Determinants of Effective Beginning Farmer Programming and Implications for Future Programs

This research explores the determinants of effective beginning farmer programming and implications for emerging and established programs. We use responses from 100 interviews with participants in the Building Farmers in the West Program, one of the longest-standing beginning farmer training programs in the United States, to understand how key course principles predict improved farm profitability. Results show that specific production changes after taking the course—including the number of cultivated varieties (negative), number of farm enterprises (positive), and length of production season (positive)—are correlated with improved farm profitability. We make recommendations for future beginning farmer programming based on these results.