Are you a past, present, or aspiring ranching mentor interested in teaching the next generation? Consider joining us on June 18 in Harlowton, MT for a collective learning experience including a morning with speakers and a ranch visit in the afternoon.

Join us for a summer field day in beautiful Fountain, CO on June 28th, 2024! Co-hosted by Quivira Coalition, National Young Farmers Coalition, and Colorado State University Extension, this event will get your boots dirty touring three neighboring ranches demonstrating the successes and challenges of regenerative grazing. We'll also share practical tools that ranchers and their employees can use to create resilient professional relationships. While this field day is designed for those active in or pursuing a career in agriculture, we also welcome anyone interested in joining us. Beginning farmers and ranchers are highly encouraged to attend!

Join us for an all-day workshop in Costilla and the beautiful Valle Vidal of Carson National Forest. This workshop is designed for ranchers/graziers, or those interested in grazing, and public agency staff, but all are welcome!

The exhibition features the work of photographer Sally Thomson and highlights the dedicated efforts of Quivira Coalition and Western Landowners Alliance to supporting resilience and stewardship on Western working rangelands.

This webinar, hosted by the New Agrarian Program, will explore common stressors faced by producers and offer ways to identify the protective factors that help us handle these challenges.

Call #1: Sept. 24th noon, Sept. 26th 7 am - You and Your Operation as Mentor
Mentoring differs from being an employer in key ways: how do you know if it’s right for you? What are you excited to teach? The answers to these and other questions will help you write an apprenticeship description that is both appealing and realistic about the ups and downs of regenerative agriculture on your site. We’ll discuss ways to describe work schedules, location, isolation, and other factors, to be sure your description will appeal to the applicants you most want to attract.

Join us for a day of learning about how organic amendments (compost, biochar, bale grazing) can impact rangelands in Texas.

Come learn what to say and how to help someone who seems to be struggling. COMET™️ (Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory) is a community-based approach to activate rural community members to support one another in times of stress.

This is part one of a five-part series on various agencies and tools within the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. This webinar on October 22 from 12 - 1 p.m. MT will cover getting started with the USDA with Faith Hill who is the USDA Beginning Farmer Rancher Coordinator in Montana.

NAP 101 is an interactive opportunity to learn more about the New Agrarian Program, hear descriptions of our 2025 mentor sites, and get a few tips on applying to the program. Although this call will be recorded and posted to our website, attending the live call gives applicants the opportunity to ask questions and meet the NAP staff who will help review applications.

Join us for a fascinating webinar featuring New Mexico rancher, Jorge Ramirez, who will share his extensive experience in implementing rotational grazing and virtual fencing as a tool to promote ecological restoration.

This is part two of a five-part series on various agencies and tools within the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. In this second webinar of the series we will focus on the Farm Service Agency to learn about the direct and guaranteed farm ownership and operation loans they offer, and what can be purchased using the loans. We will be joined by Lauren Zimmermann, who serves as a program analyst for the Farm Service Agency and a USDA Beginning Farmer Rancher Coordinator in Montana.

Save the date for REGENERATE 2024! We hope to see you in Denver at the National Western Center from November 6-8. This year’s conference, Innovating for a Resilient Future, will interrogate and explore data, technology, information collection and sharing, ways of learning and knowing, and the myriad approaches to fulfilling our ecological roles.

This is part three of a five-part series on various agencies and tools within the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Lauren Zimmermann, who serves as a program analyst for the Farm Service Agency and a USDA Beginning Farmer Rancher Coordinator in Montana, joins us a second time to discuss the programs and services that the Farm Service Agency provides for beginning farmers and ranchers.

Join the Point Blue Soils Team in partnership with Quivira Coalition for a webinar on the Rangeland Carbon Monitoring Program (Range-C), where we’ll dive into the logistics of designing and implementing a monitoring project to track the impacts of prescribed grazing on ecosystem carbon and soil health.

NAP 101 is an interactive opportunity to learn more about the New Agrarian Program, hear descriptions of our 2025 mentor sites, and get a few tips on applying to the program. Although this call will be recorded and posted to our website, attending the live call gives applicants the opportunity to ask questions and meet the NAP staff who will help review applications.

Call #2: November 11, 12:00 p.m. |  Nov 14, 7:00 a.m. - Evaluating Written Applications
A strong evaluation process begins before you read a single application. Creating your review process in advance assures you’ll read for relevant experience as well as for potential in less experienced applicants.  We will share strategies for tackling the pile of applications, evaluation templates, and sample email responses to applicants who you would like to interview and those you will decline. 

This is part four of a five-part series on various agencies and tools within the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. In this offering of the series, we are joined by Montana Beginning Farmer Rancher Coordinators, Marlee Johnston, an ag producer state specialist for Rural Development, and John Lockie, risk management specialist with Risk Management Agency, to discuss how Rural Development and Risk Management Agency work with beginning farmers and ranchers.

This is part five of a five-part series on various agencies and tools within the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Our final call of the Getting Started with the USDA webinar Series will discuss programs and technical support the Natural Resources Conservation Service provides. NRCS provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain and improve our natural resources and environment.