AMES, Iowa – An Iowa-based farm networking organization was awarded a grant from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE).

Jennifer Studebaker, interim executive director of the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN), was awarded $49,863 for WFAN’s Harvesting Our Potential (HOP) mentorship program, for “After the Harvest: Winter Season Mentoring and Ongoing Farmer Networking.”

Headquartered in Ames, WFAN’s program aims to expand into the winter season, while also working to reduce isolation, build business skills, strengthen networks, and improve economic resilience in Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin. 

Studebaker told Farm World WFAN has been offering the HOP mentorship program on and off for 25 years, with the program originally conceived as a way to reduce isolation, and encourage peer-to-peer learning around sustainable agriculture.

“In the program, WFAN matches a beginning farmer with a mentor based on shared interests, and together, they set goals that the mentoree works on over the course of the season,” she said. “We have heard from past participants that this program has benefited them deeply, connecting them with future business partners and friends, building their confidence, and helping stave off burnout.”

She said these mentorships have traditionally been offered during the summer season, and often focus on the day-to-day management of the farm, such as caring for livestock, or growing crops.

“However, we have been hearing the demand for a winter option from our participants for several years, since it is difficult to focus on business planning and management during the summer,” she said. “We are thrilled to be hosting five mentorship pairs this winter season, with the support of the NCR-SARE Partnership grant.”

As a part of this, she said, WFAN will also be expanding its farm business education and networking opportunities: “Our upcoming Harvest Moon Gathering (Sept. 25-26 in Hazel Green, Wis.) will include a table discussion around farm business development, led by our HOP Program Manager Lauren Marolis.

“We will have a reception and mixer later that evening, celebrating Harvesting Our Potential’s 25th anniversary, with a planned networking activity to help folks get to know each other, and hopefully make some lasting connections,” she added.

At WFAN, she said, the network sees building community as a key component to growing resilience from an economic, social and environmental perspective: “We are thankful to the NCR-SARE team for their support, and we are excited to share the results of this pilot next year. Pending continued funding, we are hoping next year, we will be able to offer both winter and summer mentorships on a regular basis.”

Officials said the focus for each of the NCR-SARE grant programs is on research and education. Funding considerations are based on how well the applicant presents the problem being addressed, the project’s relevance to sustainable agriculture in the 12-state North Central region, and how well it aligns with NCR-SARE’s goals, among other factors specific to each grant program.

These grant programs are for farmers, ranchers, scientists, educators, institutions, organizations and others exploring sustainable agriculture in the 12 states in the North Central region: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Since 1988, NCR-SARE’s competitive grants have advanced agricultural innovation that promotes economic viability, stewardship of the land, air and water, and quality of life for farmers, ranchers and their communities, officials said.

“The partnership grants are fantastic intersections where we see research from technical service providers in cooperation with farmers that results in applied learning that translates to even more farmers,” Christa Hartsook, Iowa NCR-SARE state coordinator at Iowa State University in Ames, told Farm World.

“All of the funded projects directly relate to sustainable agriculture research, and systems that benefit our soil, our water and the economic future of our farms,” she said.