Program helps farmers learn to grow

Sugar beet farmer selected for national training program

Sugar beet farmer Sarah Rachor is Montana’s representative for the 2018-2019 Beginning Farmer Institute Program.

The program is a program of National Farmers Union that empowers the success of America’s next generation of farmers by providing mentorship, technical training and leadership development to its participants.

Twenty producers from across the country have been chosen to participate in this year’s class. Montana’s participant Sarah Rachor is a fourth generation sugar beet farmer in the lower Yellowstone Valley. She is now in her second year of farming full-time.“ Through the program I am hoping to learn how farms in other regions work, what struggles they face and how they adapt to things like drought and labor shortages,” she said. “Just meeting other beginning and experienced farmers from around the country is exciting.”
 
MONTANA FARMERS UNION President Alan Merrill sees great value in the program and is pleased to have a Montana farmer participate. “Empowering the next generation of family farmers in Montana is vital to the success of Montana agriculture. Programs like this are an excellent way to do that by offering top-notch educational opportunities and networking with other farmers across the country.”