Mentoring the Next Generation
Since 2009, experienced ranchers and farmers have shared their skills, knowledge, and land to train the next generation of land stewards and food producers through Quivira’s New Agrarian Program. Julie Sullivan and George Whitten, of San Juan Ranch in Saguache, Colorado, share what inspired them to found the program, how the program continues to shape mentors in the program today, and how apprenticeship can save agriculture and our rural communities.
We Train Our Leaders
To Train the Next Generation
Quivira provides training and technical support to mentors in: finding apprentices who are qualified and a good fit; understanding the legalities and logistics related to having an on-ranch or on-farm employee; communicating with apprentices and evaluating their work and learning.
We currently partner with mentor ranches and farms in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.
Everything you need to know
About Our Mentorship Program
Mentor Qualifications
New Agrarian Program mentors are full-time ranchers and farmers on regenerative agricultural operations located in the western United States. Depending on the operation, mentors in our program use a wide range of practices that include but are not limited to soil health improvements, rotational grazing practices, providing products to local/regional markets, and other specialized practices.
- Have five years in operation and previous experience directly supervising ranch/farm staff or trainees
- Prioritize healthy soil, food, communities, and ecosystems
- Maintain a culture, rhythm, and agricultural practice that provides a high quality of life for both people and animals
- Have time and capacity to instruct an apprentice and give them meaningful feedback
- Are excited to train and support a beginning agrarian as they navigate the ups and downs of living and working in agriculture production
- Have a payroll system compliant with the requirements of the IRS and state taxation division
- Are financially able to hire their apprentice as a W2 employee and provide partial board
- Have adequate, safe apprentice housing, independent of mentor housing
Mentor Obligations
An apprenticeship provides a good balance of active instruction, hands-on skill development and labor in support of the daily operation of a ranch or farm. Mentors commit to providing their apprentices with education and employment experience within their means. In order to ensure a successful apprenticeship and the effective integration of work and instruction, mentors in our program can expect to do the following
For apprentices
- Provide full-time employment (approx. 170-180 days over eight months) and daily mentoring in a safe working environment compliant with state and federal requirements
- Pay as an employee with access to workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance compliant with labor laws
- Provide a clear job description and employment expectations, including compensation and termination policy
- Balance work-intensive days or weeks due to seasonal fluctuation with adequate rest and time off
- Conduct weekly planning meetings with apprentice to outline workload expectations and to answer questions
- Spend several hours per day with apprentice in a work-learn environment
- Conduct three formal evaluations using a skills checklist with the apprentice
For Quivira
- Provide a copy of each evaluation and updated skills checklist
- Sign an annual memorandum of understanding and a grant agreement
- Attend mentor orientation and periodic conference calls throughout the season
- Attend the REGENERATE Conference and participate in the New Agrarian Program’s Career Connection and mentor breakfast during the event
- Occasionally host other New Agrarian Program apprentices for ranch/farm overnight work visits
- Host an annual site visit with a staff member, including overnight accommodation if distance requires it
Mentor Support and Benefits
The New Agrarian Program provides mentors with initial, on-site guidance and basic apprenticeship structure in order to ensure a consistent model across the program. At the same time, mentors are given plenty of room within which to customize apprenticeships.
What Quivira provides
- Individual website pages featuring each mentor operation and apprenticeship details
- Outreach and promotion, including advertising online, in print, and in communities local to each apprenticeship
- Assistance with application and selection process, including a standard application, application processing, and collaborative review
- Guidance for structuring a thorough, two-phase interview process
- Annual site visits
- One-on-one support as needed
- Annual mentor training opportunities
- A network of other mentors for peer-to-peer support
- Support for travel expenses associated with apprenticeships
- Free registration at the annual REGENERATE Conference for both mentors and apprentices
What Mentors Receive
- Access to highly motivated young people with experience and a commitment to careers in agriculture
- 170 – 180 days of apprentice labor
- Logistical, administrative, and limited financial support from QuiviraÂ
- Training in mentorship
- A supportive network of New Agrarian Program mentors to share experiences, compare notes, and seek input from
- Free access to supplemental education webinars designed as part of apprentice education
New Agrarian Mentorship
Resource Library
Mentor resource handbook
Learn from Julie Sullivan, the New Agrarian Program’s founding mentor and mentor training specialist. Julie writes about topics that are based on over 15 years of experience mentoring young agrarians (and all of the trials and tribulation, joys and missteps encountered along the way).
Mentor Training Call Series
Are you considering mentoring apprentices or interns on your ranch or farm? Want to improve apprentice recruitment, selection, training, education/work balance and feedback? Watch these videos designed to help you and your apprentice have a more successful season.