Tales from the Field: Creating a Model for Legal On-Farm Internships

Don’t be discouraged—it is possible to create a legally sound internship program on the farm! Rogue Farm Corps in Oregon is a great case study for how to keep these valuable training programs for aspiring farmers alive.

Rogue Farm Corps (RFC) began in 2003 when a group of family farmers in southern Oregon came together with a commitment to train and mentor the next generation of farmers within the context of tightening employment regulations around informal on-farm internship programs. With the help of a federal grant, the farmers began to develop an innovative, structured educational curriculum that included both classroom and field training. That curriculum became the basis for RFC’s FarmsNext Program. FarmsNext places interns on farms for a season to receive both hands-on farming experience and ongoing instruction from the farmers.

You may be wondering what makes RFC’s FarmsNext different from other internship programs. In addition to the experiential education that interns receive, they are also offered a comprehensive classroom curriculum on topics integral to becoming a successful farmer. These topics include business training, marketing, growing techniques, and more. Interns also tour each of the participating host farms, giving them a wide range of experiences and exposing them to a variety of farming situations, not just the unique circumstances of the individual farm where they are placed. In 2015, there were 18 farms participating in the RFC program. The breadth of experience the interns receive through FarmsNext is much wider than if they spent six to nine months solely on one farm. It also makes the intern’s experience more applicable to a variety of employment settings.

RFC is continuing to expand its mission and reach, building collaborative efforts with farmers and advocates all over Oregon. In 2015, RFC piloted their more advanced FarmsNow program for graduates of the FarmsNext program. The organization is committed to helping the country’s aging farming generation pass down both knowledge and farm property—and doing it the legal way.

Is putting together a comprehensive internship curriculum like RFC’s easy? No, definitely not. But, it is possible, and the results are both rewarding and inspiring. For more information about Rogue Farm Corps and the FarmsNext program, visit www.roguefarmcorps.org.