Beginning farmers wanting to gain hands-on skills can apply for paid on-farm jobs through PFI’s Labor4Learning program, which offers training with experienced farmers who have committed to mentor the next generation. For the 2025-2026 growing year, more than a dozen jobs from a range of farm enterprises and production systems were available.

“Hands-on experience is crucial for beginning farmers — not just in daily farm tasks but also in learning how to successfully manage a farm business,” said Martha McFarland, PFI’s senior farmland viability coordinator. “This year, trainees can learn directly from PFI member trainers and gain skills in agroforestry, vegetable production, orcharding, raising livestock and more.”

McFarland said the program launched in 2013 not just as a way to give trainees valuable experience, but also as a way to connect retiring farmers with potential non-familial successors. The farms represent a diversity of enterprises and production practices, including row crops, multiple species of livestock, fruits and vegetables, flowers, cover crops, organic certification and more.

“Each December, interested PFI members apply to become trainers. A committee made up of PFI farmers — including past program trainers and trainees — reviews the applications and selects trainers for the upcoming year. So far this year, we’ve matched 11 aspiring farmers with experienced trainers,” McFarland said. “Labor4Learning is one of PFI’s most popular programs, both among beginning farmers and those looking to mentor the next generation. You can read about farming, but getting hands-on experience is the key to understanding what farming is really like and preparing for success.”

-Submitted photo
Dylan Farrell, a past Labor4Learning participant from Ankeny, started a side business growing vegetables as a market garden. Through the program, he worked full-time as a farm hand/equipment operator.

Not only do the trainees learn basic work chores, they receive extra training from experienced PFI farmers on topics such as record-keeping, marketing and other skills beginning and aspiring farmers might not otherwise be exposed to.

Dylan Farrell, a past Labor4Learning participant from Ankeny, applied to be a part of the Labor4Learning program so he could “gain valuable experience from knowledgeable growers before deciding if and how I wanted to get involved in the agriculture sector.”

Through the program, Farrell worked full-time as a farm hand/equipment operator.

“I also started a side business growing vegetables as a market garden. This is my second season doing the vegetables and selling them locally at a farmers market,” he said. “I became interested in agriculture after a medical issue prevented me from serving in the military. It led me to look deeper into my health and how the quality of the food I ate affected me.”

To learn more about the program, visit www.practicalfarmers.org/programs/beginning-farmers/labor4learning/.