Apply to Become a Resilient Grazing Network Mentor in Kansas, Missouri & Texas

Applications are now open for American Farmland Trust’s Resilient Grazing Network (RGN) in Kansas, Missouri, and the Texas Panhandle/West Texas. RGN, a project of the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative (GRACI), combines peer-to-peer mentorship, technical assistance, community building, and financial support to help land stewards adopt grazing practices to enhance soil health, water retention, and long-term ranch sustainability. 

Regenerative grazing can be a powerful way to increase resilience to severe weather, like drought stress and flooding, safeguard healthy soil, reduce costly inputs, sequester carbon, and provide grassland habitat for birds, pollinators, and other wildlife. The Resilient  Grazing Network (RGN) aims to advance voluntary conservation practices that benefit both the land and the land steward. RGN is a producer-led effort to improve the viability of over 350 ranches and the resilience of 300,000 acres across seven states. 

The project is made possible by support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, supported by funding from McDonald’s USA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, and several key McDonald’s USA beef and beverage suppliers. 

Mentorship Matters

Experienced producer mentors provide trusted, peer-based support that help land stewards (i.e., mentees) understand and adopt regenerative grazing practices in RGN. Through ranch visits, technical assistance, grazing management planning, financial assistance navigation, practice verification, data collection, and peer learning activities, mentors help land stewards improve the resilience, productivity, and long-term viability of their ranches. RGN mentors will: 

• Serve as a trusted peer advisor to land stewards rather than a regulator. 

• Help land stewards adapt practices to their unique operational context. 

• Support long-term learning, confidence-building, and stewardship outcomes. 

• Assist AFT staff in land steward enrollment into RGN incentive programs, data collection, and verification of conservation practice implementation.  

Mentors provide personalized one-on-one support to land stewards through a mentorship relationship that formally lasts up to two years. Mentors begin their RGN participation through a 2-day mentorship training, supplemented by 3 hours of recorded sessions and up to 8 hours of live webinars (3-4 sessions).

• "This program has the potential to increase ranching profitability and economic resilience. It is critical that AFT facilitate mentorship for ranchers to begin incorporating these regenerative practices into their daily operations. " Karl Ebel, Texas Grazing Network Mentor 

• "We had somebody not only that we could reach out to if we had questions or needed advice, but [our mentor] could come here and literally see what we were working with and help us change or improve what we were doing." Michelle Snell, Texas Grazing Network Land Steward

Benefits of Becoming an RGN Mentor

RGN mentors are paid for providing TA and attending training, and mentors are reimbursed for applicable travel expenses. 

• Mentors will receive $50 per hour of TA provided to land stewards, up to 50 hours over two years per land steward. TA includes time spent during a site visit, check-in calls, planning, research, and follow-up support. This amounts to ~$2,500 per mentorship with up to 3-4 mentorships per cohort for a total of $7,500 to $10,000 plus travel expenses over a two-year mentorship. 

• Mentors will receive $50 per hour of mentor training attendance. This includes time spent at the 2-day in-person mentor training event, online and recorded training sessions, and travel expenses.  

Eligible mentors may also enroll into RGN’s incentive programs to receive additional financial assistance and access to additional training and education opportunities. 

• If mentors are improving or expanding their grazing management, they may be eligible to enroll in the financial incentive and data collection program with Cultivo. If enrolled in the Cultivo platform, mentors will also be eligible for the $2,500 sign up bonus and the annual $2/ acre per year payment from Cultivo. They will also be eligible to apply for AFT’s RGN grant program.  

• Mentors will be welcome at all training activities that are provided for land stewards including field days, ranch tours, training workshops, webinars, and a Ranching for Profit 2-day Business Planning workshop.  

Who Should Apply?

Applications are currently open to:

• Active ranchers/landowners/livestock producers with 5+ years of grazing management experience (3+ years implementing regenerative grazing principles)

• Located in Kansas, Missouri, and the Texas Panhandle/West Texas Regions

• Able to commit to:

  • Ability to work with three to four land stewards at a time and commit up to 20 hours per month out of your schedule

  • Data entry, documentation, and program reporting

  • Participate in mentor training (up to 26 hours)

Ready to Become a Resilient Grazing Network Mentor?

Applications are now open to experienced ranchers and livestock producers in Kansas, Missouri, and the Texas Panhandle/West Texas. Explore application requirements, state-specific deadlines, and program details on the Resilient Grazing Network page.

If you have general questions, contact [email protected]