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AGRICULTURE Growing the next crop of farmers Ashland-based organization trains successors to aging farm proprietors Comment By Caitlin Fowlkes For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Caitlin Fowlkes For the Tidings Posted Jun. 29, 2016 at 8:55 PM By Caitlin Fowlkes For the Tidings Posted Jun. 29, 2016 at 8:55 PM » Social News An Ashland-based agricultural organization’s most important crop can take a lifetime to ripen, but is something no one can live without: farmers. Rogue Farm Corps, headquartered in Ashland, is dedicated to educating the next generation of farmers in Oregon. “We’re taking an approach to establish the next generation of farmers,” said Megan Fehrman, education director of Rogue Farm Corps. “The average farmer in Oregon is 60 years old. There’s going to be an exchanging of hands soon.” Not that many people grow up on farms anymore and the ones that do don’t seem to want to continue farming, according to Fehrman. The educational organization gives students of all ages a hands-on experience with farming through a seven- to nine-month internship with a local farm. Interns in the Farms Next program work 40 hours a week on a local farm, take part in coursework such as journal entries and discussion classes, and participate in independent study. “Most of the folks that come to us have already graduated college and are looking to do something else,” said Fehrman. “Most of our students are first-generation farmers.” This year there are about 20 participating farms in the program. Farms in the Rogue Valley are in the Applegate, Evans Creek and Williams Valley area, according to Stuart O’Neill, executive director of Rogue Farm Corps. There are 12 students participating in the Rogue Valley program, including one student from Ashland. The organization has expanded to the Portland, Eugene and Central Oregon areas. During the internship, students participate in an independent study. This study consists of a project to help the farm they work with and is focused on the area of farming the student wants to explore. This year’s projects include farm-to-table dinners, the creation of a cob oven and fermentation. The farm-to-table dinners are meals sourced entirely from the local farm. A cob oven is an outdoor oven made out of natural and recycled materials. One student will be exploring ways to turn vegetables that may otherwise go to waste into a fermented, usable product. Students usually work 1,200 to 1,500 hours during the course of the internship. Although the mission of the program is to educate inexperienced farmers, the program also offers the student the option of receiving college credit. The amount of credit varies according to the institution the student attends, according to O’Neill. At the current rate, there will not be enough farmers to satisfy food production in Oregon in the next few years, according to O’Neill. “We need to have many more farmers,” said O’Neill. “The retiring farmers are retiring faster than we can train farmers.” In 1920, nearly 32 million, or 30 percent, of Americans were farmers, but as of 2012, just over 2 million Americans, or less than 1 percent, were principal farm operators. The average age of Oregon’s principal farm operators is 59.6 years old. Only 4 percent of Oregon’s principal farm operators are under the age of 35, according to a document released by the organization. “We need to be looking at who’s going to be growing our food,” said Fehrman. “Farm knowledge is not being passed on to the next generation through families.” An apprenticeship program called Farms Now is also offered to students after participating in the internship program. The apprenticeship lasts between one and two years and allows students to focus on their management skills, as well as honing farming skills learned in the internship, according to Fehrman. “A lot of times, retiring farmers don’t have family members to take over the farm,” said O’Neill. The organization also works with local farm preservation organizations, such as Oregon Farm Link, to connect individuals who would like to work in agriculture, but who don’t have the resources to people who have the resources and are unable to continue working their land. Roughly 135 individuals applied to the Rogue Farm Corps program this year. “A lot of people who are interested don’t have a family farm to inherit and land is very expensive,” said O’Neill. “We’ve got to thread the needle and make the connection between retiring farmers and the next generation of farmers.” Email Tidings intern Caitlin Fowlkes at [email protected]. By Caitlin Fowlkes For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Caitlin Fowlkes For the Tidings Posted Jun. 29, 2016 at 8:55 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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