Lisa Beneman

What chapter: South Willamette
RFC Host Farm: Deck Family Farm
Graduated: 2014
Where are they now: Farm Educator, Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset, MAINE

Lisa works at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine in the position of Farmer/Educator. Chewonki inspires transformative growth, teaches appreciation and stewardship of the natural world, and challenges people to build thriving, sustainable communities throughout their lives. As Farmer/Educator, Lisa works with students ages 8-18 to foster connections between the head, hands, and heart on the farm. Chewonki’s farm intensively manages 1 acre of vegetables with the help of their trusty draft horse, Sal, and raises pigs, sheep, cows (beef and dairy), and chickens for milk, meat, eggs, and fiber. The farm also produces about 25 cords of firewood each winter. Lisa loves working with students on the farm and operates with the philosophy that the best education is integration into meaningful production. Being a part of RFC was a great step on Lisa’s path in farming. The time she spent at Deck Family Farm in Junction City, OR helped her to understand how to work with and manage livestock.  She also loved being part of a farming team and took many lessons away from the farm that weren’t even about farming! The classes offered through RFC allowed her to gain a better understanding of how different farming operations are scaled and how important it is to visit other farms in order to gain perspective. She continues to draw on her experience and knowledge from her time in the program today.

https://farm.chewonki.org/

Kelsey Jacques

What chapter: Rogue Valley
RFC Host Farm: Dancing Bear, Wandering Fields
What year: Intern 2016, Apprentice 2018
Where are they now: Farm Owner/Operator, Orange Marmalade Farm, Ashland Oregon

Kelsey started her journey with sustainable living and farming majoring in Anthropology at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI. Studying the development of human societies and cultures she was exposed to the importance of food and how it influences human-to-human interactions as well as human-to-nature. In 2012 she travelled to New Zealand where she participated as a contributing member at Wilderland, an educational trust operating as an organic farm on the Coromandel Peninsula of Aotearoa. This is where she fell in love with the hands-on experience of growing food and feeding her local community. After college she was in search of a program that would bring her more exposure to hands-on farming with a structured educational curriculum studying agriculture, and she found what she was looking for with RFC. In 2016 she interned at Dancing Bear Farm in the Rogue Valley. She then spent a year applying what she’d learned as the field manager at Groundswell Community Farm back in Michigan. Realizing she wanted to continue to diversify her education she participated in the apprenticeship program in 2018 at Wandering Fields, again in the Rogue Valley. “The Rogue Farm Corps gave me a foundation of agricultural knowledge, while also giving me room to explore and make my own personal connections with farming and food systems. The exposure to farming fundamentals is necessary to understand if farming is a career path that is right for you, and RFC allowed me to survey those options.” After the RFC Kelsey spent a year working for the Josephine County Food Bank in Grants Pass, OR as the assistant manager on Raptor Creek Farm. As well as a couple years learning about biodynamics and viticulture at Cowhorn Vineyard & Gardens in the Little Applegate Valley. Now Kelsey is giving small-scale farming a go on her own! She is currently working hard on starting a ¼ acre farm of diversified market veggies in Ashland, Oregon. Orange Marmalade Farm, named after her great grandma and a foreshadow of future value-added products, intends on practicing no-till, JADAM and biodynamic techniques. Kelsey wants to start off slow with Orange Marmalade farm, first focusing on small wholesale accounts and a couple farmers markets in the first year, with the potential to expand into growing seed and other specialized crops.

Becca Conaway

What chapter: South Willamette
RFC Host Farm: Organic Redneck
What year: 2015
Where are they now: Co-founder, Localicious, Eugene-Springfield

Participating in RFC was part of a personal journey for Becca, who remembers being captivated by fresh, nourishing food, the farming community, and wanting to learn more about food systems. After her internship through RFC, Becca returned to her host farm, Organic Redneck as an employee, initially working as the CSA Manager and Prophouse Manager, and over time taking on roles including Assistant Field Manager and Field Crew Manager. She continued farming for 5 consecutive years after her internship, taking a season or two to explore other farms besides Organic Redneck, including Working Hands Farm, Stoneboat Farms and more recently Camas Swale Farm.  Additionally, she also worked for the Lane County Farmers Market, building on her love for community and connecting around food. Through farming and talking to people at markets, she came to realize there’s still a lack of information and resources on how to eat seasonally and locally. In 2020 Becca co-founded Localicious, a seasonally inspired, locally sourced, Farm Fusion meal kit delivery service in Eugene and Springfield. Localicious draws on the contacts with farmers and ranchers that Becca made during her time with RFC and her other farming experiences to feature their fresh goodies each week in meal kits that feed the local community!  Becca also assists with the community gardens in Eugene and continues to strive to strengthen local food systems, and provide education and resources for the community.
https://localiciouseugene.com

Steven McKnelly, Kyle McKnelly, Cailyn Brierley

Who: Steven McKnelly, Kyle McKnelly, Cailyn Brierley
What Chapter: Central Oregon
Host Farm: Rainshadow Organics
What Year: 2016-2018
Where they are now: Farm Owner/Operators, Hoodoo Blooms, Twisp, WA

Steven and Kyle McKnelly (brothers who started as 2016 Interns and continued to be 2017-2018 Apprentices at Rainshadow Farm) teamed up with former Seed to Table Farm Manager and 2016 RFC intern class series participant Cailyn Brierley to start their farm: Hoodoo Blooms in Twisp, WA. Kyle thanks the RFC programs for providing a “toolbelt” of skills to pursue farming as a career and Cailyn credits her participation in the programs with instilling a sense of “courage” in her approach to farming and connecting her to a community of farmers that she can “always call on.” They grow a diversity of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs on about an acre in an intensive market garden style and rotate small batches of chickens on 4 acres of pasture. Their focus is to ensure health and immunity within their plants from seed 

to soil by using organic and regenerative soil building techniques and biodynamic preparations.

Emily Mann

What chapter: Rogue Valley
RFC Host Farm: Easy Valley
What year: 2017 (intern) and 2018 (apprentice)
Where are they now: Garden Manager, ACCESS Community Food Share Gardens Program, Jackson County, Oregon

Emily moved out to Oregon from the Midwest to pursue her farming dreams with an internship at Easy Valley Farm in Rogue River. Her Host Farmers, Tina and Cos, became good friends and ongoing mentors for her, and she decided to return for a second year farming with them as part of the RFC apprenticeship program. Her partner joined her from the Midwest that year, and when the apprenticeship season was over they moved together to nearby Medford. Emily transitioned into the world of nonprofit farming and took a job as the Garden Manager for the ACCESS Community Food Share Gardens. ACCESS is a community action organization that serves Jackson County. Through the Food Share Garden program Emily manages a network of six large gardens (“or small farms, depending on how you look at it!” she says) throughout the valley. Collectively, those gardens grow produce for a network of Jackson County food pantries, with support from the Oregon Food Bank and a large group of dedicated volunteers. In addition to growing food for the community, Emily also coordinates beginner gardening classes that are offered to the community for no cost. “I love being able to support my friends and neighbors with equitable access to high quality, organic produce and empower them to take control over their own food insecurity,” she says. Her current goal is to further her education in nonprofit management. “I would love to continue my farm work from that perspective!” she says, “I’m very interested in working with farm labor and small farm rights. I see myself being an advocate for small farmers.”

Kylie Cassidy

Who: Kylie Cassidy
What chapter: Rogue Valley
RFC Host Farm: Dancing Bear, and By George
What year: 2014 (intern) and 2015 (apprentice)
Where are they now: Farm Manager, Wolf Gulch Farm, Little Applegate Valley, Oregon

Kylie’s journey in agricultural education has been adventurous and exploratory. Kylie grew up in Colorado and then came to Oregon in 2014 to intern with RFC at Dancing Bear Farm in the Rogue Valley. She then became one the first ever apprentice program participants, completing her second farming season at By George Farm, also in the Rogue Valley. The following year she leased farmland and grew seed crops at By George Farm, with support from the Southern Oregon Seed Growers Association (SOSGA) mentorship program. She then took a year off from actively farming to travel in Japan and explore other traditional small-scale farming methods and food preservation techniques. She says “my trip to Japan was ag-centric. I spent time in little agricultural villages learning from elders and also happened to spend quite a bit of time at various permaculture communities.” Following those adventures she returned to the United States and joined her sister and her sister’s partner in Montana working on their flower farm. The team decided that they wanted to start a farm together, and applied to join a pilot program in Technical Assistance for Land Access being offered by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development group of the Oregon Community Food System Network. They were accepted, and through that program they are receiving legal guidance and support. Kylie returned to the Rogue Valley where she is currently the Farm Manager at Wolf Gulch Farm in the Little Applegate, where she helps grow seed and produce a winter CSA. She and her sister are currently in the process of looking at land and exploring different opportunities to purchase, lease, or otherwise transfer ownership. When asked about her future farming goals she says, “We all would like to start a diversified family farm. Flowers, veggies, seeds, and poultry are on our shortlist of enterprises, with hope to expand into bigger livestock, all with a focus on stewarding the land of course!”

Nick Cremona

Who: Nick Cremona
What Chapter: Central Oregon
RFC Host Farm: Rainshadow Organics
What year: 2016 (intern), 2017 (apprentice)
Where are they now: Food Systems Coordinator with WSU Extension, Klickitat and Skamania counties, Washington

Nick started farming with Rogue Farm Corps at Rainshadow Organics in 2016 and transferred over into his Apprenticeship for a second year in the same location.  After completing his apprenticeship Nick accepted a position as food systems coordinator with WSU extension working in Klickitat and Skamania counties in South Central WA. He'll be increasing access to healthy produce in underserved and food insecure communities. He is excited to continue working with farmers, and to build capacity among shareholders in the greater Columbia River Gorge area. The position is based out of Goldendale, WA. 

Nick hopes to grow seed crops in the future. Right now he has some Upland Cress that he saved from Rainshadow Organics in 2017 growing at another Rainshadow graduate's farm (Hoodoo Blooms in Twisp, WA).

Nick says:

"The (RFC) farmer training program has provided me ample opportunity to fail as well as reinforcing strengths and allowing true skill to emerge. In the past two seasons at Rainshadow I've become comfortable with tools and ideologies that have laid a foundation for me to create regenerative, thoughtful systems to enhance communities and their surroundings. With classes and support from a multitude of interests, this program really has it all and I'll continue to recommend it to all who display interest."

Erica Knudsen

What chapter? Portland
RFC Host Farm: Fiddlehead Farm
What year: 2015 (intern)
Where are they now: Owner, Terra Prana Farm, Aptos, CALIFORNIA

Erika moved out west to chase her dream of becoming a farmer and starting her own small farm, but had no idea how she was going to do it. She participated in Rogue Farm Corps’ Portland Chapter as an intern with Fiddlehead Farm in 2015.  She is now living the dream of starting her very own farm in Aptos, CA called Terra Prana.  Her farm grows a diversity of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers using sustainable, organic practices on ~½ acre and sells directly through a CSA and to restaurants.

Erika writes, “Rogue Farm Corps gave me the knowledge, tools, experience and resources I needed to make my dream a reality.  I still have so much to learn but RFC gave me a firm foundation to build on.”

www.terraprana.com

 

Taylor Fridrich

What chapter: Portland
RFC Host Farm: Fiddlehead Farm
What year: 2015
Where are they now: Farm Hand, Flora Bella Farms, Three Rivers, California

Since completing a season with Rogue Farm Corps at Fiddlehead Farm in 2015, Taylor has tried out a few paths within agriculture. She managed a farmers market for a summer, worked a few months in heirloom seed sales, and now is finally back in the fields as a full-time farm hand for Flora Bella Farms, a small organic operation in Three Rivers, CA. Taylor’s current goal is to pursue a career with NRCS to support small farmers in accessing resources for infrastructure projects and conservation.  

Taylor writes: 

“I’m so happy I participated in Rogue Farm Corps because it gave me the opportunity to build fundamental farming skills in a safe, positive and educational environment. I feel more confident in my farming and more employable within agricultural jobs. Hopefully I can have my own operation one day, but I think that will be a project for the future. Thank you RFC for the education, thoughtful programming, and long lasting farmer friends!”

www.florabellafarm.com

Jess Maier

What chapter: South Willamette
RFC Host Farm: Deck Family Farm
What year: 2015
Where are they now: Assistant Livestock Manager, Paicines Ranch, Paicines, CALIFORNIA

Jess currently work at Paicines Ranch located just outside of Hollister, California. The ranch consists of 7000 acres of rangeland, 550 acres of cropland and 25 acres of vineyard, all managed using Allan Savory's holistic management framework. Jess is involved in everything from collecting data on forage and soil health to planning and installing infrastructure, but her primary responsibility is managing the ranch's flock of Katahdin sheep. After her internship at Deck Family Farm in 2015, she accepted a position at a milk processing plant close to where she grew up in Ohio. It ended up being a desk job and confirmed her suspicion that she’s happiest out in the fields with the plants and the animals. She moved back to Oregon and worked odd jobs at a plant nursery, vineyard tasting room and in a permaculture garden while partnering with a neighboring vegetable farmer to raise 200 broiler chickens of my own. Doing this she realized that she wanted to do more with agriculture than work on a small scale as a business. She wanted to work on regenerating larger tracts of more vulnerable and brittle land than in the Willamette Valley. She started searching for ranches and eventually found work at Paicines Ranch.  Reflecting on her time in the Rogue program she writes,

“Through RFC I realized that being a farmer isn't just a job, it's a way of life. I learned to do work worthy of taking pride in, as well as commitment and persistence during my time at Deck Family Farm. And it's not just the work, there's a community of knowledge and support that I gained through RFC. Being able to spend time with other interns working on other farms was invaluable.”

Her goals now are to consciously learn and observe something new each day. It's also her goal to be able to support herself financially from her work as a rancher, to communicate the beauty and value of this kind of work to those not actively on the land everyday, and to help create a product that nourishes bodies, souls and communities.

Alex Prediger

What chapter: South Willamette
RFC Host Farm: Deck Family Farm
What year: 2014
Where are they now: Crew Leader, Hermit Creek Farm, Ashland, WISCONSIN

After Rogue Farm Corps, Alex did the FIELD program up in Washington for a season and then headed to work at Essex Farm in New York.  Alex began working at Essex as an intern, but stayed on as an employee for another season.  At Essex, Alex worked primarily with the livestock, as well as helped with vegetable work, maple sugaring, food preservation, and butchering. At Essex, she managed their two flocks of 650 laying hens, worked with roughly 50 pastured beef cattle, 80 feeder hogs, 7500 broiler chickens over the season, about 100 sheep, 7 draft horses, two ponies, and a Jersey herd. She also worked regularly in the dairy where they milk 20 Jersey cows and raise their own replacement heifers. Wanting to learn more about the vegetable side of things, Alex is now working at Hermit Creek Farm in Ashland Wisconsin.  Reflecting back on her time as an RFC intern, Alex writes:

“One element of RFC that is potentially under recognized, but possibly one of the most important benefits of the program, is the community that you build. An understanding of how invaluable this community of fellow farmers, extension agents, investors, and eaters is, is something precious and applicable to a future in farming, no matter where an RFC graduate may end up!”

www.hermitcreekfarm.com

www.essexfarmcsa.com