Sharing lessons in sustainability

Encouraging young people to farm is a challenge that Australia is going to have to face in coming years if we are to grow more of our food locally.

Over in the United States, the Greenhorns, a non-profit group, is showing the way forward, and in 2025 is celebrating 18 years of creating learning opportunities for young agrarians.

The group supports young farmers and encourages young people to take up life on the land, with an emphasis on small-scale, sustainable farms.

The Greenhorns have produced an online guide for new farmers (please note that much of the information is relevant only in the US) and have made films, radio, guidebooks, almanacs, anthologies, song collections, exhibits – a collection of programs and projects that address the practical and social concerns of those in their first years farming.

In Australia, support groups for young people on the land include the Future Farmers Network, but it is for established farmers rather than beginners and focuses on conventional rather than organic practices.

If anyone knows of any Australian groups doing what the Greenhorns are doing, please let us know.