Pre-Apprenticeship graduates

Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship provides introductory hands-on training for people who want to explore sustainable farming as a career but have little to no prior farming experience. Our pre-apprenticeship program is hosted by local partner organizations with established farmer training programs focused on teaching sustainable growing practices. 

To graduate, each pre-apprentice had to complete 225 hours of on-the-job training and 25 hours of related technical instruction. They also had to demonstrate competency in 15 core skill areas around vegetable production and farm business.

Carlie Antes

Host site: Dickinson College Farm

Farm Stat: hundreds of pounds of potatoes harvested with a team of four in one day

Favorite farm task: harvest

Least favorite farm task: sorting tomatoes

Favorite beneficial insect, organism, or critter: Lactobacillus

How did you grow from this experience?

“I never farmed before this.

I was surprised by the strength and leadership I gained. By the end of the season, I found myself leading our students and volunteers with ease and answering the same questions I had when I started.

A college supervisor told me ‘all we can do is take care of our small part of the world,’ and I feel like I can really live by that while farming and promoting accessible local food systems.”

What’s next: Carlie is taking the next step in her farming career: starting her two-season apprenticeship at New Morning Farm.

Sarah Kim

Host site: Truelove Seeds

Farm stat: “An innumerable and growing number of seeds and seed stories I’ve learned about through the different farmers I’ve connected to.” 

Favorite farm task: seed cleaning and collecting “—but it really depends on the crop.”

Least favorite: weeding

 Favorite beneficial insect, organism, or critter: mantids

What’s a story or memory that stands out from this experience?

“One of the best memories I have of this time is actually planting Korean crops at Truelove’s acreage, one of which was Korean cosmos—my grandfather’s favorite flower.”

What’s a lesson you learned that you would pass along to someone considering pre-apprenticeship?

“It’s truly about the people you work with and the community and solidarity you build with them.” 

Shout out: “Pasa is great!”

What’s next: Sarah plans to continue farm work with Truelove and, as an artist, hopes to merge their experience in agriculture with an environmentally-focused creative practice.

Abigail Schaus

Host site: LaFarm — Lafayette College

Farm stat: “8 awesome farmworkers I managed and mentored last season!”

Favorite farm task: harvesting brussels sprouts

Least favorite: repairing holes in drip-tape irrigation

Favorite beneficial insect, organism, or critter: worms

What’s something unique you brought to this pre-apprenticeship?

“During my time on the farm, I worked to bring intersectional lenses into the conversation, providing space for all identities in a way that things about food and farm work as a safe space for dialogue, expression, and understanding.”

How did you grow from this experience?

“This experience developed my confidence in managing multiple tasks.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to learn new responsibilities, whether it be coordinating tasks for other farmworkers or controlling the irrigation system.”

Shoutout: “Thank you, Lisa, for your incredible work as pre-apprenticeship manager, and for caring about humans, soil, plants, and creatures in such meaningful, inspirational ways!”

What’s next: Abigail is currently serving as an intern for a community garden program and working toward completing her undergraduate degree in environmental studies.

Apprenticeship graduates

Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship pairs beginning farmers with established mentor farmers to provide a guided pathway toward managing or starting a vegetable farm.

To graduate, each apprentice completed 2,700+ hours of on-the-job training and 200+ hours of coursework over at least 18 months. Now they’re embarking on careers growing a more sustainable food system.

Delilah Miske

Host farm: Katydid Hill

Farm stat: helped grow, harvest and dry about 1,000 pounds of dried medicinal plants

Favorite farm task: seeding or tractor cultivation

Least favorite: punching holes in the header of irrigation pipes

Favorite beneficial insect, organism, or critter: praying mantis and swallowtail

What’s a story or memory that stands out from your apprenticeship?

“Harvesting fresh milky oats by hand, and learning the ripeness by squeezing the latex out of the pods. That same day, I made the biggest tincture of my life using a large drum and a very large immersion blender.”

How did you grow from this experience?

“I learned how to do things that once intimidated me, confidently.

I learned all the ins and outs of running and managing a farm. From rebranding to fixing the tractor to seeding and going to markets. I got a real experience of what it takes to get locally grown goods out to a community.”

Shout out: “I am just so grateful for [mentor farmers] Ben and Katelyn and to Dan for all that I have learned and will continue to explore because of this experience.”

What’s next: Delilah is pivoting to writing work that supports farms and conservation organizations. Her ultimate goal is to find land in the Appalachian mountains, where she hopes to grow woodland medicinals like ginseng, goldenseal, reishi, cordyceps and more.

Ventura Ortiz

Host farm: Apple Ridge Farm

Farm stat: “I have worked at about 8 different markets over the past two years from all the way up in Warwick, NY to Wrightstown, PA.”

Favorite farm task: planting seedlings

Least favorite: weeding “—it feels like a never ending war against weeds!”

Favorite beneficial insect, organism, or critter: ladybugs

What experience got you interested in farming?

“I was not really connected to food or community growing up, I was a video gaming, fast food fan.

But when my family decided to move to a place with enough land to be able to have chickens, goats, ducks, and even turkeys—It made me realize I wanted to get involved, and find a farmer who could teach me how to start my own farm.”

How did you grow from this experience?

Only being 18 going into the apprenticeship, I have matured and learned so much from so many people!

I grew in many ways, from having to take on the role of teaching my fellow farmworkers to teaching myself to speak up and take the initiative to solve problems when they arise.

What’s next: Ventura has stepped into a role as head brewer at Untamed Ferments, a value-added operation making kombucha from surplus crops (started by her boyfriend Erik Sink—another apprenticeship graduate).

Michael Salzl

Host farm: nook & cranny

Farm stat: 5,000 shares worth of vegetables provided to CSA members

Favorite farm task: harvesting cabbages

Least favorite: deconstructing cucumber trellises

Favorite beneficial insect, organism, or critter: garter snakes

What’s a story or memory that stands out from your apprenticeship?

“I remember during my second year in the program, our farm had an end of summer party for our crew and CSA members. I felt a lot of pride being able to share knowledge about our farm with families who directly supported us.”

What’s a lesson you learned that you would pass along to someone considering Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship?

“I learned that people in this network truly want to share their experiences and knowledge. It is crucial to really put yourself out there early because the experiences you make early in the program snowball, and determine who you meet and the interests you can pursue for the rest of the apprenticeship.”

How did you grow from this experience?

“This experience helped demystify the art of farming for me.

Before my experience growing food seemed like a magic trick, and now I feel like it is a crucial and attainable piece of any household or community.”

Shout out: “Dan and I would spend 99% of our check-in meetings talking about farm business, but we would be sure to chat at the end about our shared love for soccer, in particular the English Premier League.”

What’s next: Michael has accepted a position as a crew member on an organic no-till diversified farm in his home state of Minnesota, and will work towards the dream of owning and operating his farm in the future.

What’s the next step in your farming career?

Whether you’ve been farming for decades, have a year or two of ag experience under your belt, or have never set foot on a farm—Pasa has farmer education and training opportunities for anyone who’s looking to grow.

The post Meet some recent Apprenticeship & Pre-Apprenticeship graduates appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

She also reflected on what she’s learned through working with her mentor farmers to start her own enterprise and redefine the vision for the farm—homing in on the herbs that love to grow on the rocky hills of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.

What experiences made you want to farm?

I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I did grow up catching frogs in creeks. I was always very curious about the living world. My dad is a florist and landscaper, so our conversations always involved me asking him what the name of that blue puffy flower was or if something was a perennial in Pennsylvania.

That said, I got my bachelor’s degree in fine art, and after that I moved to Philadelphia. I lived there for a few years, nannying and trying to make some art on the side. But I was always trying to find ways to travel out of the city; to tend to land.

Herbs were my gateway into agriculture. 

A friend who was farming at the time recommended I look into this three-month internship at Herbpharm in Oregon, where you worked on the farm and took herbal classes. I did that and learned so much in such a short period of time, but also realized how much I didn’t know about agriculture. Something that is so important in our daily lives—food, tea, medicine—so much work and time goes into producing those things. I just wanted to learn more.

What about this farm made it feel like the right place to learn more?

Katydid Hill (formerly Tooth of the Lion) is in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, which is where I grew up.

Having learned to farm out west, in Oregon and Hawaii, my teachers out there would talk about the East Coast, and Pennsylvania specifically—how amazing the soil is. And I couldn’t believe that growing up here, I had never had that awareness.

When I learned that there was a medicinal herb farm in the county I grew up in, I just felt like I had to go and work there. I specifically moved back to the area because of this farm, to learn how to cultivate these plants in a familiar place, close to home. 

Did farming in the place where you grew up give you a different perspective on that land?

Totally. This is coal country. Growing up, I didn’t even really know it was possible to farm here —because of the rocky soil, the hills, and impact of mining on the region. 

Growing on this land has also given me such a deeper understanding of the seasons and cycles here in Pennsylvania.

Prior to farming I had no idea how in depth you can familiarize yourself with a piece of land. It seems like the more time you spend in these hills, the more they show you and the more you can learn from them.

Just within the two years here, I have seen shifts in what plants did really well compared to last year, pest pressure, and how the differences in the weather affect the growing season. 

How have your Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship mentor farmers, Katelyn Melvin and Ben Wissinger, supported and maybe even shaped you as a farmer? 

Both Katelyn and Ben have taught me so much, from running a small business to learning how to identify plants at different stages in their life cycle, to just overall asking the hard philosophical and moral questions that come with the territory of agriculture. 

We also have some pretty steep hills here, which were very intimidating when I first started. Especially on the tractor.

But they were so supportive of me and were just like, “You got it!” And now I feel much more confident. Learning how to drive a tractor on a hill… I feel like driving straight on level land is nothing. 

They even suggested you develop your own product line.

Yeah! Katelyn and Ben presented the idea of me having my own enterprise project going into my second year of apprenticeship, where I would break down the budget, order supplies for the project, and grow what’s needed. I was thinking about how I learned about herbs, and it wasn’t until I had a direct experience either making medicine or seeing the living plants that I felt I really understood how it all worked.

Hands on learning has always been my favorite way to pick up on things, and I wanted to give that to our community.

I wanted to create an interactive project that gave people an experience with herbalism. 

I decided to develop a kit where they could make their own herbal salve and learn about calendula through direct experience with it.

An interesting and kind of surprising part of developing the new product line has been learning about the marketing side of things. That’s something I really didn’t understand before. It’s a really important part of owning a small business, and it can actually be really fun!

I think I used to feel like marketing is like this manipulative thing… But I’ve found when you’re growing a product that you’re truly passionate about, the marketing can be really genuine and honest, and like this creative outlet. 

I can definitely see that creativity at work. You made a zine to go along with the calendula salve kit? 

Yes. The zine idea started as an instructional guide about how to do the project. It gradually evolved and unfolded into writing about how calendula has been used historically, some interpretations of magic, and a little background about myself and why we choose to farm sustainably. 

So, I understand Tooth of the Lion is becoming Katydid Hill. Can you tell us a bit about the new name and vision for the farm—what sparked this change?

To put it simply: Love.

Kately​​n started this farm. And through farming, she met Ben. They fell in love, got married, and wanted to reshape the farm to show the transition to shared ownership. Tooth of the Lion was the roots that have grown into the newly reformed Katydid Hill. (Katydid was Kateyln’s childhood nickname…and we farm on a hill!) 

The new name also coincides with a narrowing of scope for the farm. We cut our crop list in half—twice. As we scale up production, we wanted to focus on tea and herbs that grow well for us. We really love chamomile, and growing a whole acre of it is pretty magical. Phasing out the crops that needed a lot of intervention has allowed us to reduce farm inputs, streamline our workflow, and really focus on quality.

Tooth of the Lion gave us room for experimenting and learning what worked really well on these hills and what crops were struggling here. For Katydid Hill we wanted to move forward the best of the best—the crops we love to grow and that also really seem to love to grow on this land. 

More about Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship

Interested in becoming an apprentice?

Get comprehensive on-the-job training while you earn a progressive wage. Learn more and apply here.

Interested in hosting an apprentice on your farm?

Help train the next generation of sustainable producers—and gain a committed, pre-qualified employee. Host an apprentice on your farm.

Want to support our farmer training programs?

Make an investment in a brighter future for our food system and our planet. Become a Perennial Donor.

The post What Loves to Grow at Katydid Hill appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Last year we launched our Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship with two beginner farmer training programs in Pennsylvania. As pre-apprenticeship heads into its second growing season, seven new training partners have signed on to offer this credential to aspiring farmers they work with. Four college-based farms have joined, along with a nonprofit that helps people overcome barriers to employment, and two programs in Philadelphia including an educational nonprofit and a farm business. 

The flexibility of pre-apprenticeship allows each training partner to implement the curriculum at a pace that makes sense for them and for the participants. 

We piloted the program in its first season at two educational nonprofit farms. The LEAF Project cultivates youth leaders from diverse backgrounds through meaningful work in the food system and operates a three-acre vegetable farm in Perry County, Pennsylvania. Grow Pittsburgh’s Urban Farmers in Training Program provides local teens with the opportunity to gain summer employment while learning about the value of growing and eating healthy food.

“We’ve been excited to implement Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship as an innovative way to synthesize working on our urban farm spaces and sharing education in a very hands-in-the-dirt kind of way that intentionally tracks what someone is learning.”

Eva Barinas, Director of Farm Education and Production at Grow Pittsburgh

Three college-based farms have signed on as training partners to offer pre-apprenticeship to students.

Bucknell University students engage in sustainable farming and food access programs at the Bucknell Farm on campus and at the nearby Lewisburg Community Garden.

LaFarm is a sustainability initiative at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. The farm’s mission is to integrate curriculum and practice in sustainable food and agriculture for the campus community. They grow produce for the dining halls, recycle nutrients from composted food back to the soil, and serve as a home for collaborative student-faculty education and research.

Dickinson College Farm is an 80-acre, organic farm where students can gain hands-on learning experiences in sustainable agriculture and renewable energy. Student employees, graduate apprentices, and volunteers are involved in all aspects of food production and research on the farm, which provides food to the campus and local community in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Dickinson also hosts a full-time farm apprentice through our Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship.

Some training partners work with people as young as 14, while others work with those well into adulthood.

Located outside of Pittsburgh in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Crop & Kettle is a nonprofit that utilizes the food system to provide job training and social development for members of their community who are eager to overcome barriers to employment. Grow Pittsburgh has also expanded its participation this year to offer a pre-apprenticeship track to an adult beginning farmer cohort.

Two of the new training partner programs are based in Philadelphia. Greensgrow is an educational urban farm and demonstration garden that provides an essential connection to food and nature in Philadelphia. Truelove Seeds is a seed company focused on providing culturally-important seeds to people longing for their tastes of home. They also have many community facing programs including a farmer training program for growers aspiring to incorporate seed keeping into their work as growers and stewards of culture. 

As farms across the state are struggling with labor shortages, this program offers a valuable tool for workforce development. Pre-apprenticeship can also play a role in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in agriculture by serving as the first stepping stone on a career path toward becoming a farm manager or owner.

The curriculum is based on the core duties, skills, and qualifications for our two-season vegetable farming apprenticeship program, Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship, which means pre-apprentices who want to keep learning about agriculture have a built-in next step for more extensive training. Both programs are registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Any organization that currently administers, or is planning to administer, vegetable farming training opportunities for either youth or adults can become a Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship training partner! Training partners manage recruitment, training, and supervision of pre-apprentices, while Pasa provides curriculum and administrative support.

Over 50 pre-apprentices are currently enrolled in pre-apprenticeship. Two participants completed their pre-apprenticeships last year, and four more are on track to graduate in the next few months. Stay tuned to our social media for profiles of the new grads and an Instagram takeover from some current pre-apprentices.

Learn more:

Read about sprouting pre-apprenticeship last year at the LEAF Project.

Interested in becoming a pre-apprentice or a training partner? Learn more about the program here, and reach out to Lisa at dvp@pasafarming.org or 814.349.9856 x725 with any questions.

Already have a year of farmer training under your belt? Check out our two-season apprenticeship.

The post Welcome to our new pre-apprenticeship training partners! appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Whether they studied math, education, or culinary arts, whether they served in the military or grew up on a farm, the six individuals graduating from Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship this spring each brought their own unique strengths to the farms that hosted them.

Each apprentice completed 2,700+ hours of on-the-job training and 200+ hours of coursework over 18 months, and they’re now embarking on careers growing a more sustainable food system.

Amber Bahn

hosted by The LEAF Project

Before farming: studied education and taught abroad

Farm stat: 82 households fed from LEAF’s weekly share

Favorite farm task: seeding and planting

Least favorite farm task: bed-prepping by hand

Favorite beneficial insect: assassin bugs

Up next: Amber is staying on as farm manager with LEAF for the foreseeable future and continuing to help with students participating in our Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship.

“Farming requires an incredibly diverse skill-set. Using the program’s skills checklist, I was able to easily figure out where my strengths were, as well as the areas I had not yet been exposed to.”

Erik Sink

hosted by Apple Ridge Farm

Before farming: studied math and economics

Farm stat: worked 7 farmers markets in 3 states

Favorite farm task: weeding—very relaxing!

Least favorite farm task: anything involving chickens

Favorite beneficial bug: lady bug

Up next: “I started a fermented drink business in 2021 with my mentor farmer. We’ve seen a lot of growth. I’m looking forward to continuing the business and expanding to other markets and products.”

“I’ve really developed a lot not only as a farmer but also as a business professional. I’ve gained many connections and learned a lot about working with people and customers. Although apprenticeship focuses on farming, you’ll come away with much more experience in life as a whole”

San Sankofa

hosted by New Morning Farm • Tooth of the Lion Farm & Apothecary

Before farming: served in the military

Farm stat: dried over 1,000 pounds of herbs and flowers last season

Favorite farm task: installing and maintaining irrigation

Least favorite farm task: weeding

Favorite beneficial bug: praying mantis

Up next: San’s planning to start a farm business growing herbs, making teas, tinctures, and herbal smoke blends to help fellow veterans and soldiers dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. He also recently joined Pasa’s board.

“I was involved in all sides of these farm businesses, from planting seeds to harvesting and marketing the finished product… I now feel confident that I have the skills I need to succeed as a farmer.”

Phoebe Brubaker

hosted by Village Acres Farm & Foodshed   

Farm stat: planted close to 3,000 trees and shrubs for a riparian buffer project

Favorite farm task: planting and weeding

Least favorite farm task: fixing broken irrigation pipes 

Favorite beneficial bug: lady beetles

Up next: Phoebe’s getting back to growing and designing with specialty cut flowers in a new business venture with her sister.

“Flexibility is key, particularly in a pandemic. I tend to love the planning side of things, but the ability to assess value and pivot within a season is so important. Holding on too tightly to an idea that is not profitable can be damaging to a bottom line.”

RJ Brison

hosted by North Star Orchard   

Advice to prospective apprentices: “Don’t run the undercutter too deep.”

Favorite farm task: cultivation

Least favorite farm task: wash room

Favorite beneficial bug: “Worms are cool.”

Up next: RJ plans to work on his family’s farm. “We’re making a big transition from conventional monocropping to a diverse landscape that’s as good for the wildlife as it is for us and our well-being.”

“I found my personal farming niche, Truthfully, it really helped me find what I want to do as well as what I definitely do not want to do. And apprenticeship allowed me to do this in an environment that’s a bit more forgiving than if I attempted things on my own farm.”

Subarna Sijapati

hosted by New Morning Farm

Before farming: trained as a chef

Favorite farm task: harvesting greens and garlic

Least favorite farm task: waiting out the slow-growing winter months

Favorite beneficial bug: crab spider

Up next: Subarna plans on starting his own farm-to-table operation, specializing in culinary herbs. He was also recently elected to Pasa’s board.

“It’s very intimidating in the beginning… to manage a crop and take full responsibility for its well being. But don’t forget, plants are resilient—just like us, they want to grow well.”

Interested in becoming an apprentice?

Get comprehensive on-the-job training while you earn a progressive wage. Learn more and apply here.

Interested in hosting an apprentice on your farm?

Help train the next generation of sustainable producers—and gain a committed, pre-qualified employee. Host an apprentice on your farm.

Want to support our farmer training programs?

Make an investment in a brighter future for our food system and our planet. Become a Perennial Donor. 

The post Meet our 2022 Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship graduates appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

In this blog post, LEAF Founder and Executive Director Heidi Witmer explains how hosting our pre-apprenticeship program complements LEAF’s work engaging youth leaders in the food system. Heidi is also a Pasa board member.

The seeds that grew into LEAF

We asked Heidi where the idea for the LEAF (Leadership Education and Farming) Project came from, and she pointed to several seeds of inspiration. When she started a market garden side business after college, she drew on her childhood experience helping on family farms with production and canning, and she had her extended family as farming mentors. “I was lucky to grow up very connected to our regional food system,” she said. “With LEAF, I wanted to help make entry points into the food system for kids who grow up outside of farming families.”

It was when she was working at a school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that Heidi recognized a problem that was really an opportunity. “There was a lot of research at the time about ‘summer learning loss.’ But I felt like rather than talking about what students were losing, we should be imagining different kinds of experiences they could be gaining over the summer break.” She gave her students an assignment to find summer jobs or volunteer positions, but at the time (late 2000s, early 2010s) youth employment was at a record low. Heidi said, “My students were coming back with 20 plus rejection letters. I realized it wasn’t the world I had grown up in, where everyone could have a summer job. There was a critical need for youth engagement and employment.”

Growing connections & leaders

“If you don’t grow up on a farm, you can just drive by corn fields all your life and you have no idea the work that goes into it. There’s a profound disconnect.” 

Heidi saw an opportunity to connect the vibrant agricultural sector she grew up in with an untapped resource — youth employees — to meet some of our region’s most pressing challenges: food insecurity, a rise in food-choice-related health challenges, and workforce development. She imagined LEAF as a way to help students discover their strengths, grow their leadership skills, and gain experience that would help them qualify for any job or entrepreneurial endeavor they want to try next. She also hoped that many of them would begin to see themselves as part of the food system. “If you don’t grow up on a farm, you can just drive by corn fields all your life and you have no idea the work that goes into it. There’s a profound disconnect.” 

LEAF works to grow that connection by cultivating youth leaders from diverse backgrounds through meaningful work in the food system. Students ages 14–18 can participate in up to four years of paid positions, beginning with introductory work, then progressing to specialized roles and taking on leadership responsibilities. 

The LEAF farm is located on the same land in Perry County, Pennsylvania where Heidi started her market garden. “It’s a relatively small farm, but it’s become a much bigger enterprise than when I was running it solo,” she said. Students operate one-and-a-half acres of production fields and tunnels, and distribute 100 weekly summer farm shares to community members. They also sell at regional farmers markets, manage wholesale accounts with local restaurants, and donate to hunger relief organizations. LEAF additionally runs its own commercial kitchen that specializes in preserved and value-added products. 

“The young people here are doing every piece of this farming business puzzle. Not just in the field and in the kitchen,” said Heidi. “They’re doing profit analysis, marketing, assessing our strengths, finding where the gaps are, and asking bigger picture questions, like ‘what does food system equity look like in our region?’”

LEAF also partners with many local for-profit farms to give students a chance to experience different types and scales of production as well as to meet food system role models. To Heidi, these partnerships are the backbone of LEAF: “Our students are at a really pivotal point. They’re starting to make decisions about the direction their lives will take and asking ‘what do I want to do for a career’? So it’s wonderful for them to be meeting farmers and other food system leaders who are making a difference in their communities.”

The first rung in a ladder

Of the 25 students participating in LEAF this season, nine are enrolled in our Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship. 

Heidi says, “We’re so excited to add the Pre-Apprenticeship program to the work we’re doing with LEAF. It’s great to be able to offer students the credential of Pre-Apprenticeship registered with the Department of Labor and Industry. It really compliments our goals of introducing youth to farming while also honoring their talents and accomplishments. We also offer our students pay raises when they reach certain levels of competency, and the structure of Pre-Apprenticeship really gives us a perfect framework for that.”

Our Pre-Apprenticeship is based on the core skills and qualifications for our intensive two-season vegetable farming apprenticeship to offer a built-in next step toward more extensive farmer training.

As a Pasa board member and farmer educator, Heidi was involved in the development for both programs. “For the full apprenticeship, we asked ourselves, what does it truly take to run a farm? And it was pretty humbling to recognize the breadth and depth of those job requirements. Ultimately we identified 15 key competency areas.” 

Then when it came to translate those learning objectives to an introductory program, Heidi said, “We asked ourselves what do you need to know to get the basics? Fewer competency areas? Or maybe just a smaller percentage of each topic, and that’s the way we decided to go. So the Pre-Apprentices are really getting a broad introduction to all these aspects of running a farm business.”

The breadth of the Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship curriculum is clear when you talk with the pre-apprentice students at LEAF. Pre-Apprentice Emma den Hoed has been out in the field learning about pest management. She says, “I’m really looking forward to learning more about crop rotation as well as how to operate greenhouses.” Pre-Apprentice Jared McChesney has been learning a lot about the financial side of farming: “I was shocked about how much it takes to make a budget for even a small nonprofit farm like this.”

Heidi says, “I love that it’s like this ladder — Pre-Apprenticeship is the first rung. And then a two-season apprenticeship or one of our more specialized internships after that, and then hopefully one day managing a farm or starting a food-related business. My goal is to see how far we can get our youth up that ladder.”

Host pre-apprentices at your organization. Any organization that currently administers, or is planning to administer, vegetable farming training opportunities for either youth or adults can become a Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship host site! If you’re interested, contact Dan Dalton at dan@pasafarming.org or 814.349.9856 x710 for more information.

The post Sprouting Pre-Apprenticeship at the LEAF Project appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

As they near the end of their 18-month apprenticeship experience, we asked Master Grower Liz Krug and Apprentice Logan McCabe from Fullers Overlook Farm in Waverly, Pennsylvania to reflect on their time participating in Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship. Learn more about hosting or becoming an apprentice here. 

Master Grower: Liz Krug

Why did you choose to become a master grower and host an apprentice?

We chose to become master growers for two reasons: 

1. We see the importance of training the next generation of farmers. [My partner and I both] learned how to farm from apprenticeships and found those experiences to be invaluable. The structure of the Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship program worked well with us because it gave us the tools to make sure we are training the apprentices properly to start or manage their own farms.

2. As a business, having an apprentice for 18 months was extremely beneficial. The amount of time and energy spent on training an apprentice is a lot, so having them stay for 18 months was huge for us.

How has the program supported your personal goals and/or your farm?

Since we started Overlook seven years ago, we have taught and employed apprentices. Our own apprenticeship program has grown over the seasons and become more formalized, but Pasa’s program really helped us make sure we were hitting certain marks with a guiding curriculum. The program supported us to make sure we were giving the apprentice the skills they need to be successful in their future, something that is extremely important to us but wasn’t always clear we were achieving. The program’s support also helped with supplemental trainings (tractor safety, business management, OSHA). Having the resources of an entire organization and the coordination/support from [Pasa’s Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship manager] helped us reach our goal of training the next generation of farmers.

What have you found challenging?

One challenge in the beginning was finding a way to support all of our apprentices’ interests, knowledge, and skill set; the apprenticeship curriculum; and balance that with the needs of a production farm. The other challenging aspect is not always feeling like a “master grower,” because oftentimes, it feels like the more you know, the less you know. In farming, there is so much to learn—from soil health to growing in a changing climate to business management. That is one of the things we love about farming, you never stop learning and tweaking and adapting. That doesn’t always lend to feeling like a master grower, but that in and of itself is a lesson I suppose.  

What have you especially enjoyed?

We have enjoyed watching [our apprentice] Logan grow over the past two seasons, both in his knowledge and confidence in growing. We have seen him develop critical skills needed to manage a farm such as time management, harvest and quality control, food safety management, tool use and care, as well as many other necessary skills. We have also seen him able to influence positive decision making on other apprentices that may only be achieved through time spent farming in a production system.

What has surprised you about the experience?

How much we learned! Especially when going over the “whys” of things. As managers we knew why we make certain decisions in the field, why we grow certain crops, and why we make certain decisions in our business plan, but we might not have always communicated that clearly. Through the apprenticeship job skills list, we were able to flush out those “whys” a bit easier, which helped us be more effective teachers and concisely teach why something works here at Overlook. It also allowed us to analyze our processes and systems during explanation and discussion. We realized through analysis that some things needed to be changed to allow for better management.

What advice would you give to someone considering becoming a master grower and hosting an apprentice?

Remember that you have 18 months to work through the job skills book. At the beginning it felt overwhelming to make sure we got through everything, but remember it doesn’t all get done in one season. And having the monthly check-ins with [Pasa’s Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship program manager] helped a lot to make sure we were on the right track. On some of the items that we couldn’t take time during the workday to explain or pay an apprentice to do, we started doing weekly lunch meetings. This helped us teach certain skills such as crop planning, business management, marketing plans, and those “whys” behind things without the pressure of the time clock, and it empowered [our apprentice] Logan to take the lead in his learning.

Apprentice: Logan McCabe

Why did you choose to become an apprentice?

I knew that I wanted to pursue agriculture for a living, and the Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship promised to provide a comprehensive work/learning experience for those aspiring to manage their own farm. As opposed to seasonal work, where one might only be exposed to a few aspects of the farming operation, the work at Fullers Overlook along with the related technical instruction has provided a holistic experience of what small farm operation entails. 

How is the program supporting your personal goals?

The program really tries to provide its apprentices with all the knowledge necessary to run their own farming operation. If something isn’t covered at an apprentice’s farm, [Pasa’s Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship program manager] goes out of his way to connect them with resources and contacts in their field of interest. 

What have you found challenging?

I was aghast the first time we had to terminate a crop. I thought “but all that food is going to waste!” I think this is a common reaction for those first getting into farming, who haven’t yet had to triage crops and to do a cost-benefit analysis of salvaging a crop versus cutting losses and putting another crop in that space.  

What have you especially enjoyed?

Besides the actual farming, the networking opportunities have been great. Through this program I’ve met many other young farmers. This lifestyle isn’t for everyone, so it’s been great to have a support network of people with similar lived experiences, frustrations, and aspirations.   

What has surprised you about the experience?

Just how much there is to learn. Coming into the apprenticeship I had rudimentary knowledge of how to grow plants, with some hobby gardening under my belt,  but I had really no idea of all of the “behind the scenes” stuff necessary to operate a farm: financials, marketing, social media presence, etc. While I think most of us prefer the actual growing of food to the above aspects of farming, they are essential for the sustainability of a farm—not just its growing practices, but its long-term financial viability as a business. 

How do you plan to utilize your experience after you complete the program?

I think the end goal of most farmers is to have their own farm, and I include myself in that group. In the meantime, though, I am currently looking for job opportunities on small farms as a crew leader or manager.

What advice would you give to someone considering becoming an apprentice?

If you are sure that you want to live the life of a small farmer, I’d say the Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship program is a great first step. If you still have some hesitations though, there are other options before you take the plunge into an 18-month apprenticeship. My first experience with farming was in the WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) program, which is a network of farms that host volunteers for workshare. Depending on the farm, you can volunteer anywhere from a day to a whole season, so it’s a flexible and low-stakes way to dip your toe into farming. Another option is working on a farm for a season—many farms predominantly employ seasonal help. So you could work for a summer, and if you haven’t been scared off yet, look into pursuing an extended apprenticeship like this program.

***

If you’re interested in joining the Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship program by applying to become an apprentice or host one, you can learn more here.

The post Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship Q&A with Fullers Overlook Farm appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Pennsylvania’s first certified journey dairy grazier, Joseph Moyer, poses with his certification and his father, Master Grazier Brian Moyer.

Three years ago, Joseph Moyer had recently graduated from high school and was living on the dairy farm where he grew up in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Though his two brothers had worked on the farm, Joseph was the youngest and had never helped much with the cows. But at that point, Joseph’s brothers had both left the farm and his father, Brian, needed help. 

Dissatisfied with his carpentry job, Joseph began considering a career in dairy—despite the fact that he knew little about milking, grazing, tractors, and most everything else that was routine work for his father. So when Joseph and Brian learned about Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, they decided it could be a win-win: Joseph would be formally trained to manage a dairy, while Brian would receive a structured curriculum for passing on his knowledge to his son and at the same time gain a committed employee. 

Three years, 4,000 hours of on-the-job training, 300 hours of related instruction, and a half dozen online classes later, Joseph became the first Pennsylvania graduate of the nationally registered apprenticeship program, which PASA administers in Pennsylvania and the surrounding region. Joseph joins a small but growing cohort of young and beginning farmers across the country training to manage or start their own farm operation through state- and federally registered apprenticeships. 

Joseph joins a small but growing cohort of young and beginning farmers across the country training to manage or start their own farm operation through state- and federally registered apprenticeships.

Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship was founded in 2011 by farmers in Wisconsin seeking to curb a national crisis of farmland loss and respond to an increasingly urgent need for training new farmers as a generation of established farmers near retirement, many without identified successors. Through Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship and the educational and networking opportunities it provided, Joseph and Brian were not only able to support one another’s respective training and labor needs, they were able to continuously hone the farm’s management systems to more effectively benefit both the health of their cows and the health of their soil.

This included experimenting with no-till seeding techniques in compacted areas, as well as expanding grazing paddocks into overgrown and even forested areas. Between Brian’s decades of experience as a grazier, and Joseph’s fresh eyes on old ground, their dairy farm today is grazing more productive land than ever before, with a view toward creating more silvopasture opportunities for the cows, as well as more diversified pastured livestock, in general—Joseph built a chicken tractor last winter. 

The path forward for Joseph within dairy might be in Bradford County, as he hopes, but the journey dairy grazier certification Joseph has earned can also provide new opportunities. The standard is becoming increasingly recognized by other farms and the dairy industry in the same way a degree might be, ensuring a level of proficiency from hayfield to barn, and paddock to budget. In short, it recognizes the farmer as a professional with earned skills and knowledge, learned both in the field and in the classroom.

Today, Joseph and Brian are actively strategizing how to stay viable and growing, even in the midst of a dairy economy in turmoil. Whatever the path, Joseph is committed. “This is what I want to do,” he states simply. “I don’t know if it would have happened without Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship and PASA.” 

Joseph isn’t alone in his commitment to dairy. His wife, Catherine, was new to dairy when the two began dating a few years ago. Soon after, though, she became a regular in the Moyer’s tie-stall barn, eventually becoming a grazing dairy intern at a neighboring farm as part of a partnership between PASA and the Center for Dairy Excellence. 

Recently, as her husband was completing his apprenticeship, Catherine officially became her father-in-law’s second apprentice as part of the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program. When asked about her decision to join her husband in the industry, Catherine replies, “I love cows, I love grazing cows. It’s not necessarily an easy living, but it’s a good one, and I feel like it’s where God is calling me to be.” 

Learn more about Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship here.

The post Bradford County Boasts First Certified “Journey Dairy Grazier” in Pa. appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Jessica is participating in Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, a federally registered apprenticeship that PASA administers in Pennsylvania and nearby areas. This is the final post in a three-part blog series—read Jessica’s other posts “From Backyard Chickens to GrazingCattle” and “Honoring the Milk, Honoring the Farm.”

Hameau Farm announces it is open for raw milk sales with a new roadside flag. (Credit: Emily Decker)

Obtaining a raw milk permit was a lesson in perseverance and patience. I felt like I spent the whole year on the phone gathering information—then frequently Googling the terms the people I spoke to used because I had no idea what they were referring to. Now, though, I can use those terms proficiently.

I first connected with the Lancaster Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA). Their staff explained to me the testing we needed to complete in order to obtain a raw milk permit, and graciously answered my many, many questions throughout the testing processes.

First, we needed to test our entire herd for tuberculosis and brucellosis, which are both infectious diseases that can affect cattle and be communicated to humans. Second, we needed to test our milk and water systems for traces of harmful bacteria, such as coliforms, a type of bacteria found in human and animal waste, and high somatic cell counts, which are white blood cells that fight infections—a high number of these cells in milk could mean a bacterial infection is present. Third, we needed the Pa. Department of Agriculture to inspect our farm.

Fulfilling these first three requirements went without a hitch. As a testament to our already stellar farm (in my humble opinion), we proved we had healthy cows, good milking techniques, and clean water. However, we encountered a major obstacle when we tried to complete the final testing requirement: screening our milk for traces of an antibiotic called Beta lactum, which can be used to treat udder infections in cows but is harmful to humans. This is commonly called appendix N testing, which refers to part of the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations for producing milk for consumption.

“Obtaining a raw milk permit was a lesson in perseverance and patience.”

I learned that appendix N testing is a significant barrier for small farms who want to sell their milk directly to consumers. A few years back, the Food and Drug Administration decided that, in order to sell raw milk, farmers had to test their milk for Beta lactum antibiotics every time it’s bottled. In theory, this is a decent idea designed to protect consumers. In practice, however, I can tell you that NO dairy farmer selling their milk directly to consumers would ever dream of putting milk from cows being treated with antibiotics into their tank. At this point antibiotic-free milk is 100 percent expected by consumers, whether the milk is organic or not, and dairy farmers know this. Ask a direct-market dairy farmer about this subject and see how they react. Then apologize to them or, even better, buy some of their milk.

In addition to ensuring the quality of raw milk and adhering to strict guidelines, it’s essential to consider the overall health and well-being of consumers. One way to support good health is through access to effective medications, such as Levitra (vardenafil), a popular treatment for erectile dysfunction. Like the sustainable agriculture community, the medical community is committed to providing the best possible solutions for individuals in need. To learn more about Levitra and its generic alternatives, visit the Red Cross CMD website. By prioritizing health and well-being in all aspects of life, including the food we consume and the medications we take, we can work together to create a healthier and more sustainable future for all.

Appendix N testing equipment (Credit: Jessica Matthews)

So, instead of effectively protecting consumers, appendix N testing for small, direct-market dairy farmers is a costly, timely, and low value procedure. In our case, to meet this requirement we first partnered with another farmer who offered to let us use their testing equipment. However, the farm is 35 miles (over two mountains) away from ours. This amounts to a lot of time and significant extra expense devoted to transporting milk samples for testing, which we have to do three times a week. We knew this helpful but nonetheless inefficient arrangement wouldn’t be a long-term solution, so we decided to apply for a grant through the newly established Pennsylvania Dairy Investment Program to build an appendix N testing lab on our farm. As part of this grant, we also sought funding to build a creamery to make cheese, yogurt, and other value-added products from our pasteurized and raw milk. In March, we were thrilled to learn our grant proposal was accepted!

Today—a year after we set out to start a direct-to-consumer raw milk enterprise—we’re licensed to sell raw milk! People can now come to our farm to buy our milk only hours after we finish our morning milking. On top of this, we’ve got our appendix N testing lab set up. In June, we’ll be able to do all of our testing on site. Plus, we can offer appendix N testing to other dairy farms in our area that might need it.

Our customers can now see first-hand where their milk is coming from, and in return we get to know our customers who are nourished by our herd. For me, this new business venture truly honors the milk the cows we love produce, and offers a path toward a more sustainable business model (more on this in my previous blog post, where I consider the journey of milk from cow to consumer and the ongoing dairy crisis).

Cows graze at Hameau Farm (Credit: Emily Decker)

In the future, I hope to offer classes on the farm to teach people how to make delicious products from our milk in their own home—give me 30 minutes and I’ll give you mozzarella; you could do it on a weeknight! I also hope to create our own value-added products from our milk.

Additionally, it’s become clear to me that, moving forward, consumer education will be an important part of the work I do as a dairy farmer. While some folks I speak with about our new raw milk venture were enthusiastic about our pursuit, others reacted as if I told them I was planning to sell something dangerous. Thankfully, through my apprenticeship, I’ve met other local farmers—like the owners of Bear Meadows in Boalsburg and The Family Cow in Chambersburg—who also sell raw milk and were graciously willing to offer advice on marketing and addressing consumer concerns.

“People can now come to our farm to buy our milk only hours after we finish our morning milking.”

There is still so much to do to establish a thriving direct-to-consumer market for our raw milk, but I am willing to do the work. An invaluable lesson that my apprenticeship experience has instilled in me: Even though I’ve never done it before, even if it gets overwhelming at times, I know I will get good at this.

• Learn more about Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship. We administer this national program in Pennsylvania and nearby areas.
• This is the final blog post in a three-part series. Read Jessica’s previous posts “From Backyard Chickens to Grazing Cattle” and “Honoring the Milk, Honoring the Farm.”

The post Starting a Raw Milk Enterprise appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Jessica is participating in Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, a federally registered apprenticeship that PASA administers in Pennsylvania and nearby areas. This is the second post in a three-part blog series—read Jessica’s other posts “From Backyard Chickens to GrazingCattle” and “Starting a Raw Milk Enterprise.”

Dairy grazing apprentice Jessica Matthews at Hameau Farm (Credit: Emily Decker)

Though I had no dairy grazing experience when I started my apprenticeship at Hameau Farm, toward the end of the first year I really hit my stride. Milking the cows became a zen routine—my hands worked proficiently while my mind felt at ease. Calves that I bottle fed a year ago were now higher than my waist, and I learned to watch them for signs of heat. I witnessed the miracle of cow birth, helped a sheep give birth to twins, and cut an umbilical cord with my pocket knife! (Oh, and I bought a pocket knife. I was just constantly needing one…) I was also experiencing something I had never felt anywhere else: I was excited about coming to work!

Feeling comfortable with the day-to-day labor on a dairy farm, I began to pay more attention to the bigger picture. Specifically, I thought more about what happens to our milk after it gets whisked away in a truck. Visitors to the farm often ask us where they can buy our milk in stores. But that’s not a simple question to answer.

What happens is this: We sell our milk through a dairy cooperative to a large milk processing and marketing company. A truck picks up our milk from the farm and delivers it to a facility where its mixed with milk from a lot of other farms and gets pasteurized. Finally, it’s bottled and shipped to…somewhere. Many somewheres. We don’t exactly know.

Hameau Farm (Credit: Shay Frey)

I could not fathom that the milk from our grass-fed, beautiful, happy cows that I love so much becomes so anonymous. No one knows that Calliope the cow produces 80 pounds—9.3 gallons!—of milk a day eating mostly grass and a little grain.

What’s more, it seemed to me we were selling our milk at a very low cost—and we are. As part of my apprenticeship, I’m enrolled in online dairy grazing classes with other apprentices from farms near and far. During our class discussions, they too expressed concern over low milk prices. Before apprenticing at Hameau, I never really thought about how much farmers were getting paid for producing milk. Turns out, the profession I now love is in crisis.

“Turns out, the profession I now love is in crisis.”

I learned that, on average, it costs farmers approximately $18.73 to produce 100 pounds (or about 11.5 gallons) of milk. Yet, farmers were receiving only around $15.21 when they sold this same amount of milk—a LOSS of more than three dollars. While these numbers can depend on a variety of factors, like where a farm is located and whether they are a conventional or organic dairy, the fact is the dairy industry is suffering—and that current pricing models can be a path to bankruptcy.

Hameau Farm (Credit: Shay Frey)

As I am humanly unable to do things at less than full throttle, I dove headfirst into researching the journey of milk after it leaves the farm, milk marketing and pricing, and the state of the dairy industry. I learned that dairy farms across the nation are collapsing. In many areas, dairies are the largest slice of the agricultural economy, and are economic cornerstones of rural communities, so when they go under, devastation follows in their wake—a litany of farm service providers, equipment dealers, and affiliated industry disappear, too. I even read one study that linked spikes in opiate use to declining farm incomes.

I want Hameau Farm and all that it stands for to be around for as long as possible—preferably forever. I thought that there had to be a better way for the farm to make enough money to keep up all of the good work we were doing. We needed a sustainable business model.

Enter raw milk.

Building an on-farm raw milk market would check a lot of boxes for me, both emotionally and economically. It meant that our milk wouldn’t get trucked away and mixed with other milk to go on to who knows where; it could stay on our farm and be sold to customers we would know. If I wanted people to know that Calliope the cow milked 80 pounds, I could tell them directly! I could even point out Calliope to them in the field!

And the numbers made sense. We could sell just three gallons of raw milk directly to consumers for five dollars per gallon and get about the same price for what we sell 11.6 gallons of milk for at the co-op.

“If I wanted people to know that Calliope the cow milked 80 pounds, I could tell them directly! I could even point out Calliope to them in the field!”

I set course to honor our milk the way it deserved to be honored, and to sell it at a fair price for the farmer. I also hoped to create an open-source business model that other farms could emulate. Really, what I wanted to do was to save dairy.

So, with support from Hameau Farm owner and Master Grazier Gay Rodgers and the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship community, I ventured into the raw milk business.

• Read Jessica’s final post of this series, “Starting a Raw Milk Enterprise.”
• Learn more about Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship.  

The post Honoring the Milk, Honoring the Farm appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship Manager Dan Dalton meets with Apprentice Jess Hermanofski at host farm Plowshare Produce, an organic CSA farm in Huntingdon County, PA

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry approved our Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship on March 14th, making it the first formal apprenticeship program for farmers in the state.

We developed Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship to provide a guided pathway for training aspiring vegetable farmers to manage or start a farm while also meeting the employment needs of established farms.

During a time when 75 percent of beginning and aspiring farmers under the age of 40 in the U.S. did not grow up on a farm, farmer training programs are more important than ever. Without the traditional transfer of knowledge between parents and children, aspiring farmers need hands-on opportunities to learn the intricacies of stewarding land, tending crops and running a financially viable business.

Apprenticeship is a tried-and-true model of learning that has trained workers for careers in skilled trades for centuries. Today, a diverse array of state- and federally-registered apprenticeships are available for more than 1,000 occupations—from carpentry and plumbing, to dentistry and computer programming.

Yet, none existed for farmers until 2011 when a group of dairy farmers in Wisconsin founded Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship to help stem the tide of farmland loss and introduce a new generation to dairy grazing. PASA partnered with Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship in 2016 to administer the national program in Pennsylvania and nearby states and soon thereafter began developing a companion apprenticeship for vegetable farmers.

“We worked with an instructional design expert, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, and beginning and seasoned farmers from 19 of our member farms to build the curriculum from the ground up,” said Dan Dalton, Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship manager.

The curriculum trains apprentices in core competencies from soil fertility and irrigation, to marketing and business administration. Apprentices receive more than 2,700 hours of on-the-job training at an established farm and complete more than 200 hours of related technical instruction over the course of two seasons. Plus, apprentices are paid an hourly wage that increases as they advance their skills.

And while the program is designed to cultivate new farmers, it’s also designed to benefit farm owners and operators who often find it challenging to find skilled and reliable workers. Approved host farms can access a pool of pre-qualified apprentice candidates who are invested in farming as a career.

“We want to make sure that the program meets both the training needs of the apprentices as well as the labor needs of the farmers who host them,” said Dalton. “We provide ongoing support by monitoring the progress apprentices and host farmers make as they work through the 18-month curriculum and provide additional resources as needed.”

“This is a major milestone in ushering in the next generation of Pennsylvania’s farmers,” said PASA Executive Director Hannah Smith-Brubaker, who also co-owns and operates an organic vegetable farm with her family in Mifflintown. “After completing a state-registered apprenticeship, graduates will be able to clearly demonstrate their competencies, better positioning them for work in the field and accessing capital and land opportunities.”

Interested in becoming an apprentice or hosting one? Find out more here.

Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship is funded by the Hillman Foundation and more than 100 business and individual donors who invested in the program’s curriculum development process as part of a fundraising campaign.

The post Pa. Registers Its First Formal Apprenticeship for Farmers appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Master Grazier Brian Moyer and Apprentice Joseph Moyer

By Aaron de Long, PASA

Joseph Moyer grew up on a dairy farm, but he didn’t work on the farm. His older brother, Jacob, eventually became a dairy farmer, but Joseph tried his hand at carpentry, instead. After a relatively brief time working in that trade, however, Joseph began to become curious about the farm and, when he became aware of the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship (DGA) program, he expressed interest.

“I was surprised,” his father, Master Grazier Brian Moyer remarked. “But I was happy to give it a try with him.”

Brian is a first generation dairy farmer. He grew up in the southeast part of Pennsylvania, and met his wife, Brenda, while managing a herd on another farmer’s operation in Berks County. The Moyers eventually moved north, to Bradford County, decades ago, and never looked back. Today, their farm comprises about sixty acres of rolling hills, almost all of which is pasture and hay ground. Brian is one of the core members of a grazing group in the northern part of the state with which PASA has been working to set up a pasture walk series in 2017. One of the purposes of this series is to expose Joseph, and other beginning graziers–as well as experienced ones–to different grazing operations, and different ways of doing things.

“One of the best things about the program for me has been seeing what other farms are doing, and what’s working and what’s not,” Joseph commented, recently. In the last year, he has had the opportunity to visit four different operations, from Bradford County to Lancaster County, including a stay with another DGA Apprentice at Bobolink Dairy in New Jersey.

For Brian, part of the program has been learning how to teach and, in the process, re-evaluating some of his own practices. “Joseph will be taking an on-line class, or he’ll visit a farm and see something different–or he’ll just be thinking about something–and he’ll ask me why we do something a particular way, and I’ll have to think about why we do it that way. Sometimes, I’m not sure. It’s made me refocus, a bit.”

In October, Joseph and Brian will mark the one-year point of Joseph’s apprenticeship. Joseph is currently on track to finish the DGA program in the minimum two-year time period, including all his on-the-job training hours, elective education hours, and on-line course work. At that point, he will gain Journey Dairy Grazier certification, and will have the ability to apply to the farm management jobs that come through the DGA network, as well as have credit with the Farm Service Agency should he want to take out a loan to start his own farm. For now, though, he’s just focusing on keeping the family farm going strong.

“I didn’t know anything,” he’ll tell you, if you ask where he was a year ago. Today, though, he works in all aspects of the operation, and recently developed a new paddock, on some marginal ground, for grazing the heifer herd he manages. “It’s pretty brushy, but they love it, and since they’ve begun grazing over there, the grass is getting better.” It’s something he’s clearly proud of, and something that demonstrates that, though he may have been a beginner not too long ago, Joseph’s a quick study.

The post Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship: Father & Son Reach Milestone appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.