BFRDP Projects

As a collaboration of organizations, coordinated and led by Clemson Extension, we are working toward the continuation and further development of the South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program (SCNBFP). Clemson Extension launched the SCNBFP in 2011-2013 with the assistance of BFRD funding; an abbreviated program was reintroduced in 2015 without federal assistance.

The long-term goals of the SCNBFP are to increase the initial success and long-term viability of new and beginning farm businesses --- and to build long-term statewide and sub-state regional program delivery capacity --- in order to help create and support the cadre of next generation farm operators in South Carolina. The target audience for our proposal is new and beginning farmers in South Carolina (27 of 46 counties are Strike Force communities), including those considered socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers, with a particular focus on non-conventional, specialty crop, and value-added operations at both the novice and intermediate levels.

We recently completed the first two years of our three year grant-funded program serving 92 program graduates and 1,163 others through our regional network of workshops across the state.  The program continues to attract a diverse array of entrepreneurial beginning farmers interested in learning how to create successful farm businesses and we continue to provide the service or providing the resources they require to the best of our abilities.