Young Agrarians is celebrating the tenth year of the Business Mentorship Network (BMN) program in BC and the second year of the program in the Prairies! If you are a new farmer or the next generation to take on your family farm and need support to figure out the business aspects of your farm consider applying for the 2024/2025 cohort. The BMN offers business mentorships to a diverse array of new and young farmers/ranchers/producers. Through one-on-one mentorship, peer networks and online workshops new farmers develop the skills necessary to operate ecologically sustainable and financially viable farm businesses.
Apply for the 2024/2025 program here – applications processed in October .
Check out the Business Mentorship Network page for more information!
Over the next few weeks we will introduce you to each of the new farmers in the 2024 cohort to hear about the arc of their farming journey, what their hopes are for the season ahead and what inspired them to reach out for business mentorship. To access more of these stories head over to our blog here.
Young Agrarians acknowledges funding support provided by the Government of Canada through Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan). In Alberta, the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program in Regenerative Agriculture and Business Mentorship Network is funded in part by the Government of Alberta.
Meet a Mentee: Tuff Ranching
My Name is Kole Norman, I am a first generation farmer, and my farm name is Tuff Ranching. Bluesette Campbell of the B-C Ranch is my mentor. My Farm resides on my home First Nation of Flying Dust First Nation, along the border of the City of Meadow Lake Saskatchewan within Treaty 6 territory and homeland of Métis local 31.
What inspired you to get into farming?
My passion for farming goes back as long as I can remember. My grandpa ran purebred poled Herefords as a boy helping his dad and my grandpa’s passion largely inspired me to take up an interest in cattle especially bulls.
How did you learn how to farm?
I learned to ranch largely from trial and error, YouTube, Facebook and any knowledge I could gather from locals or friends.
What type of business structure is Tuff Ranching?
Tuff Ranching is a Sole-Proprietorship, that my wife and I named after my son Tuff.
How much land is under production on your farm and what do you produce?
Currently within my ranch I have a total of 885 acres, of those acres I pasture 320 acres, hay 420 acres and the rest is currently unusable. My farm is a beef cow/calf operation.
What kind of land agreement do you have (lease, own)? Are there special relationships that enabled this?
My wife and I moved our own home onto a rural location within Flying Dust First Nation in the fall of 2017, with plans to eventually start a farm. I received my first lease in 2018, a very tired 200 acre hay field on the condition that I work the land and reseed it, additionally I rebroke another 50 acres of land. I then received 320 acres of pasture on a 3-year term starting in 2020 which I traded another farmer for the 160 acres of land surrounding my house. I took on this pasture while only having a handful of animals but paying for the full rate amount because I wanted to lock in the land for myself and my future. This brings us to November 2023, my land lease agreements have been renewed for 5-year terms between Flying Dust First Nation and myself (which are max terms within the First Nation). November 2023 also brought the addition of another tired hay field and as a new pasture for me to fix and utilize, which I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to continue expanding.
Did you access any financing to buy land or start your Tuff Ranching?
The financing I used for my ranch came from extra income I had saved from my full-time employment, my plan was not to take out any financing until I had enough experience and a full feel for what I was getting myself into; I used my personal credit card or line of credit if I really needed something. December of 2023 I used Farm Credit Canada to help me purchase 11 additional animals totalling $31,000.
Why did you apply for business mentorship? What do you hope to work on this year in your mentorship?
I applied for Mentorship because I love ranching; it’s a huge passion of mine and anything I can do to learn more or help advance my business I’m all for it. I have also found it a little tricky to gain knowledge and insight within town and break into new social circles, whether it be the lack of land base/animals, my age or coming off the reserve or all three.
Through this mentorship with Bluesette, I hope to gain a better rotational grazing plan and also tips or tricks to increase my profit margins.
What is the greatest business challenge you face as a new farmer?
The greatest challenge I feel as a new farmer is just trying to get my foot in the door within the industry. Most ranches are multi-generational or have a large, owned land base. With living on reserve, the land is communal based, so I had to acquire a lease for a piece of land and starting a ranch from scratch was super hard. Having enough cash flow to keep me over until fall sale while trying to grow is another challenge I face constantly.
What are your primary business goals for the season?
My goals for this season are to expand my herd by another 8 animals, improve my handling
system and have a surplus to carry the business over until next year.
What business tools could you not live without?
A business tool I could not live without is my computer, I use it everyday for spreadsheets, word documents, watching online sales and ranch tutorials. Another item I could not do without is family and friends above all else, without them nothing would be possible.
How can we find out more about you, your farm, and its products?
Currently I do not have a separate channel, although I plan to start a Youtube or Instagram to help new industry people like myself learn. I am active on Linked’In and Facebook under Kole Norman.
I loved reading this. We have been waiting for this article. So proud of Kole and his little family. Keep going, you are a hard worker and teaching your son good work ethics.