Farm Skills

GROWING GROWERS TRAINING PROGRAM - Core Competencies

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Core Competencies PDF file 78KB

HTML version of the Core Competencies htm file 251KB

These are the general skills, knowledge, and experiences that we understand to be useful to a farmer growing food for local consumption.  They are prioritized as High, Medium, and Low to reflect what we think will be possible to cover in a one-season apprenticeship.  Items rated “High” will be addressed during the apprenticeship year.  Items rated as “Medium” will at least be introduced during the year; items rated as low will probably not be directly addressed.  This list is a work-in-progress and will be revised as the Training Program develops with further input from farmers and apprentices.  Competencies are learned through by various means described below.

Hands-On Experience: (Field Work, Exposure to Marketing, Apprentice Exchanges, and Farm Visits) The apprentices will learn these areas through their work in the fields, through time spent with the farmer in marketing of the products (at the Farmers’ Market, doing deliveries to restaurants, etc.), through organized farm visits, and through apprentice exchanges, where two apprentices agree to swap jobs (only with the agreement of the farmers) for up to one week.

One-on-One Training: The farmer will provide the apprentice with 12-15 hours of focused training in these areas.  For example, the farmer will walk the apprentice through the season’s production plan, will show them the process they use to select and order seeds, etc.  Work may be done during these trainings (for example, seeds may be selected and ordered), or they may be entirely educational.

Workshops: The Training Program will offer workshops for the apprentices, the farmers, and the general public; we will also make workshops presented by other organizations, such as the Kansas Rural Center, available to the apprentices.

Other Resources: Over the course of the year, apprentices will receive resource materials (pdf 15KB) such as books and pamphlets, and videos will be made available for use.

Apprentice-Directed Learning (Research and Discussion): Apprentices will be responsible for “interviewing” their farmers on these topics and then sharing and discussing the information with the other apprentices.