Young Farmers’ Initiative

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Project Description:

The Newfoundland and Labrador Young Farmers Forum (NLYFF), in partnership with the NL Federation of Agriculture has undertaken a project to develop our organization and further the goals of young farmers in the province. The goal of the Young Farmers’ initiative is to increase visibility of the NLYFF and enhance the opportunities for young people in agriculture. The NLYFF is proposing to organize activities, deliver public information seminars and workshops, and develop recruitment and promotional materials in order to provide enhanced services to their membership and to raise awareness of the agriculture industry and the provincial and national Young Farmers Forum.

 

Funding to carry out the project is provided through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

 

Project Goals:

To raise awareness of the NLYFF.

• To provide educational and developmental resources to beginning and young farmers in the province.

• To provide networking opportunities provincially, nationally, and globally.

• To identify challenges encountered by young people attempting to enter the industry and encourage solutions related to those issues.

• To encourage agricultural interest among youth and young adults through raising awareness of the agriculture industry.

• To promote the exchange of ideas and identify training needs.

• To encourage capacity building through information sessions, mentoring programs, and workshops.

• To consolidate the opinions of young and beginning farmers.

 

Project Deliverables:

Identify Young Farmers’ Membership Base:  The current membership of the NLYFF organization is not well organized and consists of an email contact list making identification and contact with members sporadic and difficult.  Activities are promoted to new members by invitation from existing members but interested individuals could easily be missed.  The NLYFF executive feels that development of a proper membership database is necessary to ensure consistent contact with interested individuals.

 

• Complete a Training Needs Assessment:  The membership of the NLYFF is quite diverse in their needs with some members beginning small farms of their own and others involved in the succession of large farms with hired staff.  Each group could identify different areas of need with respect to training.  Although many young farmers, regardless of the size of farm or agribusiness they are involved in, have similar training needs with regards to interpersonal and leadership skills. The NLYFF has identified the need for a Training Needs Assessment to determine future requirements of the group.

 

• Training Needs Development:   Regardless of what topics are identified by the membership, the NLYFF Executive knows there is a need for training in various areas and they would like to be able to offer that to its membership.  Depending on the areas identified in the Needs Assessment, topics could be researched and workshops could be organized to provide training in the areas of: leadership skills, best management practices, technical skills, financial and business management, interpersonal skills, workforce management and recruitment, succession planning or any other area identified.  In some cases, travel exchanges may be organized to allow interested participants the opportunity to view similar operations and get new ideas in other provinces or internationally.  Additionally, there has been some interest noted in mentorship programs for young or new farmers. 

 

• Promote and raise awareness of the Young Farmers’ Forum:   The NLYFF is a small organization with the majority of membership in the Eastern region of the province.  In order to grow the organization and provide information and services to more individuals, the NLYFF needs to promote and raise awareness of the organization and the benefits of membership.  As well, the NLYFF would like to raise awareness of the industry and career opportunities to youth and young adults through direct contact and through the development of social media networking contacts.  The NLYFF seeks to establish and foster partnerships with organizations that share common goals and objectives provincially and nationally. Additionally, the organization would like to host an annual Young Farmers Leadership Summit where members can come together as a training opportunity but also to share experiences, and provide a networking opportunity.