Options for New Farmer Training

In the second phase of research, presented in Part 2, farm internships (a subset of one of the five categories developed in Part 1, and a relatively common form of farmer training in Ontario today) were explored in greater detail to describe the range of existing approaches within this model. [...] Analysis of the legality of various farm internships is beyond the scope of this project, but it is a subject of ongoing conversation in both the farming and academic community. [...] In Ontario, the question of the legality of farm internships is further complicated by the many exemptions to the Employment Standards Act to which farm employees are subject (Ministry of Labour, 2011). [...] In the second stage, farm internships (a subset of one of the five categories developed in Part 1) were explored in greater detail to describe the range of existing approaches within this one specific model of farmer training. [...] The relative popularity of this type of low-cost, low-infrastructure training in Ontario may be indicative of a systemic lack of funding and structural support for practical farmer education.