July 2024
Meet Mentor Lyle McDonald For Lyle McDonald, a farmer out in northeastern Oregon, being a mentor brings rejuvenation and excitement into what is often a tiring line of work. Lyle has gone through his fair share of challenges as an organic farmer, and although every farmer will have their own unique challenges, he hopes that through mentoring he can help prevent a farmer from making the same mistakes and experiencing the same challenges as him. Mentoring provides the opportunity to
Lyle is now mentoring a transitioning
help set a farmer on the right foot for
farmer, also located in northeastern
successful organic production.
Oregon, who is starting to cultivate his
Lyle has produced certified organic garlic,
own family’s land. Through mentorship,
elderberries and manages organic
Lyle has been able to provide guidance on
pasture out at his 76 acre farm near Summerville, OR, and has previous training with hydroponics and
best practices for cultivating new land, potential crops and markets to sell to, and
greenhouse production. After leaving the
aid with developing a farm management
Marine Corps, Lyle was looking for
plan. Lyle understands the challenges that
something to take his mind off of stressors from his time as a marine, and found VSAT, the Veterans Sustainable
come with land access, finding organic markets, pest prevention, soil nutrient
Agriculture Training program at CalPoly
management, and more, and he’s excited
Pomona. He found that organic and
to pass his knowledge on to other farmers
sustainable farming took his mind off his past, helped to relieve stress, and taught him a new useful skill that he could carry into the future.
starting out with organic.