Would you like to learn how to lead hour-long educational programs on popular farm law subjects at conferences, workshops, and field days in your community?
Become a Legal Ecosystem Fellow, and we’ll show you how!
We need you. Farm Commons staff can’t be every where, each winter, leading all the farm law programming that agricultural communities need to become resilient. And even if we could- it’s not ideal. We want to build the capacity of local agricultural educators to teach and support community members closest to them. We want to teach YOU to lead farm law workshops in your community!
Fellows have seen how a lack of access to legal knowledge can put small farms under when it comes to issues like accessing land, getting proper insurance coverage, settling disputes with neighbors, and following zoning codes. They recognize that supporting farmers’ ability to navigate these areas of law is crucial to sustaining and expanding agricultural communities.
If you are an agricultural educator, you can teach farm law.
It’s a fact that non-attorneys can be effective teachers of farm law – our staff proves it. This program provides what you need to become a community leader in farm law education. We’ve spent a decade crafting accessible, plain-language presentations for you to share in your communities. With the Legal Ecosystem Fellowship program, you will learn how to facilitate powerful teaching and learning spaces around farm law.
We ask that you first take our workshop, Guiding Resilience, so you have a strong baseline knowledge. (If necessary, you can instead take our Discovering Resilience Self-Paced workshop to meet this requirement before the Fellowship program begins.)
Get the support you need, now and later, to share farm law knowledge.
Our 5-meeting Fellowship program will give you the tools to get going. We’ll walk you through template presentations with slides and scripts, show you how to create interactivity, discuss common questions and response techniques, and address any fears and worries. Together, we’ll sharpen our ability and perspective on farm law subjects. And our relationship won’t end after the last meeting! We will help you get your first presentation off the ground by providing editorial and technical support.
We commit to you, as well.
Your time is valuable, and we want to compensate you for investing in your capacity as an agriculture service provider. Participation in the Legal Ecosystem Fellowship program will take about 28 hours of your time between October and December. Each fellow receives an honorarium of $1400 for their time investment in this program.
We want each Fellow to lead at least one workshop for their community within the year following the training. Let’s work together to make it happen!
Be sure to read the FAQ below and then apply by the application deadline September 15, 2006
Have more questions before you apply? No problem- if the FAQ below doesn’t answer it, reach out to gina@farmcommons.org for more information.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number ENE25-190-AWD00001359.
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award numberG107-25-WA511 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number WPDP24-012.
USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
These are our criteria to become a Legal Ecosystem Fellow:
We expect that Fellows will seek opportunities to deliver at least one of the five presentations in their community sometime between December 2026 – December 2027. Fellows can integrate a presentation into a program they’re already running, such as a beginning farmer training program. Other options include pitching a session at a nearby conference and partnering with a local organization to host a webinar.
We are also eager to support our Fellow alums in hosting additional farm law presentations. The honorarium is just for the Fellowship period, but you can expect ongoing support in the form of presentation templates and a platform to collaborate with cohort-members and Farm Commons staff on additional presentations.
Fellows will meet virtually on five Wednesdays: October 21 and 28; November 4 and 11; and December 2, 2026. Each live session will be held from 8:00–10:00 a.m. PT / 9:00–11:00 a.m. MT / 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. CT / 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ET.
During the live sessions, Fellows will explore farm business structures, employment law, land matters, food safety, and liability and insurance. Before each session, Fellows will complete no more than 90 minutes of preparatory work. The two-hour sessions will provide time to examine legal topics, discuss questions, practice new skills, and learn alongside one another.
As the fellowship progresses, you will have opportunities to practice your presentation skills and deepen your understanding of the farm law questions arising in your work.
Fellowship sessions will be held on the following Wednesdays: October 21 and 28; November 4 and 11; and December 2, 2026. Each live session will be held from 8:00–10:00 a.m. PT / 9:00–11:00 a.m. MT / 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. CT / 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ET.
We provide each participant with an honorarium of $1400. To receive the honorarium, Fellows will provide their information in Gusto, our secure payment management system. We can make the payment to you, the Fellow, or to your employer. A social security number, TEIN, or EIN is required to receive payment so we can fulfill our tax obligations.
The honorarium will be made via direct deposit or paper check. Before issuing the honorarium, we will ask participants to sign an MOU agreeing that the honorarium does not create an employment relationship.
Participants may forgo the payment if they wish, or if they are prohibited from accepting an honorarium.
We anticipate receiving more applications than we can accommodate. The 2026 Fellowship cohort is limited to eight Fellows.
If the number of qualified applicants exceeds the available spots, invitations will be extended based on the priorities below, while also working to create a diverse cohort that reflects a broad range of expertise, communities, and lived experiences:
