D2_Agraria_Journal_21_OPT

16 AGRARIA JOURNAL 2021 NEW FARMER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM Growing a New Crop of Regenerative Farmers BY AMY HARPER AND KAT CHRISTEN A vision Agraria has had since its founding — to serve as an incubator for beginning farmers — became a reality this spring when the organization launched the Regenerative Farmer Fellowship, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and Central State University. This pilot program will support six beginning farmers through 25 weeks of education and training in regenerative agricultural practices and business planning. The first class of Farmer Fellows is a group of six women, most of whom are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). They represent both urban and rural sites in Montgomery, Greene and Clark counties. According to the 2017 Ag Census, less than 1% of farmers in Ohio are BIPOC, and of these farmers, 30-43% are new and beginning farmers. The training includes workshops focused on regenerative practices and business planning as well as tours of successful farms and/or markets. It will allow participants to build capacity for their own sites and growing operations and to connect and collaborate with farmers and organizations that support farmers, including the Black Farming Network coordinated by Ariella Brown of Agraria. Fellows without property of their own will be able to establish plots on Agraria and on Agraria’s partner in Springfield, Melrose Acres Urban Agriculture Center. Leading the training will be Kat Christen, who developed, operated, and managed the Antioch College Farm for 10 years. She has also led educational programming on Smaller Footprint Farm, which she and her husband, Doug Christen, have owned and operated since 2006. Supporting Kat will be Program Assistant Kenisha Robinson, who is also participating as a Fellow in the program. A unique feature of the program is the financial support the Fellows will receive: $12/hour for 20 hours per week over the course of the program, from April 19 through October 8. A grant secured by TNC from the North Central Region of Sustainable Agriculture Education and Research (NCR-SARE) program provides funding for the stipends. The majority of farm internships and trainings are DENNIE EAGLESON Program Assistant Kenisha Robinson, of Trotwood, who is also a Fellow in the program, with Fellow Omope Daboiku, from Edgemont Garden in Dayton, and Trinity Hoskins, of Springfield.