Presented By: Angel Cruz, North Carolina State University

Despite the increasing diversity in the US population, 95% of all principal farm operators are white. Moreover, the average age of principal farm operators was at 57.5 years in 2017. With this reality, agricultural educators, extension personnel, and agricultural businesses are looking for innovative strategies to recruit and effectively train the next generation of diverse farm operators. On-farm apprenticeships in the U.S. are an increasingly popular method of training future farmers. Registered apprenticeships are an emerging trend in workforce development with rapidly increasing popularity among non-traditional trade occupations such as healthcare and information technology, but are still relatively new in agriculture. Registered apprenticeship programs have been shown to help recruit and develop a diverse and highly skilled workforce, increase productivity, allow employers to participate in training, and increase job retention. At the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), we developed North Carolina's first two registered agricultural apprenticeship programs. This study includes data from our pilot program and our first two cohorts of apprentices. This study evaluated competency gains of apprentices in the program, as well as evaluated applicant demographic and background data. Apprentices complete a skills assessment at the beginning, mid-point, and end of the apprenticeship to track their competency progression, as well as a baseline survey that collects demographic information as well as information on apprentices' military service, farming goals, and agricultural background. During the first two pilot cohorts we have seen over 100 total applications with more than 40 applications from military veterans with 13 veterans joining the apprenticeship program. Findings demonstrate that registered agricultural apprenticeships are a viable pathway for recruiting and effectively training veteran and minority beginning farmers.