Young farmers, look at Step Up

The Step Up program sounds like a great way for a young farmer to spend some time on another farm, learning a management style other than their mother's and father's. The program sounded so good that I asked the organizer, Melissa Dumont with the Canadian Farm Business Management Council (CFBMC), to ask program participants if they'd like to write about their experiences. I got two great articles. The first, by Harris Ivens (in the photo), will be in the January 12 issue of Grainews. Here's the thing, Harris is from Toronto. He's not from a farm. The second writer, Emma Holmes, is from Vancouver.

It seems that young farmers, the people the program was designed for, are not signing up. Maybe they can't spend eight weeks away from their own farms. But in terms of useful experience that sets them up for a long successful future in the business, these eight weeks might be as valuable as four years in university.

More details on Step Up

As outlined on the CFBMC website, Step Up was created for these three reasons:

—So young farmers can learn critical aspects of farm business management from their peers in a hands on setting

—To transition farm business management knowledge from one generation of farmers to the next

—To provide a learning and sharing environment for both the mentor (the farmer) and the mentee (the student.)

Step Up is taking applications right now for 2009 mentors and mentees. Note, there are two sides to this program. It needs willing mentors, so if you want to help a young farmer, then sign up. For more information, contact Melissa Dumont at melissa@cfbmc.com or 1-888-232-3262 extension 30.