Starting a farm comes with many challenges. And for people who have never done it before, those challenges can be overwhelming.
Melissa Moody can relate. She didn’t grow up on a farm and had no idea of the hard work it would take to be successful. Luckily, she has a friend and farmer mentor, who did not want to be identified by name in this story, who’s just a phone call away.
“If I have any questions, I can just call her up or text her and ask her these questions, and she does her best to explain things to me,” Moody said.
Ginger Myers, a retired University of Maryland Extension educator, wrote in 2024 about the “four ships” to beginning farmer success: mentorship, relationships, partnerships and ownership.
Mentorship is often the most important of the four. “You need someone with experience and a willingness to share their hard-earned knowledge to unlock the door, and then help you navigate and apply the information, and techniques inside the business itself,” Myers wrote.
COVID-19 changes everything
Having the right mentor was critical for Moody to unlock her interest in dairy farming. She didn’t grow up on a farm and had no plans of becoming a farmer. She was a three-sport athlete who wanted to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who did accounting work.
Then, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she got laid off from her job. Unemployed for months and desperate for a fresh start, she moved in with her sister, who lived a few hours south in Cincinnatus, N.Y. Her sister’s father-in-law, Carl Hoellerer, ran an organic dairy farm at the time.
“I couldn’t find anything in the area that was hiring at the time because of COVID that I was interested in. So, then I decided to help my sister’s father-in-law on his farm, feeding calves,” Moody said.
It wasn’t the easiest transition. While Hoellerer tried teaching her things, she said his style wasn’t conducive to helping a beginner.
“He had done it his whole life and just assumed others would catch on quick,” Moody said. “So, he was just like, ‘Oh, get on that tractor and drive it.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, that’s not helpful for me. I’ve never looked at a tractor in my whole life before.’ So just things like that.”
But she enjoyed the work and wanted to learn more about what it took to run a dairy. “I liked being outside, being with the animals, learning how to take care of them and all that,” Moody said. “So then he ended up saying, ‘Well, you know, I can ask around and see if any of the farmers around here need any help, so you could actually get paid for doing work like this.’ ”
Mentor is a teacher
Luckily, an organic dairy farm 15 minutes down the road was looking for help. Moody got the job and quickly formed a bond with the farm’s co-owner.
“She was a great teacher because, like I said, I had no experience on the farm,” Moody said. “So, I was very upfront and open with her about that. And so she just was super helpful.”
Moody’s main job was taking care of the calves, but she did other work like cleaning stalls, milking, anything that needed to get done. She learned on the job, and her mentor was there to help guide her.
“She was really good at actually explaining things to me, at least in a way I could understand them and made sense to me,” Moody said. “Or if I didn’t understand it, I would just ask her to rephrase it, and she would be able to in a way that I could understand.”
Moody worked two years on that farm, learning the ropes of all things dairy farming. Then she learned Hoellerer was considering retiring and selling the farm.
“My first reaction to him was, ‘Well, you’re not selling these cows, so I’m going to just do my best and try to succeed. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. And if it does work, then these cows aren’t going anywhere,’ ” she said.
Life on her own
Moody and Hoellerer worked out a deal where she would pay for the animals over five years and possibly buy the farm at the end of the term. The plan went much quicker than that. She loved the work, and she wanted her own farm.
Through help from the Farm Service Agency, which provided a loan, and the sale of a previous home she owned, she closed on the farm in February. She’s still paying off the cows, but the farm and house are hers.
“It feels really good,” Moody said. “It’s funny because it was a couple days after the farm went through, one of the paddles on the manure scraper on the barn cleaner broke, and I called Carl because that’s one of the things I can’t quite do.
“So, I had to have him come over and help with that, and he’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not my problem. I’m not the farm owner anymore.’ But he was just joking. He still came over and helped me, but that’s how he handles things. He likes to joke and make fun of me,” she added with a laugh.
Except for spreading manure, which Hoellerer and his son still do, Moody does all the farm work on her own. She has 45 cows and farms 127 acres; 65 acres are pasture.
Long days, lifelong lessons
The days are long. Moody is up every day at 6 a.m. and done every night at 9 p.m., with a lot to do in between.
She documents her life as a beginning farmer on Facebook, posting videos about what she does and why she does it, all to educate others about farming.
She never expected to be a dairy farmer, and the transition to farm owner hasn’t been easy. Having a mentor just a phone call away, she said, has made the long days and tiring nights worth it.
“At the end of last year, I was having trouble with my fence not working,” Moody said. “And she ended up just coming over and helping me figure out the problem, and we fixed it. And that was the best thing because it gets a little bit overwhelming when you don’t know how to do things, and you’re trying to just figure it out yourself.”
Her farming journey has taught her another important lesson.
“Farming has taught me patience because I wasn’t the most patient person before, but I’ve learned that if you are trying to hurry and are in a rush, that cows … will make it take a lot longer,” Moody said.
“And if you’re patient and you just act nonchalant, then they’re just like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s do this. We can do it. It’s fun’. And they just act like it’s no big deal, and go right where you want them to. But if you’re in a rush and you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve got things to do, let’s go,’ then they’re like, ‘Yeah, buddy, we’re not doing that.’
“It’s been just a whole journey of learning, experiencing new things, and I now can drive a tractor sort of well,” she added with a laugh.
Women helping women
A good mentor can be critical to a beginning farmer’s success. Many programs target female beginning farmers with mentorship, advice and resources.
Among them are Annie’s Project; the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network; American Agri-Women; the National Women in Agriculture Association; and the Female Farmer Project.
AgriMentor and FarmHer are online mentorship platforms for women farmers.
The national Service Corps of Retired Executives program has partnered with USDA to provide business mentorship to help farmers and ranchers succeed. Visit score.org for more information.
Other organizations like the National Young Farmers Coalition; Farmers Veteran Coalition; and American Farm Bureau Federation can provide networking and access to experienced farmers.
Local FarmLink programs, such as in California and Pennsylvania, also can provide mentorship opportunities for farmers who want to be mentors or beginning farmers who need a mentor.
Land Stewardship Project (LSP) – Farm Beginnings has a mentorship program as part of its Farm Beginnings course, focusing on sustainable farming practices.