This guide describes the most important challenges for profitable niche poultry enterprises in New England and some ways that producers have overcome those challenges. Through interviews and direct farm research, New Entry worked with several small-scale poultry growers to track best practices and build enterprise budgets for alternative poultry enterprises in New England. For purposes of this guide, the focus is primarily on two chicken enterprises: laying hens, with fresh eggs as the primary product; and broilers, with whole roasting birds as the primary product.

Developed by the Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network, this toolkit is a comprehensive guide to establishing or improving an agricultural apprenticeship on your farm or ranch. This resouces includes tools, suggestions, and external links to supplementary resources. 

Allows both the apprentice and mentor to evaluate apprentice progress in various domains on a 5 point scale. There is also a section for comments to be completed by the mentor.

A handbook developed by NOFA_NY for farmers interested in sustainable farming internships. The toolkit discusses the role of a farmer as a teacher and whether or not they are a good fit. Chapters detail designing an internship program and the selection process and provide overviews of living arrangements, how to provide a high-quality learning experience, and applicable labor regulations.

Describes the partnership between Unity College and Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Associatoin - allowing apprentices working with MOFGA to earn academic credit. Certain academic coursework must be completed alongside the apprenticeship hours.

When “everyone” is responsible for tasks, often no one ends up doing them. We created these sign-up sheets for farmers to take individual responsibility for doing jobs around the farm and to have public (group) accountability. Farmers sign-up for tasks ahead of time (especially for time sensitive tasks such as watering). Introducing these tasks sheets and teaching farmers to use them will help ensure their use. This structure of using task sheets may have success if introduced at an early stage of the program.

This presentation was developed for a non-refugee audience but the content can be adapted. The main objective of the presentation is for growers to understand that some crops are better suited to hoop-houses than others, based on seasonality and spacing. Growers will think about which crops to put inside the hoop-house, which I like to call the “high rent district,” and which to plant outdoors, for the greatest sales potential over the course of the season. Farmers will understand the concept of degree days and that both temperature and day length affect plant growth. Finally, an overview of marketing options is presented, so that farmers can begin to think about this before learning more in-depth marketing information in future presentations.

This series of six workshops covers a range of topics related to soil quality and fertility management. For example, multiple workshops focus on learning plant families as a basis for understanding the importance of crop rotation and soil management planning. Other sessions introduce the concepts of crop rotation, soil nutrients, and teach the importance of giving soils an opportunity to “rest” in crop rotation planning. Most of the workshops are appropriate for beginning- to intermediate-level farmers.

This series of five lessons covers a range of topics related to marketing. Participating farmers will learn about different ways to set up a market stand, make their stand successful and visually appealing, and answer common questions and requests from customers. These sessions also help farmers tie records of previous market sales to future crop planning. Many are appropriate for farmers with low or no literacy and numeracy, but some are best suited to more intermediate or advanced audiences with basic numeracy and English reading skills.

This series of six workshops covers a range of topics related to crop planning. Farmers will be introduced to the concepts of harvest windows, succession planting, and days to maturity. Multiple sessions help farmers learn how to use calendars and tables to plan their growing season. One session teaches participants how to handle orders from customers and restaurants, and plan cropping and harvest schedules accordingly. Most of the workshops are appropriate for beginning- to intermediate-level farmers.