• In its first edition in 2020, 13 young people participated and 12 visits were made to 8 different autonomous communities.

The program was created to address the training needs of professionals under 41 years of age who had entered the agricultural or livestock industry in the last five years, using a practical, on-site approach. The stays on the model farms lasted from 5 to 14 days and always took place in a different autonomous community than the students' place of residence. The program's model farms are considered model farms in terms of production, management, handling of environmental conditions, and the application of technological devices, among other factors.

2020 Balance

The first edition of the Young Farmers Training Visit Program on Model Farms was implemented between November 2 and December 31, 2020, with the following results:

• 12 training visits were carried out (8 from UPA and 4 from Agro-Food Cooperatives) with 14 total places assigned to 13 young people (1 young person made 2 visits).
• They have been developed in 8 different autonomous communities .
• A total of 69 days of training and 483 teaching hours were completed.
• 58.3% of the host model farms were agricultural , 8.3% livestock and 33.3% mixed agricultural-livestock orientation.
• Around 75% of the host model farms produce under an organic and/or integrated production system. Nearly 60% are irrigated . And approximately 60% also process agricultural products.
• The average age of the young participants was 30 years.
• 15% were women .
• 85% joined in the last 3 years (2018, 2019 and 2020).

The Program was managed in 2020 through direct grants to UPA and Agro-Food Cooperatives of Spain .

These entities were responsible for the preparation, coordination, logistical management, and monitoring of the training placements. The 2020 implementation budget amounted to €66,666 (€33,333 per beneficiary entity).

2nd edition 2021

The Young Farmers Training Visits to Model Farms Program is scheduled to begin again in the second half of 2021 , with a budget of €1 million.

It is estimated that under this budget , more than 250 visits could be offered to around 500 young people at model farms spread across all the autonomous communities.

Rural Youth Website

In 2020, the MAPA website added a dedicated space for Rural Youth , which includes a section where you can find all the official information related to the Young Farmers Training Visit Program for Model Farms.