What’s It Like To Have a Grazing Mentor?

Editors Note: Last week we shared the first in this three part series on how the Maryland Grazers Network is helping farmers acquire the skills to be good graziers. This week, we'll meet one of the farmers in the program and find out how it worked for her. We hope it will help you think about what you would ask a mentor if you had one, how you might help someone, and maybe even how you might set this up in your own community. The beauty of having a mentor is knowing that there's someone on the other end of your call or text. Just ask Ginger Meyers. When Ginger and her husband started their farm, they took on leased land, and worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service on fencing it, and with other specialists on where to put what and how to size pastures. They've been part of the Maryland Grazers Network program for two years, and Ginger says that having someone you can reach out to with a question about a sheep at 7:30 on a Saturday evening is priceless. The Maryland Grazers Network mission is to help farmers become graziers. The program focuses on a partnership between farmers, with an experienced person sharing knowledge with someone new to the grazing business.  Ginger's mentor is David Greene, who farms sheep. He is a retired county agent, and he really likes being able to spend one-on-one time with the folks he's trying to help out. As a county agent, he co