Young Agrarians is celebrating the ninth year of the Business Mentorship Network (BMN) program in BC and the expansion of the program across the Prairies! The BMN offers business mentorships to a diverse array of new and young farmers. Through one-on-one mentorship, peer networks and online workshops young farmers develop the skills necessary to operate ecologically sustainable and financially viable farm businesses.
Applications open for Mentees across Western Canada in October 2023. Mentor applications are accepted year-round. Check out the Business Mentorship Network page for more information!
Want to learn more about our Mentees (or Mentors)? Below you can learn all about their farm and why they joined the Business Mentorship Network. If you’d like to read about the experiences of other Mentees/Mentors, head to our blog here.
Meet a Mentee: Ural Farms
Meet Dorothy Penner and Anton Goulko, the proud owners and plant scientists behind Ural Farms in Central Alberta. They are part of the Young Agrarians Mentorship Program, where they are learning from Shauna Bokenfohr, a lovely and incredibly knowledgeable farmer from Bokey Blooms Farms.
Dorothy and Anton farm on Treaty 6 land, the traditional meeting grounds, gathering place, and travelling route to the Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, Métis, Dene and Nakota Sioux. Their farm is located in Woodlands County, between Mayerthorpe and Whitecourt.
Their Journey:
They did not plan to become farmers, but rather stumbled into it by a happy accident, as Bob Ross would say. They are still learning how to farm by making mistakes, getting dirty and experimenting. Also, they read a lot of books and articles about farming.
Dorothy and Anton are passionate about growing food in a sustainable and regenerative way. To that point, they use organic practices and permaculture principles to produce a variety of berries and herbs.
Agritourism Opportunities:
Ural Farms offers more than just the bounty of the land. In addition to their farming endeavors, Dorothy and Anton have created a unique off-grid pioneer wagon getaway experience on their picturesque farm. Two cozy covered wagons, designed for two adults, await guests for a weekend farm stay. The interiors of the wagons convert from seating arrangements to comfortable beds, providing a cozy and rustic ambiance.
The Business:
The Business:Dorothy and Anton have a sole proprietorship business structure for their farm, but they plan to incorporate it once they become more established. Currently, they currently have just under 3 acres of land in production, where they grow berries of all kinds that you can’t find in the grocery store. These include haskaps, all types of currents and gooseberries, cherries, wild raisins, and they are trying out more things this year!
Ecological Farming Practices:
They were lucky enough to have bought a piece of land a few years back because they have no relatives who farm or any real farming or rural Alberta connections. They engage in lots of ecological farm practices and responses to climate change realities such as permaculture, no-till planting, reintroducing native species, planting drought and pest-resistant species, Hügelkultur, and organic production.
Business Mentorship:
They applied for the business mentorship program because they need all the help that they can get to understand the business of farming. They finished the Young Agrarians Business BootCamp for New Farmers, and the mentorship program seemed like the next best step for them. Their greatest business challenges as new farmers are money, equipment, time, knowledge and weather. Their primary business goal for the season is to make sure that their transplanted plants survive.
The business tools that they could not live without are pen and paper (they don’t have the luxury of a cellphone connection at their farm) and Google. If they had a farming robot, it would be a mower, weeder and berry picker.
Where to Find Them:
Find out more about Dorothy and Anton, their farm, and their products by following them on:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/
Instagram – @uralfarms
Hipcamp – Ural Farms – Hipcamp
