Mar. 8—The California Bountiful Foundation has launched its first mentorship program called "Expanding Our Roots."
This free program aims to pair beginning farmers and ranchers with experienced mentors to help alleviate the learning curve and mitigate the financial risks associated with taking on a career in agriculture.
"Agriculture in California is one big family," said Dr. Amrith Gunasekara, director of science and research for the California Bountiful Foundation and California Farm Bureau Federation. "The facts are we have an aging population where a lot of the farmers are over 65 and nearing retirement and it's hard to come into the business, it's hard to start farming. We want an opportunity for that knowledge transfer so that ag can continue to be an important part of the food security in California."
Registration began on Feb. 21 and will continue until all 200 slots are filled. Half of the participants must be specialty crop growers and, under program funding requirements, priority consideration will be given to socially disadvantaged farmers and military veterans. The term "socially disadvantaged," in this case, is defined as minority groups and the foundation is actively partnering with organizations such as the California Black Agriculture Working Group and the Farmer Veteran Coalition to help meet these needs.
The idea for the project was identified by existing members of the California Farm Bureau's Young Farmers & Ranchers Program. Their stated goal was to establish long-term connections between beginning farmers and ranchers and those with more experience, mimicking the type of relationship exemplified through intergenerational farming.
This mentorship link is viewed to be critical in facilitating real-world experiences and information sharing with the potential to sustain a diverse set of successful family farms in California.
"Experienced farmers have been dealing with trial and error for years and that trial and error equals risk," explained Gunasekara. "If we can help reduce that risk for those beginning farmers and ranchers coming into farming in California, that is a benefit to everyone in the state."
Eligible mentors must have over 10 years of experience in operating a production agriculture business in California. The benefits of becoming a mentor include $50 an hour pay for up to six hours of time invested in mentoring a beginning farmer or rancher, and the knowledge that they are contributing to the long-term agricultural success of California.