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Australian HERD Fellowship

With the support of the Macdoch Foundation, an Australian HERD Fellowship Program has been established in 2023. In its inaugural year, the Australia Fellowship will offer one full scholarship to an Australian early-career farmer, grazier or land steward, to attend the Quivira Coalition’s REGENERATE Conference, with the goal of connecting with peers and mentors in the USA, as well as support their ongoing pursuit of lives in agriculture.

The 2023 Fellowship applications have closed. Stay tuned for next year’s applications announcement in June 2024.

Attending the conference provides beginning agrarians and land stewards—along with others unfamiliar with regenerative agriculture or currently transitioning to it—with the opportunity to learn from leaders in the field, build relationships with peers and mentors, find support for their work, and bring fresh perspectives on the future of agriculture.

Further, in an effort to create important synergy between the Herd Fellowship programs at both the Grassfed Exchange and REGENERATE, a network of all new and previous Herd Fellow cohorts has been established to bring alumni together to network, build community, and form lasting relationships.

About the HERD Fellows

Funders For Regenerative Agriculture (FORA), alongside partners Quivira Coalition, Holistic Management International, and the American Grassfed Association, support young people committed to living at the nexus of tradition and innovation, food and land, economy and community. The underlying belief is that good agriculture is rooted in holistic thinking and a lifelong commitment to learning and teaching.

In 2016, FORA members began collectively funding a fellowship program at the Grassfed Exchange (“GFE”) and, later, Regenerate conference (Quivira Coalition). The program was initiated to continue education and connect early-career graziers and farmers from diverse communities.

Today, the HERD Fellows program continues to sponsor the attendance of young and/or returning veteran farmers at these conferences.  Each year, the philanthropic funders of the fellowship cover the full cost of the event (including all travel, lodging, food, and registration fee) for 25-30 US-based fellows per conference events, as well as some partial tuition-based scholarships.

Eligibility & Application Process

The award process will prioritise applicants from communities and backgrounds historically underrepresented but will not exclude qualified candidates from any background with a strong application.

Applicants will be evaluated by the HERD Fellowship committee on a number of attributes, including:
  • Is grazing, farming, or land stewardship their primary occupation?
  • Have they been pursuing their ranching, farming, or land stewardship career for less than 10 years? Do they come from a community historically underrepresented?
  • How far have they come in their journey to reach this point?

The fellowship targets young and early-career graziers, farmers and land stewards.

Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.
Please apply if you are within the first 10 years of your career and are 40 years of age or younger.

Applications have closed for 2023.  Please keep in touch for when applications open next year..

“

The most valuable experience I had as a Herd Fellow was getting to meet other fellows and other attendees of the conference. I can honestly say that these were some of the most talented and genuine people I have ever met. Moreover, my personal and professional trajectory in life have been permanently improved by the connections I made at the conference. I will get to participate in things that were once only dreams of mine.”

“

I found the sense of community and the recognition of the scope of the regenerative ag movement to be one of the most valuable elements of the conference. As a rural environmental farmer, being constantly bombarded with the worldly woes, it is refreshing and necessary to be re-inspired from time to time.

“

The most valuable part was getting outside my ‘bubble’ and realizing that this is bigger than just myself and what I do. I realized that there is a place to connect with the rest of the world of conservation and regenerative agriculture. The future of regeneration is endless and I am excited to jump in and see what will happen.