HARRISBURG — In 2022, Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry received a new resource to help farmers — The PA Agriculture Mentor Program Pilot included five mentors with extensive agricultural backgrounds to assist beginning farmers, agribusiness entrepreneurs and farmers, in troubleshooting new strategies and ideas for their farm businesses.

The program pilot proved to be a valuable asset to Pa. farmers, resulting in 124 sessions and over 127 hours of service. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, 34 clients received a total of 48.25 hours of free mentoring already. Spearheaded by a group of Pennsylvania agricultural organizations with an interest in the future of agriculture, the program leverages SCORE, a 501© 3 nonprofit organization and resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Development Center. The mentoring is free and confidential.

The PA Ag Mentorship Program focuses on training all farmer types. This includes next generation farmers, farmers entering new specialties, organic farming, vegetable apprenticeships, and more. With the backing of the national SCORE program, the PA Ag Mentorship Program is able to provide business mentoring with experts in the industry.

To request a mentoring session, please visit score.org/find-mentor, email us at farmland@pafarmlink.org, or visit the website, pafarmlink.org/mentor/.