DECEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Mentorship network helps new farmers


New entrants see value in having guidance, support by RONDA PAYNE


without a network.” He says he’s seen people


SURREY – Farming can be an isolating occupation and those who go it alone may find themselves working hard but lacking answers and support to get ahead. Unfortunately, this may lead to burn out and failure even for the most passionate farmer. To reduce isolation and


increase the resources available to farmers, primarily those new to the sector and under the age of 35, Young Agrarians established a business mentorship network that has assisted 87 farmers since 2014. Gemma McNeill grows


mixed vegetables on just two acres in the Newton area of Surrey. She and her partner, Doug Zaklan, own Zaklan Heritage Farm and were one of the first to sign up for the mentorship program. Young Agrarians paired them with Chris Bodnar of Close to Home Organics in Langley’s Glen Valley. “We were their pilot


project,” says McNeill, who credits Bodnar’s mentorship for providing them with the foundation they needed to set up Zaklan. It also made them feel less isolated. “For us, some of the


primary gaps were around business management. [Chris gave us] a sense that running a farm was running a business … We felt like we had somebody if we didn’t know where to find the answers. We had somebody who could help find the resources.” The mentorship program brings together new and experienced farmers to cultivate the skills for running ecologically sustainable and financially viable businesses, says Young Agrarians business mentorship network manager, Melanie Buffel. “Participants in the


program receive 30 to 40 hours of mentorship with an experienced farm business mentor, financial training, and opportunities for peer networking,” she explains. Bodnar was mentored


through a less-formal arrangement. He was guided for a year by the previous owner of his farm. “We bought our business


from him,” he explains. “It can be a tough sector to navigate


who are interested in farming start a business but lack the emotional and practical support they need during the critical start-up phase.


“Some people see [farming] as that rugged, individualist mentality,” he says. “But you depend so much on the people around you.”


Kootenay connection


Kim Watt heard about the mentorship program in 2018. She has just finished her first growing season on a 1.25-acre farm outside of Nelson she calls Thimble Hill Orchard and Nursery.


“I was just starting up a


new orchard and nursery,” she says. “I had been growing and farming for many years but knew that being successful as a small farm business would depend on gaining some solid business skills.” She found the application


process itself valuable in that it forced her to look at the business she wanted to build as well as her own skills to identify where she needed support. “It also made me think


more seriously about my financial goals for the business and how I was planning to earn a living from our farm,” she says. Watt is pleased to have someone to turn to when she is uncertain about her bookkeeping or new tree crops.


“Being able to learn from


Chris Bodnar of Close to Home Organics in Langley is giving back by mentoring new farmers through the Young Agrarians’ business mentorship network. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO


those who have been in the field for a long time has helped me make informed decisions and avoid expensive mistakes,” she notes. Mentorship doesn’t just


provide participants with resources. As Bodnar notes, sometimes mentors can be sounding boards who help new farmers work through challenges. One new farmer told Bodnar on their first meeting that he was having panic attacks and difficulty sleeping. He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else, but once it was out in the open, the individual was able to address it. “Sometimes it’s just sending a text and knowing you have people you can text,” says Bodnar. “It’s also just practical things to support someone getting off on the right foot. It’s also sometimes a matter of having someone you can call, ‘like how do you figure out the bunch size for spinach.’ And reminding a


new entrant … to continue doing it, you have to make money.” Record-keeping,


bookkeeping, decision- making, marketing, selling and setting up a business are a few of the things new farmers learn through the program. “It was somebody who


would listen to us and make suggestions as we were trying to figure things out,” recalls McNeill.


She also says the


experience taught her she could also contribute to the success of others, whether that’s helping someone find their niche, or even helping them find out that’s not what they want to be doing. McNeill now is a mentor to


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other applicants. While she readily admits


she’s still a relatively new farmer to be mentoring others, she says “it seems like a lot of it is just active listening – being a sounding board for how someone wants to run their business.”


Bodnar explains that


mentors and mentees also set goals and look at what they’ve accomplished instead of what someone else has done, or all the things still on the lengthy to-do list. He’s also formed great relationships with people he’s mentored that allow for knowledge sharing and a larger farming-based network. “And that’s what we want,”


he says. “To grow the sector together.”


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