BIPOC Farmer Training Program in NY

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Applications Now Open For Groundswell’s BIPOC Farmer Training Program in Ithaca, NY – 2022

The Groundswell BIPOC Farmer Training Program is a part time 7-month program with a focus on hands-on vegetable production, basics of livestock farming, and exposure to various farm enterprises in the Finger Lakes Region of New York.

This program is designed for BIPOC aspiring farmers with little to no experience in agriculture. Priority will be given to applicants who are local to the Finger Lakes Region and the Northeast.

Deadline to Apply is December 14, 2021 at 5pm Eastern.

Through farm tours, speakers, and discussion, the program will explore the social and environmental impacts of agriculture. The program will also speak to some of the historical and present day structural issues that impact the food system, and challenges that new and beginning farmers face.

We will spend 2 days per week on our incubator farm education site growing food for the community and ourselves and having hands-on reinforcements of classroom lessons. We will spend 1 day a week on partner farm visits where you will get first-hand exposure to different scales and structures related to growing food and lifestyle approaches to farming. 

General topics include:  

• Field planning and organization: Seed charts, growing calendar, intro to soil test analyses
• Field management and maintenance: Crop, pest, weed, water, fertility management, harvest and distribution of produce. 
• Food harvesting, handling and distribution: Seeing the fruits of our labor and connecting with community members who are eating the food being grown.  
• Farmworker job training skill development: Timeliness, efficiency, preparedness, prioritizing health and wellbeing, developing physical and mental stamina, and learning how to advocate for yourself as a farmer

In addition to the hands-on training at the Education Farm Site and partner Farm sites, trainees will attend classes, farm tours, and discussions one day a week. Classroom days consist of lessons, guest speakers, field trips, and reviewing occasional homework

• Soil and Plant health: Intro to botany, soil types and composition and fertility
• Environmental impact and methods: Climate change, irrigation, tillage systems 
• History: Land theft and slavery, systematic discrimination
• Current issues: Labor, access, wages and modern day racial injustice in the food system

More Information About the Groundswell BIPOC Farmer Training Program Information and Application Instructions

 

• Learn More about other Beginning Farmer Training Programs Here.

• Find Recent Posts about Farmer Training Programs, Internships, and Apprenticeship Opportunities Here.

• Find All Sorts of Other Useful Farming Resources Here.