Bridging the Gap: Why VYFA Is Building a New Agricultural Mentorship Network

There is a problem in American agriculture that doesn't get enough attention.

We talk about the aging agricultural workforce.

We talk about farmland access.

We talk about beginning farmers.

We talk about veterans entering agriculture.

We talk about agricultural labor shortages.

We talk about succession planning and the need to bring a new generation into farming and ranching.

But there is another gap underneath all of those conversations:

The experience gap.

There are farmers and ranchers who have spent decades learning how to make decisions when the weather doesn't cooperate, when markets change, when equipment breaks, when livestock gets sick, when input costs rise, and when a farm business has to make difficult choices.

That knowledge is incredibly valuable.

And much of it cannot be learned from a textbook.

At the same time, there are people across the country who want to enter agriculture but don't have access to someone willing to teach them what years of experience have taught others.

VYFA believes that has to change.

We Need to Connect Experience With Opportunity

The next generation of farmers should not have to learn everything through trial and error.

That doesn't mean eliminating the hard work.

It means giving people access to the knowledge that can help them make better decisions.

A beginning farmer can learn about enterprise budgets in a classroom.

But sitting down with an experienced producer and discussing how those numbers actually behave on a working farm can provide an entirely different level of understanding.

Someone can learn the definition of risk management.

A mentor can explain what happened when a real farm faced drought, equipment failure, livestock loss, a market collapse, or an unexpected expense.

Someone can learn how to create a farm business plan.

A mentor can explain which assumptions in that plan are realistic and which ones need to be challenged.

Education matters. Experience matters. And mentorship can connect the two.

Introducing the VYFA Agricultural Mentorship Program

The Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance is launching the VYFA Agricultural Mentorship Program to help create that connection.

The program will connect experienced:

• Farmers

• Ranchers

• Agricultural producers

• Farm managers

• Agricultural professionals

• Agricultural educators

• Agricultural business leaders

• Agricultural companies

• Agricultural organizations

with people who are working toward becoming the next generation of agricultural producers and workers.

That includes beginning farmers, aspiring farmers, veterans entering agriculture, young farmers, agricultural workers seeking advancement, agricultural students, agricultural entrepreneurs, and others working toward an agricultural career or enterprise.

Mentorship Doesn't Have to Happen on the Same Farm

One of the advantages of today's technology is that mentorship doesn't have to be limited by geography.

VYFA's program will be virtual-first.

Mentors and mentees may communicate through:

Discord, Zoom, telephone, text, email, and other appropriate communication methods.

A farmer in one state can share knowledge with someone preparing to farm in another.

An experienced livestock producer can help someone developing a livestock enterprise.

An agricultural accountant can help a beginning farmer understand financial records.

An equipment professional can help someone understand machinery decisions.

An experienced farm manager can help someone learn how to think through day-to-day management decisions.

The goal isn't to replace hands-on agricultural experience.

The goal is to make the experience people receive more intentional, structured, and documented.

We're Not Building a "Talk to a Farmer" Program

This distinction matters.

VYFA doesn't want mentorship to simply mean:

"I talked to an experienced farmer."

Instead, we want to create a structured development relationship.

A participant may discuss:

• Farm business management

• Production planning

• Livestock management

• Crop production

• Equipment

• Marketing

• Financial management

• Risk management

• Farm safety

• Human resources

• Leadership

• Land planning

• Enterprise development

• Long-term strategy

But the important question becomes:

What did the participant actually learn and do with that information?

Documentation Matters

One of the most important parts of the VYFA mentorship program will be documentation.

Participants will have the opportunity to maintain a VYFA Agricultural Mentorship Portfolio.

The portfolio may document:

• Mentor information

• Mentorship goals

• Dates of interactions

• Time invested

• Topics discussed

• Skills addressed

• Agricultural decisions analyzed

• Assignments

• Applied projects

• Mentor feedback

• Competency development

• Mentor verification

• Program completion

This creates a record of development over time.

Instead of simply saying that someone participated in mentorship, the participant can demonstrate the progression of their agricultural knowledge and experience.

Why We're Paying Attention to FSA Standards

VYFA is also developing this documentation framework with reference to applicable USDA Farm Service Agency requirements and terminology.

Current FSA guidance recognizes forms of agricultural education, training, experience, and mentorship in the context of evaluating agricultural management experience.

That is important because one of the challenges facing aspiring farmers is not simply gaining experience.

It is being able to demonstrate that experience.

VYFA wants to help participants organize their education, mentorship, applied work, and agricultural development into a professional portfolio.

However, VYFA will never promise that our documentation automatically qualifies someone for an FSA loan or any other program.

Final determinations belong to FSA, lenders, educational institutions, employers, or whatever organization is evaluating the individual's qualifications.

Our responsibility is to help participants build and document legitimate development.

From Classroom to Real-World Application

The mentorship program will also connect directly with VYFA's Workshop Training Academy.

That creates a much stronger learning model.

A participant might first complete a VYFA workshop on Farm Business Fundamentals.

Then the participant works with a mentor on an actual enterprise budget.

The mentor reviews the budget.

The participant receives feedback.

The participant makes corrections.

The completed work is documented.

The mentor verifies the activity.

Now the participant has more than a completed workshop.

They have:

Education + Mentorship + Application + Documentation + Feedback

That is the kind of development VYFA wants to encourage.

Three Levels of Mentorship

VYFA is developing the program around three general levels.

Foundation Mentorship

For individuals with limited agricultural experience.

This level may focus on:

• Agricultural terminology

• Farm safety

• Basic operations

• Career exploration

• Farm business fundamentals

• Farm planning

Applied Agricultural Mentorship

For people actively working toward agricultural employment or farming.

This may include:

• Crop production

• Livestock production

• Equipment

• Farm management

• Financial management

• Marketing

• Production planning

• Risk management

• Agricultural decision-making

Farm Management & Leadership Mentorship

For individuals preparing to manage or operate an agricultural enterprise.

This level may address:

• Enterprise management

• Financial decisions

• Personnel management

• Production planning

• Strategic planning

• Capital investment

• Risk management

• Leadership

• Business expansion

• Long-term farm planning

This advanced level can also connect with VYFA's Farm Management & Leadership training.

The Mentors We Need

We aren't only looking for people who own large farms.

Agriculture needs many different kinds of experience.

We need the farmer who has successfully operated a small diversified farm.

We need the rancher who knows livestock production.

We need the farm manager who understands labor and scheduling.

We need the agricultural accountant who understands farm financial records.

We need the equipment professional who knows machinery.

We need the agricultural business owner who understands marketing.

We need the experienced producer who has made mistakes, learned from them, and is willing to explain what they would do differently.

Experience doesn't have to come from the biggest operation.

What matters is whether someone has meaningful knowledge that can help another person develop.

And We Need Mentees Who Are Ready to Work

Mentorship is not a shortcut.

A mentor cannot build someone's farm for them.

A mentor cannot guarantee a loan.

A mentor cannot eliminate risk.

And a mentor cannot replace education or hands-on experience.

The responsibility of the mentee is to show up, ask questions, listen, do the work, apply what they learn, accept constructive feedback, and continue developing.

The best mentorship relationships aren't built around someone giving answers.

They're built around someone teaching another person how to think through the problem.

Building an Agricultural Knowledge Cycle

There is another reason VYFA is building this program.

We don't want mentorship to end with one generation.

We want it to become a cycle.

An experienced farmer becomes a VYFA mentor.

A beginning farmer learns from that mentor.

The beginning farmer develops experience.

Years later, that farmer becomes an experienced agricultural professional.

Then they become a mentor.

And they help someone else.

Experienced Farmer → Mentor → Future Farmer → Experienced Farmer → Mentor → Future Farmer

That is how agricultural knowledge survives.

That is how communities become stronger.

That is how we stop losing valuable knowledge every time an experienced producer leaves the industry.

This Is About More Than Farming

At its core, the VYFA Agricultural Mentorship Program is about people.

It's about someone who has spent years learning something valuable being given a way to pass that knowledge forward.

It's about someone who has always wanted to farm finally having someone to call when they don't know what to do next.

It's about a veteran trying to find a new path.

It's about a young person who sees agriculture as a future instead of simply a job.

It's about an agricultural worker who wants to move into management.

It's about preserving knowledge while creating opportunity.

And it's about recognizing that experience has value.

The Bridge Starts Here

America needs the next generation of farmers and agricultural workers.

But telling people that agriculture needs them isn't enough.

We have to help them get there.

That means education.

It means access.

It means practical experience.

It means relationships.

It means mentorship.

And it means finding better ways to document the progress people make along the way.

That is what VYFA is working to build.

We're connecting experience with opportunity.

We're building bridges between generations.

We're preserving agricultural knowledge.

We're developing the next generation of agricultural leaders.

And we're doing it because the future of agriculture depends on more than the people farming today.

It depends on who we help become farmers tomorrow.

Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance

Serving Those Who Serve the Land

Learn more about the VYFA Agricultural Mentorship Program and how to participate through the VYFA community.