S5 - E15: Building Confidence and Knowledge through Mentorship with Dara Booher, Pt. II

Building confidence and knowledge through mentorship is necessary for farmers to overcome fears and take bigger steps towards meeting their goals. Dara Booher wears many educational hats. Dara is the coordinator of the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council's farmer-mentor program and the facilitator of the Virginia Farmer Mentor Network, a collaboration of Virginia State University, the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council, the Virginia No-Till Alliance (VANTAGE), and Virginia Tech's Eastern Shore Agriculture Research and Education Center (AREC).

In her work with youth and farmers, Dara recommends getting to know people and meeting them where they are, particularly for peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and understanding people's goals, aspirations, and motivations. 

The Virginia Farmer Mentor Network provides mentoring connections to any farmer interested in peer-to-peer learning on crop production, grazing, direct and intermediated marketing, and beginning farming. To find out more, contact mentor coordinator and facilitator Dara Booher at [e-mail] or 540.481.6001 (call or text). 

For details about Virginia's Graze 300 program and principles, please visit https://ext.vt.edu/agriculture/graze-300.html

As always, we encourage you to cooperate with other farmers and follow the four core soil health principles: 

1) Keep the soil covered -- Cover crops are our friends;
2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible;
3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity and life in the soil; and
4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation and/or livestock integration.

Yes, soil health is a great conversation starter because we can all be 4 The Soil and for the future! 
 
To enjoy recent 4 The Soil blog posts and additional soil health resources, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/blog and https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices and outdoor educational activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office.