarians U-Map: maps.youngagrarians.org
• Complete a program evaluation.
• Pay a $100 program fee.

For more information on the organization and how to apply, please visit their website: youngagrarians.org