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The face of farming is changing in New Hampshire, with a majority of current farms operated by people older than 55 and a new wave of farmers ready to take their place in the field. However, breaking from the historical model of young people learning their trade from their parents, the current batch of new farmers didn’t grow up in agriculture. That’s where 91��Ƭ�� Extension, and its Beginning Farmer programming, comes in.

Extension has a long tradition of teaching new farmers, explains Caroline Beaton, Beginning Farmer program manager who started her role in January. The existing program, the New Farmer School, is a 16-week course focused on running a farm as a viable business. The number of newcomers to the vocation, though, has highlighted the need for more education, which is why Beaton was hired.

According to USDA census data, the number of beginning farmers — defined as people who have been farming for fewer than 10 years — rose by 40 percent between 2012 and 2022. In New Hampshire, beginning farmers account for more than a third of all agricultural producers. Most of these new farmers have another job, and most are working a farm smaller than 50 acres.

For these farmers, especially those who are moonlighting with off-farm jobs, a 16-week course is a big ask. That’s why Beaton is creating a parallel program of education featuring 30 free educational events held across the entirety of the state, to cover topics ranging from record-keeping and soil health to integrated pest management and building a farm and business plan that can handle extreme weather events. Growers can attend only those events that interest them and there’s no fee, thanks to a USDA grant.

“Our farming population in New Hampshire is aging out; there’s a lot less generational farming going on where they’re being passed down through the families. What we’re seeing is a huge influx of brand-new farming. There’s a back-to-land vibe but they’re coming at it without a lot of background information,” Beaton says.