Frequently Asked Questions

The dairy program begins January, 2024 and ends January, 2025. The diversified agriculture and agroforestry program, the row crop program, and the women vegetable and small fruit producer program begin in January 2024 and end in January 2026.

The Dairy program is funded and run separately from the other programs. However, much of the leadership team is shared between programs.

The deadline for applications for the Diversified Agriculture and Agroforestry, and Women and Non-binary in Vegetable and Small Fruit Program is 11:59PM November 11, 2023.

Applications for the Row Crops program are due by 11:59 PM on December 10, 2023.

Applications for the Dairy program are due by 11:59 PM on December 31, 2023.

Here is a PDF of the questions that are asked on the application.

Applicants for the dairy, diversified agriculture and agroforestry, and women and non-binary vegetable and small fruit programs will be notified in December, 2023.

Applicants for the row crops program will be notified in January, 2023.

Contact us! The program you’re interested in might still have space.

Dairy farmer fellows are offered a stipend, conditional on the completion of their climate adaptation and mitigation plan and agreement to share all or some of the plan with the public. Agricultural advisor fellows will not be offered a stipend for their participation in the Dairy program.

Farmer fellows in the other programs are offered a stipend for completing outreach activities. Agricultural advisor fellows are not offered a stipend unless they are self employed or completing the fellowship outside of their normal professional role. Decisions about agricultural advisor fellows’ eligibility to receive stipends will be made on a case-by-case basis.

We use an expansive definition of what it means to be an advisor. If you work with farmers and provide them with advice, you’re included in this definition. Examples include Extension professionals, federal and state agency employees, private sector consultants, non-profit employees, and others.

If you are a dairy producer or advisor located in New York, Vermont, or Maine, you are eligible for the Dairy program.

If you are a female-identifying, or non-binary vegetable and small fruit producer or advisor located in the Northeast region (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Delaware, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia) or the Midwest region (Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois), you are eligible for the Women Vegetable and Small Fruit Producer program.

If you are a row crop farmer or advisor to row crop farmers in the Midwest region (Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois), you are eligible for the Row Crop program.

If your farm is highly diversified and you are practicing agroforestry on your farm (or are interested in learning more about agroforestery), or you advise farmers who fit this description and you are located in the Northeast (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Delaware, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia), you are eligible for the Diversified Agriculture and Agroforestry program.

Out of 34 total fellows (17 were farmers, 13 were agricultural advisors, and 4 were both farmers and agricultural advisors):

14 Agricultural advisors intend to use knowledge, attitudes, skills and/or awareness learned through this project in their educational activities and services for farmers.

13 Farmers reported that after the program, their confidence in addressing climate change on their farm increased.

15 Farmers reported making changes or adopting climate adaptation/mitigation practices after engaging in the CAMF program.

28 Fellows reported learning from other fellows about climate adaptation strategies they could use on their farms or incorporate into their programs.

23 Fellows reported that the CAF program helped them to identify resources to improve their ability to communicate about climate change.

Fellows must have access to the internet, and an interest in climate adaptation and mitigation on farms. Farmer fellows must be actively growing crops for commercial sale. Agricultural advisors must be actively working on providing services to farmers, and interacting with farmers directly on a regular basis.

Program will occur over the course of 1-year (Dairy) or 2-years (all other programs) including approximately 16 hours of presentations and discussion at the beginning and at the end of the program, and working in pairs in between. The independent work (over the course of the year or two years) will be designed by each pair of Fellows in their work plan. It can be as little or as much as the Fellows wish, as long as Fellows complete the required activities.

Optional workshops and learning opportunities will be made available throughout the program, but are not required.

There is no size requirement for a participating farm, but farm must be selling products commercially in order to qualify.

No, the Fellowship is open to organic and conventionally-managed farms.

Yes, as long as they are selling agricultural products commercially at the time of application.

As we review applications we will consider both pairs and individuals separate from their pairings. We will contact the applicants to discuss preferences if an alternate arrangement could be more enriching for potential fellows.

Fellows will complete the bulk of program activities together (e.g., at least one on-farm risk assessment, financial analysis of an adaptation practice, and outreach activities). Additionally, each fellow will also have opportunities to complete reflection and planning activities on their own. For example, farmer fellows may create a long-term adaptation and/or mitigation plan for their farm, while agricultural advisors may make plans for integrating climate change into their pre-existing or new outreach program(s).

The curriculum is open and posted online, and we recommend looking at Slide Deck 1 under the Vegetable and Small Fruit curriculum to gauge the technical level of the materials. The program is designed to be dynamic and responsive to the needs of participants. In addition to already created curriculum materials, we will also create new curriculum materials that meet the needs of enrolled Fellows.

The program approach is farm-by-farm based on the particular risks each operation faces. While we will be talking about a wide range of adaptation approaches, the focus of each farmer’s adaptation and mitigation plan is tailored to their operation. While we will not be supporting Fellows financially to implement specific practices, but will be guiding them through the planning process.

Outreach to peers, whether other farmers or agricultural advisors, is a central component to the programs. Therefore, we focus on sharing tools to navigate a topic that can be difficult with some audiences, and promoting farmer and agricultural advisors to better address climate change.

Please send additional questions to sara.kelemen@usda.gov.