Award Amount: $299,237
Institution: Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Project Director: Katarina Sajovec Altshul (ajocsa@hotmail.com)
Funding Opportunity: 2017 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
“Growing Our Own: A New Sonoran Desert Farmers Incubator Program”...
“Growing Our Own: A New Sonoran Desert Farmers Incubator Program” is piloting a community-based multi-tiered collaborative approach to increasing the number and capacity of market growers, farmers and ranchers in a remote tri-national community of Ajo, Arizona and the surrounding region. The program will 1. Expand the capacity and skills of the existing beginning farmers through providing education, mentoring and technical support; 2. Incubate a minimum of 15 new growers through providing paid apprenticeships, and/or access to land, knowledge, materials and markets; 3. Raise a new generation of Sonoran Desert farmers and ranchers through a school campus-based “education intervention” (“Ag Club”) for high school students at the Ajo Unified School District. After Year 1, the outputs include 90 hours (out of projected total 150 hours) of classroom style instructions for adults; 275 hours of individual mentoring and technical assistance (projected total hours for three years were 210); 13 field trips (projected total: 9); 5,440 hours of paid apprenticeship (projected total: 6,750); and 57 hours of high school level agricultural education (projected total: 60).
In Year 1, the project served unduplicated 35 local beginning farmers and ranchers (projected total: 30) and additional 85 regional beginning farmers (projected total: 70); or a total of 120 in Year 1 alone (projected total 100), out of which 95% improved their production practices and decision-making abilities, based on their surveys and reports. 15 local growers and ranchers completed a business plan in Year 1 (total projection: 15), and 30 (total project projection was 24) designed a farm (garden) operating procedures including a food safety handling plan. 20 local growers entered new markets (projected total: 10). In Year 1, no new / beginning farmers have used the services of NRCS or Farm Service Agency yet (projected total is 3), however, introductions were made and several farmers are looking into the programs, grants and loans offered. 20 new beginning farmers (projected total: 15) transitioned backyard growing into market growing or started a market growing or a farming operation over the first year, which represents a 66% increase in local number of growers (projected total number: 50%). In Year 1, the project also installed an urban 1-acre Incubator Farm, added additional youth activities (agricultural club at the Tohono O'odham High School on the Tohono O'odham Reservation and summer ag internship), and started offering mini grants, matched savings accounts and loans to beginning farmers as a part of a community-based partnership program called Kickstart Ajo (funded by the Freeport McMoran Foundation).
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Award Amount: $712,500
Institution: FARMER VETERAN COALITION
Project Director: Michael O'Gorman (michaelo@farmvetco.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
FVC facilitates a national peer network that develops and provides...
FVC facilitates a national peer network that develops and provides access to training, education, internships, mentorships, jobs, financial and market opportunities for beginning farmer veterans. We combined new small scale livestock and vegetable production and business planning materials with existing core tools previously created through Risk Management Agency grants (One Page Business/Financial Plan, One Page Monthly Cash Flow Budget, and One Page Risk Management Plan). These tools have been adapted to explain small scale pork and pastured poultry production business, small scale honeybee, grass fed beef, lamb, goat, and vegetable business models. Over the grant period, FVC staff engaged with more than 6,000 new farmer veteran members through our headquarters in Davis, CA.
Farmer Veteran Coalition completed 27 workshops focusing on small scale livestock and vegetable production, risk management and financial education. We have incorporated the new training materials into the workshops that target these farmer veterans and their specific crop and assist them in refining their own financial, production, risk management and business plans. We held 13 webinars that focused on production and business planning. Our most successful webinar focused on starting a farm from scratch: land assessment. Over 140 veterans tuned-in live and the recording has 1,542 views. One of the workshops specifically focused on developing, supporting and educating women farmer veterans was held at the Stone Barns Center in March 2016. The women were educated on production, financial and risk management components of small scale livestock/vegetable operations. The 2017 Empowering Women Veterans Conference consisted of twelve hours of workshops in Santa Rosa, California. This successful event saw many female farmer veterans bonding together to share their experiences and strength. In 2018, FVC partnered with NFU to bring women veterans together with other women farmers in San Diego, CA. Topics included financial literacy, marketing, collaborative farming and agritourism.
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Award Amount: $720,989
Institution: UVM Extension
Project Director: Mary Peabody (mary.peabody@uvm.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
As the numbers of beginning farm and ranch women has...
As the numbers of beginning farm and ranch women has increased there has been a corresponding increase in programs providing education and technical assistance to them. While these programs have developed tools and curricula for addressing the learning needs of beginning farmers there remain many areas of the country where women farmers are still chronically underserved. In addition, while many tools, assessments and curricula are available there is no central repository for these materials. Nor is there a typology, or catalog, that can be used to determine which materials would be most useful given the needs of a specific target audience. The goal of this project is to assemble a national learning network to evaluate existing curricula and materials targeting beginning farm and ranch women of all ages, ethnicity, and agricultural production interests. Content teams will identify information gaps; develop corresponding learning modules, and train peers and colleagues in their delivery and evaluation. Our project focuses on subjects of special importance to beginning farm and ranch women: legal issues; business scale and profitability; farm safety, mechanization and ergonomics; land access, transfer and stewardship; and management. A virtual learning network will provide educators and agricultural technical assistance providers with evidence-based information regarding women’s learning preferences, peer-reviewed training materials, evaluation tools, and mentoring from colleagues experienced in working with women farmers and ranchers.
We work closely with the BFRDP Clearinghouse and the eXtension Women in Ag Learning Network to determine the most effective way to house available materials and create functional search strategies to help users find support.
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Award Amount: $600,000
Institution: University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Project Director: Henry English (englishh@uapb.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
October 2022 - September 2023 The UAPB...
October 2022 - September 2023 The UAPB Staff worked with beginning farmers to carry out the
four objectives of the project.
Objectives One – To provide business training and assistance to Beginning
Socially Disadvantaged and Limited Resource Farmers (BSDLRF).
BSDLRFs participated in business training with direct assistance from the
staff. Ninety-one (91) participants were assisted with enterprise budgets
to develop financial plans. Forty-one (41) submitted financial plans to the
Farm Service Agency (FSA). Eight (8) of the plans were funded for $840,000.
Objective Two – to educate BSDLRPs on using the Natural Resources and
Conservation Services (NRCS) and the Cooperative Extension Services (CES).
BSDLRFs were educated (through educational sessions and direct assistance) on
NRCS and CES. BSDLRPs learned about the NRCS Funding under the Environmental
Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). This program provided an incentive payment
(90% of the average cost of the conservation practice) for installing
conservation practices. Twenty-five (25) BSDLRPs submitted EQIP Applications
and were funded for approximately $500,000. . To assist BSDLRPs in using the CES, the staff directly informed over 100
participants about the CES and some specific CES services. Consequently, 40
took soil tests to determine their land’s fertility and lime recommendation.
Ten (10) took soil compaction tests, and 10 developed weed control plans.
Objective Three- to provide vegetable marketing training.
To help BSDLRPs identify markets for their vegetable crops, three (3) vegetable
marketing workshops were conducted. The workshop participants were vendors who
were buying vegetables. These vendors explained their requirements for
purchasing vegetables. Fifteen (15) BSDLRPs sold their vegetables to vendors
who participated in the workshops.
Objective Four – to conduct a Beginning Farmers Class
Twenty-five (25) individuals completed the Beginning Farmers Class in 2023. The
course consisted of seven (7) five-hour workshops conducted monthly. Applicants
completing the class met the managerial ability requirement to receive a USDA
operating loan.
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Award Amount: $600,000
Institution: UK - CES/Ag Programs
Project Director: Craig Wood (woodch@uky.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program 2021 Awards
Summary
The goal for this project is to bring military veterans...
The goal for this project is to bring military veterans and underserved limited resource populations in Kentucky and surrounding areas a realistic plan for becoming a farm with a sustainable product and income. The project recruited from KY military bases, Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, and National Guard posts. Help has been enlisted from the VFW, American Legion and other veteran organizations in order to contact as many veteran participants as possible. For the non-military populations contact has been made through the state’s 120 county extension offices, local technical schools and county agencies that assist the underserved, limited resource populations in their area by utilizing county mailing lists, newsletters, radio and TV media. The educational classes for business management, including writing a business plan, informational classes on products that are successful in their area and financial options open to them, grants, low cost loans, etc. have been included in workshops and as reference materials on the newly created website. Sites for these educational and informational workshops will be held in three locations though out the state to make travel easier. Farm specialists have provided technical assistance on specific areas of farming for example livestock, grains, forestry, etc. This targets the workshops to topography, soil conditions and marketing available in the area. Workshops have been presented where the greatest concentration of military veterans and limited resource farmers are located. Smaller workshops will be held at working farms within these areas. Mentors are being enlisted to help the participants become successful and able to sustain the productivity of the farm. All Extension personnel and specialists have been introduced to the BFRDP program and encouraged to help in recruitment of participants. Veterans served 17.
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Award Amount: $711,213
Institution: Alabama Extension/Auburn University
Project Director: Ayanava Majumdar (azm0024@aces.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The Alabama Beginning Farms (ABF) Program at Auburn University was
initiated...
The Alabama Beginning Farms (ABF) Program at Auburn University was
initiated in 2015 as a partnership between two nonprofit agencies, three
producer organizations, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System/Auburn
University as the backbone organization. This project is specially
geared toward low resource farmers and military veterans getting into farming.
As part of the ABF program, we have conducted a statewide Stakeholder meeting
in Montgomery, AL, and documented the needs of producers statewide
through event and newsletter surveys on a continued basis. ACES/AU has also developed a project
logo, website, and a broad communication and educational toolkit that include the Farming Basics electronic curriculum and mobile phone app. Crotovina and
Farmscape Solutions, along with additional Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs),
have developed a unique farm planning tool adapted from the Vermont New Farmer
Program. From 2015-2018, ABF program has reached 1,824 participants directly via 45 educational events and 90 educators/crop advisers via 6 professional development events. We have completed 33 webinars reaching 495 trainers/educators and 93 publications consisting of handbooks, slide
charts, bulletins, posters, blog articles, independent magazine & newspaper
articles. Two social media channels have 1,725 subscribers while the E-newsletter reaches 2,635 subscribers indicating large increase in demand for information and wide support from the farming communities across Alabama. Overall, 82 farmers have started farming, we have helped 120 farmers start farming, and improved farming success of 77 small producers many of whom are low-resource and veteran farms. We have reached 70% white, 20% black (including the Black Belt of AL), and 10% Hispanic & American Indian communities who self-identify as 59% male and 41% female. The ABF has saved $506,00 to small producers in consultancy fees and saved $2.5 million worth of crop statewide. Overall return on investment (ROI) is estimated to be 10:1 which is increasing annually.
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Award Amount: $599,020
Institution: NC State University College of Animal and Life Sciences
Project Director: Sarah Blacklin (seblackl@ncsu.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2018 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The goal of the project is to increase the number...
The goal of the project is to increase the number of beginning farmers and ranchers successfully and profitably raising meat through either pasture-based or silvopasture systems by providing them and their families with novel land acquisition strategies in partnership with land trusts, solar farms, and existing landowners, while also equipping new farmers with targeted knowledge, skills, decision-making tools, and the market and buyer connections that have been identified as needed for these producers to operate profitably and be successfully. CEFS' NC Choices (www.ncchoices.com), working comprehensively to support the meat value chain since 2002, is uniquely equipped to not only identify needs of beginning farmers, in part through their statewide surveys of all registered meat handlers in the state, but to deliver this comprehensive program addressing those identified needs. For this project, we assembled the necessary partners and subject matter experts, identified key choke points for beginning farmers, and proposed high-impact solutions that offered together ensured success. This comprehensive support, including introducing and adapting a Meat and Yield Price Calculator and Meat Suite to expand their markets, resulted in 2,967 beginning farmers who received training, decision-making, and market development tools plus 12 new cohort farmers who entered into model land-share agreements with land partners. Finally, through resource development and training to aid CES agents in serving beginning farmers and via the national conference of land trusts to be held in North Carolina in 2019, we ensured that this project had statewide and national impact.
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Award Amount: $709,713
Institution: Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Project Director: Ryan Dennett (rdennett@mofga.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Success in training farmers is the hallmark of the Maine...
Success in training farmers is the hallmark of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Journeyperson Program (JP). During the past ten years, 275 new farmers have emerged from the program in Maine. Equipped with innovative production, management, and marketing skills, these farmers have created more than 160 farm businesses. Providing tomorrow’s farmers with the skills needed to achieve success in a demanding marketplace remains the primary objective of the Journeyperson Program. Between 2015 and 2018, 150 new farmers will receive training and the help needed to establish at least 75 new farm businesses. This crucial support, aimed at creating economically viable farms in Maine, can help meet the rising demand for local, more healthful and sustainably produced food.
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Award Amount: $219,274
Institution: Southwest Badger Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc
Project Director: WENDY WARREN (wendy.warren@swbadger.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The project develops opportunities to start farming on rented land
with...
The project develops opportunities to start farming on rented land
with financial coaching and guidance from experienced farmer-mentors. Mentors in
the program could be paid hourly for time spent mentoring or in a
lump sum upon accomplishing the program goals. Notably, the mentors who pursued the lump payments helped two mentees to learn how to fence and seed cropland, based
on the experience that the mentors gained as mentees in the program. Overall through the program we documented 14 successful
mentorships between beginning and experienced livestock farmers. According to participants’
exit surveys during the past three years, six people started farming, total
herd size increased by 107 cows, farm acreage increased by a total of 222 acres,
and gross farm income by $144,300 or ~$5,300 per participant.
SW Badger promoted contract grazing, or grazing livestock for other people to get cash income. The
grazingbroker.org website helps livestock producers to connect with
landowners to rent land. Fifty-three producers and 66 landowners completed profiles. The Grazing Broker Handbook that describes how to
rent land for managed grazing was downloaded 72 times and was used as training curriculum during 13 farm visits and four workshops that reached
185 beginning farmers and landowners.
The Grazing Broker was invited to speak at several conferences in
Wisconsin during the final year of the project. We used the information from these speaking tours to develop two tools: the land investment
assessment and land rental assessment. These new tools were used during 6 farm
visits and 5 workshops that reached 196 beginning farmers and landowners.
Participants reported that the tools helped them to better understand their
options for raising livestock and renting land. The Mentorship Program for Future Livestock Farmers has helped the Grazing Broker program to better serve the needs of landowners and farmers
in Southwest Wisconsin.
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Award Amount: $546,386
Institution: Vermont Housing & Conservation Board
Project Director: Ela Chapin (ela@vhcb.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2017 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
VHCB’s Vermont Farm & Forest
Viability Program, the Intervale Center, and...
VHCB’s Vermont Farm & Forest
Viability Program, the Intervale Center, and the Vermont Land Trust partnered
to deliver a coordinated, proactive approach to accelerate access to land and
growth of viable businesses for Vermont’s next generation of farmers. With
funding from BFRDP, we supported 205 farmers to improve their business, access
land, or transfer their farm to new ownership.
We provided individualized one-on-one technical assistance to farmers, on business
planning, land assessment, land access/land transfer, and accessing financing.
We tailored our services to meet farmers where they were at, accelerating their
early stage growth into viable commercial enterprises, and providing retiring
farmers with transfer planning and assistance identifying buyers. This
project helped to increase business management and land access skills among new
and beginning farmers, and resulted in 62 new & beginning farmers accessing
land, 47 utilizing affordable financing tools, and 40 successful farm transfers
from exiting farmers to new ownership. An additional 11 beginning farmers were
in the process of accessing land at the time of reporting, and are expected to
successfully complete ownership transfer in 2021.
An important aspect of this project has been the development of new affordable
financing tools at the Vermont Land Trust, including the new $15 million
Farmland Futures Fund, which will help 200 farms transition to new ownership and
enhance their economic and environmental sustainability in the next ten years.
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Award Amount: $641,222
Institution: Land For Good
Project Director: Kathy Ruhf (kathy@landforgood.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Access to land is one
of the biggest challenges for beginning...
Access to land is one
of the biggest challenges for beginning farmers (BF) in New England. In this
project, Land For Good, its partners and 40 collaborators enabled over 2,800 BFs to access land or improve their tenure
situation in six New England states. Our goals were to: improve BFs’ readiness
to successfully access land to farm; enable effective farm succession and
transfer to BFs; improve how BFs find and evaluate farm properties and connect
with landowners; educate professionals and BFs about innovative approaches and
methods; and strengthen programs that help BFs access land and improve the
conditions for farmland access in New England and nationally.
Through coordinated teams and task
forces, we developed a curriculum for our 3-session Succession School conducted
in six states for 18 farms. We launched an innovative online Build-a-Lease tool and updated
our 8-module online Acquiring Your Farm course. We produced a
comprehensive Farm Access Guide and decision tool explaining and comparing land tenure methods. We produced a land access guide for
commercial urban farming, a farm property posting guide, a Farm Succession School instructors’ manual, 11 fact sheets, and a blog report on affordable farmer
housing.
We conducted 46 land
access and transfer workshops for 2,536 trainees, and a 2-day cross-discipline succession professional training for
attorneys and other advisers. LFG provided direct “coaching” to 887 farm
seekers, landowners and transitioning farmers.
We improved the region's farm link
programs, revamped our regional online New England Farmland Finder Farm Transfer Network of New England websites. We held three
project convenings for over 40 collaborators. In cooperation with USDA, we held
a national conference in June 2017 for 220 service providers, agency personnel
and advocates from 40 states. A conference report summarizes collected policy and
program suggestions for all regions.
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Award Amount: $599,197
Institution: Land For Good
Project Director: Jim Hafner (executivedirector@landforgood.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2018 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Land access is a top challenge for beginning farmers (BFs);...
Land access is a top challenge for beginning farmers (BFs); land transfer is a BFRDP statutory priority. The long-term goal of this standard project was for more New England BFs to successfully access land to start or expand their farm businesses. Land For Good (LFG), six partners and 13 collaborators in six states enabled over 200 BFs to access land or achieve more secure tenure. Project goals were that: BFs are better prepared to access land to farm; more farms are effectively transferred to BFs; and stronger programs assist BFs to access land. Our objectives were to: educate, train and coach BFs on land access; help BFs find land and connect with landowners; educate and coach transitioning farmers on succession planning; improve succession planning providers and resources; and improve farm link programs. LFG recorded over 300 cases of intensive individual technical assistance to farm seekers. Collaborators planned, hosted, promoted, and delivered 60 land access educational workshops and seeker-landowner mixers, and Farm Succession Schools - including transitioning to new formats and online delivery in the last half of the project. The New England Farm Link Collaborative made more farm properties available and visible to BFs, with 500 new properties posted to New England Farmland Finder alone, any more posted to 3 state farm link sites. We developed more structured coaching protocols around farm succession, continued a rigorous program of staff professional development, and developed new tools and resources. Over the 3 year project period, 86% of all BFs who responded to our annual impact survey found LFG services at least somewhat helpful. 75% of the 270 BF respondents to our annual impact survey during the project took some action, with 38% - or 103 BFs - gaining secure land tenure within the previous 12 months. Overall, over 205 farmers gained more secure land tenure and nearly 50 farmers complete succession plans. Finally, we improved the connectivity and performance of farm link programs in our region and nationally. We hosted the first ever national Farm Link Clinic in 2019 involving 27 programs, who then implemented program improvements. Wrote on participant, “LFG hosting the first ever national farm link clinic was a big first step in greater collaboration, networking and professional development for land access and transfer professionals. Ideally these clinics could be annual or every couple of years to continue this work.”
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Award Amount: $381,726
Institution: Community Crops
Project Director: Ingrid Kirst (ingrid@communitycrops.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2014 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Since 2015, this
joint project between Community Crops and Center for...
Since 2015, this
joint project between Community Crops and Center for Rural Affairs has enhanced urban and rural-based farm viability of 191 beginning Hispanic, socially disadvantaged, and limited resource
farmers in Nebraska. These new farmers frequently lack
financial or production skills, are unaware of technical resources,
or lack English-language proficiency for accessing technical
information. We assisted these beginners with development of small
scale farm enterprises through training and technical assistance
that: (1) improved participants’ financial and business skills, (2)
connected them with a network of resources, and (3) gained and
improved production skills. We have conducted three 4-month long courses for
financial training and resource identification, field workshops for
farming skills, farm tours to observe practices in place, and
provided individual advising to participants. The classes were
broadcast to additional sites to reduce travel for participants,
and interpreters were available for all activities. Main Street Project, based in Minnesota, presented to the workshop participants in 2015 and 2016. In 2016 they also hosted a site visit for participants to demonstrate their farming systems.
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Award Amount: $750,000
Institution: Oregon State University
Project Director: Garry Stephenson (garry.stephenson@oregonstate.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2022 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Education Projects
Summary
The
long-term goal of this project is to (a) support and...
The
long-term goal of this project is to (a) support and educate experienced
beginning farmers (years 4-6 and 7-10) to continue their farming careers on established,
profitable farms, and (b) share our current and proposed program content and
curricula nationally with interested BFR service providers. This project combined instructional and experiential
learning with farmer support networks. This project continues to utilize our BFR
development framework and is resulting in another suite of educational programs,
and networks that support farmers and ranchers as they develop from startups to
mature, profitable farm businesses. Project objectives: 1)
Develop and deliver new advanced-level instructional learning using online,
hybrid, in-person approaches on drought resilient and climate adaptive
strategies. Expand the audience for our busineness mangagement courses. Share
these and current educational resources nationally with BFR service providers 2)
Develop and deliver new advanced-level experiential learning projects
demonstrating drought resilient and climate adaptive strategies at our three
established Teaching Farms. 3)
Facilitate farmer networks organized by farmers around gender, geography, or cropping
system to enhance BFR support and encourage peer to peer learning. 4)
Support and actively engage with the statewide Farming for the Future
(Beginning Farmer and Rancher) Working Group of the Oregon Community Food
Systems Network. This project is a powerful collaboration with
non-profit partners Oregon Tilth, Inc. (Farm Viability Program), and the Oregon
Community Food System Network (Farming for the Future (BFR) Working Group).
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Award Amount: $749,548
Institution: World Farmers Inc
Project Director: Maria Moreira (mmoreira@worldfarmers.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The long-term goal of this three-year project and beyond is...
The long-term goal of this three-year project and beyond is to move immigrant and refugee farmers along the beginning farmer continuum toward building successful farming enterprises and fulfilling their dream to own, operate their own farms and become a part of the American agricultural system. Through this project, World Farmers is facilitating farmer-to-farmer mentoring and providing customized support and technical assistance to beginning immigrant and refugee farmers to build capacity in business development, production strategies in the New England climate, and ultimately acquisition of their own farmland. This project will serve the immigrant and refugee farmers across 25 countries of origin in World Farmers’ Flats Mentor Farm program. World Farmers and each project partner are dedicated to providing individualized support and services to beginning FMF farmers along each stage of their agricultural development journey.
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Award Amount: $708,700
Institution: Planting Justice
Project Director: Gavin Raders (gavin@plantingjustice.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
This Standard BFRDP project presents an innovative model to advance...
This Standard BFRDP project presents an innovative model to advance economic viability, land stewardship, and social equity for beginning and socially disadvantaged beginning farmers. This proposal directly addresses urgent trends conveyed in the 2012 USDA Census: the aging farmer population and declining numbers of beginning farmers.
This project counters these trends by building comprehensive and culturally relevant training/employment opportunities for beginning and underserved farmers, while strengthening the mentoring capacity of experienced farmers to pass on their knowledge. Our target audience includes 120 beginning farmers, including 90 formerly incarcerated, immigrants, and otherwise socially disadvantaged participants, in 6 cohorts over the 3-year grant period. Successful program graduates are completing 150 hours of on-site, hands-on training as part of our Applied Agroecology and Beginning Farmer Curriculum, and receive the opportunity to be mentored by pioneering local farmers through paid 3-6 month apprenticeships on local farms in the MESA network, living-wage employment as urban farmers with Planting Justice, and/or substantial financial, legal, technical, and administrative support to access land and launch their own farming startups. These comprehensive services are spurring the next generation to launch and sustain successful careers in urban and peri-urban farming. Planting Justice is a national leader in re-entry green job placement and urban farming training for formerly incarcerated people, and this project will build upon their success helping former inmates obtain inspirational employment as new urban farmers. MESA is internationally recognized as a pioneering sustainable agriculture training organization with 18 years running experiential and farmer mentorship programs.
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Award Amount: $597,598
Institution: University of Connecticut
Project Director: Jiff Martin (jiff.martin@uconn.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Our project was developed by and for small scale beginning...
Our project was developed by and for small scale beginning farmers across Connecticut. Instead of duplicating the efforts of great organizations that are already offering beginner farmer training programs, this project enriched these programs by delivering core trainings, providing one-on-one technical assistance to participants, and implementing unique statewide events to foster networking and learning across the beginner farmer community. The core trainings offered were designed primarily for existing and aspiring sustainable vegetable producers. All of trainings and resources have been branded as UConn Extension's 'Solid Ground Farmer Trainings'.
Core trainings included the following topics: business planning, soil health, farmland access, small scale production of vegetables and fruit, irrigation, post-harvest handling, tunnel production systems, cover crop systems, profitable meat enterprises, managing invasive species, pesticide safety, welding, business planning, eco-focused farming techniques, tractor and small engine safety & maintenance. Trainings were delivered in person in small group settings of 5 to 30 attendees. Training locations were in Bridgeport, Hartford, Killingly, New Haven, Simsbury, Stamford, and Windham. One-on-one technical assistance was available to producers who requested assistance in: 1) vegetable disease and pest management, 2) farmland evaluation and soil health, 3) farm financial record-keeping. and 4) engineering for post-harvest handling. In year 1 there were 26 core trainings. In year 2 there were 34 core trainings. In year 3 there were 31 trainings. By the third year our project reached at least 275 unique attendees and drew a combined attendance of 800+ new and beginning farmers. Our project also used grant funds and leveraged key partnership to implement 3 statewide events: 1) The Build Your Network, Grow Our Future - brought together new farmers and service providers for a day of networking and training; 2) The Agriculture Re$ource Fair featured grant opportunities that are available to new farmers, co-presented by a producer that had received the grant and a grants program representative; 3) Farm Equipment Day was an opportunity to see vegetable equipment demonstrations. Solid Ground Core Trainings were delivered at: Common Ground High School in New Haven, the Community Farm of Simsbury, the Green Village Initiative in Bridgeport, Killingly Agriculture Education Program, KNOX in Hartford, WRCC-GROW Windham, and UConn's Ready-to-Start urban agriculture program. Other critical partners in the project are the New CT Farmer Alliance and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of CT.
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Award Amount: $598,170
Institution: Halau Kealaokamaile
Project Director: Fred Krauss (admin@kealaokamaile.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2018 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
We increased the number and enhanced the success of Native...
We increased the number and enhanced the success of Native Hawaiian farmers to grow new agroforestry projects and improve resource management of existing projects. This project increased economic opportunity, food security and cultural connection to the forest in the Native Hawaiian community of Maui. Objectives completed: 1) Trained 150 new and beginning Native Hawaiian farmers in agroforestry 2) Engaged 30 new Native Hawaiian youth in agroforestry as a career path 3) Enhanced the success of 50 beginning agroforesters Future objectives to be fulfilled: 1) Facilitate 20 new farmers in designing an agroforestry/native reforestation project 2) Establish a demonstration farm cultivated by 100 new Native Hawaiian farmers 3) Provide land to 2 Native Hawaiian farmers to cultivate native crops and enter markets 4) Develop 10 new markets for agroforestry cultural crops. To accomplish the goal we will conduct monthly classroom and hands-on workshops for an additional two years which are culturally appropriate and targeted at Native Hawaiian adults and youth. We have established a new training program aimed at recruiting new agroforestry farmers (forest management and crop farming practices) and natural resource managers.
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Award Amount: $656,903
Institution: Virginia Tech University
Project Director: John Munsell (jfmunsel@vt.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Increasing demand for high- quality, herbal and
nutraceutical products is improving...
Increasing demand for high- quality, herbal and
nutraceutical products is improving the financial equation for forest farmers.
Receiving premium prices for medicinal plant products depends on a forest
farmer's ability to consistently supply forest grown material. The Appalachian
region contains native habitat for more than 15 forest farmable medicinal
plants and is home to rich ethnobotanical connections. If trained and connected
(to fellow forest farmers and service providers), beginning Appalachian forest
farmers will be in a better position to capitalize on industry demand and
sustain premium sales of high-quality forest grown organic stock. A
collaboration across multiple academic institutions and governmental and
non-governmental organizations, the Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmer
Coalition (ABFFC) is a project that increases opportunities for forest farmers
and forestland owners in Appalachia and beyond who are interested in starting
or expanding/diversifying a forest farming operation.
We are a diverse project partnership ranging from Georgia to Pennsylvania with
four non-governmental organizations, four universities, extension, three agency
partners, forest farmers, and a forest grown verification program, all with
extensive technical and market-based experience. Our goal is to support
beginning Appalachian medicinal plant forest farmers by forming a coalition
that provides technical, administrative, and market sales training and improves
access to farm resource inventory and plant habitat management services. To
accomplish this we 1) established an inclusive coalition with clear
organizational structure and decision making processes; and began to 2)
educate, train, and support beginning forest farmers; and 3) improve forest
farm inventory and medicinal plant habitat management services for beginning
forest farmers. Long-term condition change will be an improvement in
agroforestry production opportunities and farming capabilities among forest
farmers in Appalachia which positively impacts families, farms, and
communities.
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Award Amount: $407,995
Institution: Appalachian RC&D Council
Project Director: Susan McKinney (susan@arcd.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Through the Field School Beginning Farmer Training Program, the Appalachian...
Through the Field School Beginning Farmer Training Program, the Appalachian RC&D Council (ARCD) did 1) increase the number of new farm startups and enhance the financial sustainability of beginning farm operations; 2) support the creation of communities of support and practice among veteran, women, and socially disadvantaged beginning farmers; 3) increase the utilization of USDA and State farmer support, grant, and cost-share programs; 4) increase the implementation of sustainable production methods by beginning farmers; 5) increase access to affordable farm land and foster the transition of farmland to the next generation of farmers in the Appalachian Highlands region. ARCD met these goals through a combination of strategies, including 1) providing education, training, resources and support to beginning farmers through in-person and online workshops; 2) providing free one on one consulting on business and production planning; 3) facilitating opportunities for peer to peer learning and networking through Peer Learning Circles; 4) providing workshops for women and retiring landowners on creating long-term lease agreements, resource conservation practices, and conservation easements; and 5) increasing promotion and outreach about, and expanding the resources/information available on, the TNFarmLink.org website. In our first and second years of the beginning farmer and rancher development grant, through the Field School program, ARCD fostered 18 new farm start ups and reached 211 farmers with training and education. Of the beginning farmers reached, 82 reported an increase in knowledge, 77 reported an intention to make changes to their operations, and 61 reported making beneficial changes to their farm operations as a result of attending programming.
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Award Amount: $599,000
Institution: The Ohio State University
Project Director: HANPING WANG (wang.900@osu.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) is an extremely successful program. The...
Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) is an extremely successful program. The long-term goal of the program is to utilize “3-I” levels (Intensive, Intermediate, Introductory), 3 areas (aquaponics, aquaculture, and related business and marketing) and 3 types (hands-on, classroom/mentoring, and internet/webinar) of integrated training and multi-faceted approach, paired with mentoring of industry professionals and previous ABC graduates, to enhance the sustainability of limited-resource new and beginning aqua-farmers in the Midwest and Appalachian region. This has been accomplished through the development and delivery of a multi-phase ABC program in which new and limited-resource aquaculture/aquaponic farmers with different knowledge levels. The specific goals of the ABC program have been achieved through partnerships and collaborations of multiple nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and school-based agricultural educational organizations (SAEOs), as well as many aquaponics/aquaculture farms and several universities, led by The Ohio State University (OSU) and NGOs/CBOs/NGOs with expertise in new and beginning farmer training and outreach.
For the ABC-1 project, forty-four new aqua-farms were created by the 2013 and 2014 ABC participates. For the ABC-2 project, forty-two new businesses/farms have been created by the 2017 - 2019 ABC-2 participates. For example, one of the ABC-1 Intensive graduates are now in his seventh year producing over 35,000 lbs fish/year with revenues of more than $125,000; a ABC-2 graduate has built an aquaculture facility that is able to produce 80,000 lbs of tilapia; another ABC-2 graduate is launching a commercial version of indoor shrimp farm in 2019 with a side of aquaponics; one of our ABC students has played important rales in developing Superior Fresh, a multimillion dollar fish farm and aquaponic greenhouse capable of producing 160,000 pounds of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout and up to 2 million pounds of varietal and leaf lettuce per year in Wisconsin.
The success of ABC can be attributed to the “3-I” levels, 3 areas and 3 types of integrated training and multi-faceted approach. The unique Internship program that provides apprentice-type training opportunities for next generation aquaculture/aquaponic farmers also contributed the success. Because of the success of this arrangement, the ABC-3 model can be adapted to other regions and communities in the United States. This model could easily apply to other industries, for example, a Horticulture Boot Camp, where participants would choose a horticulture crop to learn about and conduct a pilot scale project in the future.
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Award Amount: $99,947
Institution: Arcadia Food, Inc.
Project Director: Matt Mulder (matt@arcadiafood.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Based in Fairfax County, Virginia, but pulling on expertise and...
Based in Fairfax County, Virginia, but pulling on expertise and farms across Northern and Central Virginia and the National Capital Region, Arcadia's Veteran Farmer Program brings together regional nonprofits, agricultural organizations, veterans, and experienced farmers - including veterans who have made a successful transition to farming - to create a multi-layered farmer training and development program to launch veterans into careers in agriculture. This thoughtful, practical program increases the number of veteran farmers and helps to ensure their success by providing them with farming skills; business development and management training; and ongoing technical support. This program also provide continued support through ongoing mentorships from the business, agricultural, and veteran communities. Arcadia's Veteran Farmer Program was successful in its goal to increase the number of military veterans operating new, successful farm operations in the Washington, D.C. region. Within 3 months of the end of the first year of the program, six program participants have already started to farm, while another four have gained experience and or/employment in agriculture and agriculture related jobs. Interest in the 2017 program was high, and Arcadia is expanding the size of the class to accommodate the additional interest.
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Award Amount: $597,124
Institution: Arcadia Food, Inc.
Project Director: Matt Mulder (matt@arcadiafood.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2017 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Based in
Fairfax County, Virginia, but pulling from expertise and farms...
Based in
Fairfax County, Virginia, but pulling from expertise and farms across Northern
and Central Virginia and the National Capital Region, Arcadia's Veteran Farmer
Program (VFP) brings together regional nonprofits, agricultural organizations,
veterans, and experienced farmers - including veterans who have made a
successful transition to farming - to provide a practical farmer training and
development program that launches veterans into new careers in agriculture.
Arcadia's
program is distinguished by its lifecycle support of new veteran farmers. It
works to increase the number of veterans beginning new careers in agriculture
and the likelihood of their success by providing them with farming skills;
business development and management training; ongoing technical support;
assistance with finding and accessing land; and then market support. The VFP provides continued
support as our new farmers launch their careers, through ongoing mentorships
from, and networking with, the business, agriculture, and veteran communities.
The
VFP increases the number of veterans beginning new careers in agriculture and
increases the likelihood of their success. The VFP is very effective and can be
replicated in other regions. Through this grant, the VFP aimed to train 51 military
veterans with the goal of producing 25 new farmers operating businesses
throughout the project period. From 2017-2020, the program actively trained
and supported 84 military veterans, active duty military, and their spouses. Of those 84 trainees, 42 have already started to farm and another 26 continue train and develop as beginning farmers.
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Award Amount: $749,720
Institution: University of Arkansas
Project Director: Dan Donoghue (ddonogh@uark.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2014 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Farming
offers a viable avenue for returning veterans to transition into...
Farming
offers a viable avenue for returning veterans to transition into society and
capitalizes on skills that made them successful in the military. However, these
opportunities may be missed due to lack of targeted training programs, guidance
and information. We assembled a team with expertise in teaching
conventional and alternative agriculture, hands-on training, economics,
research and networking resources targeted to veteran farmers focused on
poultry, small ruminants and agroforestry production. Through our previous
BFRDP project, our team has supported hundreds of veterans through workshops,
internships, research and training opportunities yet there continues to be a
critical need to train and support this population of new farmers. Our objectives were to: 1) Enhance existing course and add
training modules to our New Farmer Online Training Program; 2)
Provide experiential opportunities including Armed to Farm Workshops and
training, on-farm demonstration and internship programs; and 3) Develop and
expand on custom networking and mentoring systems to effectively support a new
generation of farmers. This project will
targeted military veterans and minority farmers (women, African-American and
Latino farmers). Residents of the South have traditionally comprised a
disproportionate share of military personnel and many of them come from
agricultural backgrounds and would return to their agricultural roots if given
the opportunity. This dynamic program created specific training opportunities
and networking systems for these and other populations of new and beginning
farmers and ranchers. We served over 500 farmers face-to-face and thousands through online education over the lifespan of this grant.
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Award Amount: $298,893
Institution: Athens Land Trust
Project Director: Stephanie Simmons (stephanie@athenslandtrust.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2017 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The goal of Athens Land Trust's Beginning Farmer Development Program...
The goal of Athens Land Trust's Beginning Farmer Development Program (BFDP) was to increase the number of successful farmers in northeast Georgia, strengthen their economic viability, and connect them with other farmers for marketing opportunities and mentoring. The project targeted limited resource, socially disadvantaged, and otherwise underserved new and beginning farmers in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia and the surrounding region. The BFDP provided education, hands-on sustainable agriculture training, and marketing education and opportunities that supported new and beginning farmers with enhanced skills and capacities in sustainable farming practices, increased business knowledge, and expanded markets. Athens Land Trust tailored individual outreach and technical assistance to farmers operating at different levels of production to guide participants toward economic viability and the capacity to access larger markets. Primary objectives included providing educational opportunities including business workshops, one-on-one guidance, on-the-farm experiential education, and mentorships that provided skills and knowledge to enable farmers to move toward greater farm business viability; and increasing local market opportunities for new and beginning farmers. Athens Land Trust leveraged our partnerships to connect growers to new and larger markets, collaborating with the Georgia Farmers Market Association and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension to provide marketing training and resources; and with St. Mary's Health Care System and the Clarke County East Athens WIC Clinic to develop new mobile markets for farmers and expanded access to local produce for vulnerable populations.
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Award Amount: $600,000
Institution: Texas A&M AgrLife Extension
Project Director: Rick Peterson (rlpeterson@ag.tamu.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The project’s overall goals were to increase the number and...
The project’s overall goals were to increase the number and enhance sustainability of veteran and other beginning farmers and ranchers, through an innovative, holistic model for education, training, technical assistance, and outreach, reducing self-employment barriers for veterans and other beginning farmer/ranchers (particularly those with disabilities). To accomplish the above referenced goals the project: 1. Provided a holistic and relevant educational experience to support farm enterprise education and sustainability through access to: a) face to face and online educational training in farm management and production specific agriculture practices; b) individualized educational planning and guidance to support diverse agriculture business interests; c) hands-on learning opportunities connected to online course content; and d) follow-up mentor support, 2. Established peer-to-peer learning through a Community of Practice, and 3. Offered an array of veteran transitional and disability support services. Outreach efforts were targeted toward military veterans and socially disadvantaged beginning farmers/ranchers with and without disabilities. The project provided participants with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed decisions regarding entering, establishing, and managing successful agriculture enterprises. The activities were designed to enhance participants’ success in agribusiness startup, business expansion and sustainability augmented by peer-learning and support services and experiential learning opportunities. Formative and summative evaluation measures for program improvement and overall evaluation were included. Program sustainability was addressed through strategic partnership engagement beyond the life of the project. Ease of replicability of the program has been engineered into the design of the program. Even though the project grant period has ended, the program is still being delivered. Through the program 572 individuals increased their
awareness and understanding of business and strategic planning, value added
enterprises, conservation, economics decision making, risk management, animal
production, vegetable production, and soil and pasture management. The program
has held 80 hands on learning/field days with 1034 attendees. The program has
held 9 one day workshops across the state with 531 individuals in attendance.
Hours of agriculture production course work attended in excess of 440 hours and
1300 hours of hands on hours completed. Webinar attendance for the 3-year period
was 4926 participants. The website page was viewed/accessed 107, 751 times. One thousand six
hundred and six unique individuals were directly served through the program.
One hundred and twenty-six individuals started farming, 725 individuals were
helped to prepare to start farming and 126 improved their farming success.
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Award Amount: $750,000
Institution: Texas A&M Agrilife Extension
Project Director: Erin Kimbrough (erin.kimbrough@ag.tamu.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's
Battleground to Breaking Ground Expansion Program meets...
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's
Battleground to Breaking Ground Expansion Program meets two main goals 1) to
expand the existing Battleground to Breaking Ground program (BGBG) to better
support limited agriculture experience participants; thus, increasing the
number of veteran and other new and beginning farmers and ranchers in Texas 2) enhances
the success and sustainability of Texas' veteran and other new and beginning
farmers & ranchers by providing them and their families with the knowledge,
skills, and tools needed to make informed decisions. To accomplish these goals
the project has A) Expanded the existing in-person Battleground to Breaking
Ground Phase 1 workshop into an Introduction to Agriculture Business online
course and 5-day in-person Introduction to Agriculture Business Bootcamp B)
Developed and conducted the Battleground to Breaking Ground Skillbridge Program
(BGBG-SB) for transitioning military service members. C) Developed and conducted
Battleground to Breaking Ground Mentorship Training Program (BGBG MTP) in
partnership with Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) to increase the number of
available veteran agriculture mentors in Texas and enhance their sustainability
through ongoing support. The existing successful BGBG program curriculum has
been expanded to addresses additional needs identified by the target audience
through developing an enhanced experiential agriculture production training for
beginning farmers/ranchers with little to no experience. Transitioning military
members gain the skills and training necessary to become successful
farmers/ranchers, as well as the program developed a mentorship training
program for BGBG graduates to provide them financial support and education to
train beginning farmers/ranchers. Lastly, the expansion program addressed education and support to beginning farmers related to the impacts of COVID-19
including business planning technical assistance and training in accessing
federal and state assistance programs. To substantiate the benefits of the BGBGXP
project, qualitative and quantitative data is collected for each cohort, and results are shared with the Project Advisory Committee, stakeholders and the general public.
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Award Amount: $599,971
Institution: University of Arkansas
Project Director: Dan Donoghue (ddonogh@uark.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2017 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Farming offers a viable avenue for
veterans assimilating into...
Farming offers a viable avenue for
veterans assimilating into society capitalizing on skills that made them
successful in the military. Through previous BFRDP projects, our team has
supported hundreds of veterans through research and training opportunities
yet there continues to be a critical need to train and support the next
generation of new farmers. We continue to network with the veterans
that have participated in our bootcamps, internships and workshops and asked
them for their priorities for our program. The top requests from these
new farmers were to have more extensive training past initial boot camp
programs; and to provide the training we have for other livestock species to
include beef cattle production. Therefore our objectives for this
proposal are to: 1) enhance existing courses and add training modules for
pasture beef production to our New Farmer Online Training Program; 2) provide
a more comprehensive suite of training opportunities including Armed to Farm
2.0 Boot Camp, and intensive internship opportunities; and 3) expand custom networking
and mentoring systems to effectively support a new generation of farmers.
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Award Amount: $744,113
Institution: South Dakota State University
Project Director: Ken Olson (kenneth.olson@sdstate.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2015 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
We addressed the primary goal of BFRDP “enhance food security,...
We addressed the primary goal of BFRDP “enhance food security, community development and sustainability by providing beginning farmers and ranchers … with knowledge, skills and tools needed to make informed decisions for their operations, and enhance their sustainability”. This project provided training and mentoring that assisted 48 beginning beef cattle producers from 28 different operations in South Dakota to become economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable. It was a collaborative partnership of SDSU Extension, 4 South Dakota producer organizations, 3 rural banks, and 19 beefSD alumni that served as peer mentors. It was comprised of:
- Instructional workshops (topics included livestock production, natural resource stewardship, marketing, finance, legal, and leadership)
- Case studies of four alternative beef production systems and management practices
- Evaluation of post-weaning performance of participants’ calves
- Mentoring from peers, established beef cattle producers and agriculture professionals
- Web-based interaction using social networking and webinars
- Travel-study trips to study other segments of the beef cattle industry
The intensive 24 month program was highly successful. It presented producers tools to make wise management decisions that contribute to ongoing agricultural production, land stewardship, and rural community viability. Impacts to the producers are numerous and will have long term implementations and outcomes to the beef industry in South Dakota. Satisfaction with the program was 4.68 out of 5. Quotes on the overall impact: “Absolutely loved this program and we are so honored that we were chosen to be apart of this program and we can't wait to be able to implement everything we have learned and strive to continue networking, advocating, and improving our operation daily.”
“… I never would have even thought about 75% of the things we've done from going through a packing plant, feedlots, legislative sessions, white table cloth suppers, and the networking aspect....Its broadened my horizons so much”
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Award Amount: $600,000
Institution: CFFM - UMN
Project Director: Robert Craven (rcraven@umn.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2019 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The purpose of this project was to continue to develop...
The purpose of this project was to continue to develop and maintain Farm Answers, the existing BFRDP Clearinghouse to help beginning farmers and ranchers be more successful. Farm Answers will continue to assemble educational materials, online courses, software tools, project reports, and educational programs along with developing new features and resources in a single well-organized website where beginning producers and the organizations that work with them can quickly obtain the information, training, and connections that they need. - Overall Goals
Maintain and expand the online Farm Answers library that provides beginning farmers and ranchers a one-stop source of information materials and programs that will help them succeed in their chosen agricultural endeavors. - Work with BFRDP Standard and Educational Team projects to facilitate collaboration, communication and sharing of educational materials between projects to amplify the effectiveness and reach of the assistance provided to beginning farmers and ranchers.
- Collaborate with NIFA to help BFRDP projects improve outcome-based reporting that will help BFRDP projects effectively communicate accomplishments, provide valid data for stakeholders, and the allow the public to learn more about BFRDP projects.
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Award Amount: $49,995
Institution: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Project Director: Jessica Groskopf (jgroskopf2@unl.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
This simplified standard grant was used to enhance the
activities of...
This simplified standard grant was used to enhance the
activities of the Nebraska Women in Agriculture Program to provide innovative
farm business management education for beginning female farmers and ranchers
(BFFR), and develop a Land Link service for Nebraska.
This project funded eight Annie’s Project courses and a
two-day Women in Agriculture conference to for 289 participants, 21% of which were
estimated to be BFFR. These activities will catered to women by encouraging them
to ask questions, connect with participants and speakers, and share their
experiences. These hands-on programs increased the knowledge and skills of
attendees, ultimately leading to greater success of BFFR. The project supported Nebraska’s Land Link program, which launched Feb. 1, 2021. At the end of the grant funding, the Land Link program had 173 participants, 167 Land Seekers (10 Female) and 6 Landowners (1 Female).
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Award Amount: $1,000,000
Institution: University of Minnesota
Project Director: Robert Craven (rcraven@umn.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2014 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
This project has developed a Clearinghouse that will help beginning...
This project has developed a Clearinghouse that will help beginning farmers and ranchers be more successful. The Clearinghouse has assembled educational materials, online courses, software tools, stories, and the ability to connect online into a well-organized website where beginning producers can quickly obtain the information, training, and connections they need. FarmAnswers.org has had over 86,000 individual visitors since it was launched, with those visitors viewing documents on how to get started farming through improving their farming success. Other BFRDP projects have used the Clearinghouse to share educational materials both with beginning farmers and other projects. And finally, the Clearinghouse has established an outcome-based reporting system to enable BFRDP projects to share the results that they have achieved with their BFRDP funding.
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Award Amount: $600,000
Institution: University of Minnesota, Center for Farm Financial Management
Project Director: Kevin Klair (kklair@umn.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2018 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The purpose of this Educational Enhancement Team project is to...
The purpose of this Educational Enhancement Team project is to develop new resources to help beginning farmers and ranchers improve the financial and business management aspects of their operations, as well as better-equip educators to guide them through this process. This project will: - Develop and improve delivery of farm financial and business management tools and programs to help beginning farmers and ranchers better understand and manage the financial aspects of their businesses
- Improve the ability of organizations to deliver farm financial and business management training to beginning farmers and ranchers
- Evaluate ways to improve the Farm Answers clearinghouse to make it even more valuable to beginning farmers and ranchers
This project will fulfill the two goals of EET projects. It will identify gaps in farm financial and business management tools and programs and address ways to make Farm Answers more valuable to beginning farmers. It will also develop curriculum and deliver train-the-trainer workshops to better equip BFRDP projects to help beginning farmers in farm financial and business management.
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Award Amount: $600,000
Institution: Organic Growers School
Project Director: Cameron Farlow (cameron@organicgrowersschool.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program 2021 Awards
Summary
...
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Award Amount: $589,610
Institution: Louisiana State University AgCenter
Project Director: Carl Motsenbocker (cmotsenbocker@agcenter.lsu.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2018 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
...
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Award Amount: $564,000
Institution: The Kohala Center
Project Director: Melanie Willich (mwillich@kohalacenter.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
While Hawai‘i has abundant
agricultural lands and a 12-month growing season,...
While Hawai‘i has abundant
agricultural lands and a 12-month growing season, the state imports >80% of
its food from markets located at least 2,300 miles away. Despite the increasing
interest in local food production, few farms become established by beginning
farmers due to a lack of agricultural and business knowledge and the inability
to access start-up capital. The objectives of this project are to (1)
train beginning farmers/ranchers, with a particular focus on socially
disadvantaged farmers, (2) facilitate access to financial and production input
resources, including farm leases and microloans, and (3) expand TKC's online
database of resources. We initially developed a 20-session training
program, including 39 hrs of classroom instruction, 30 hrs of on-farm
instruction, and 36 hrs of farm visits. The total program comprised of 188
hrs, including BFRDP-supported workshops island wide. Addressing evaluations, we
adjusted our training program to an 18-session format that includes 45 hrs of
classroom instruction, 45 hrs of on-farm workshops, and 30 hrs of farm visits.
Sessions were held twice a month. For graduation, participants fill additional
68 hrs instead of the 83 hrs in 2017 with additional workshops supported by the
BFRDP or offered through CTAHR or other appropriate agriculture-related
workshops, online education, business planning, and farm internships and
development, depending on the individual participant's needs. Across the three
cohorts, a total of 61 individuals started the program and 49 of those
participants completed it. A total of 23 public additional island wide public
lectures and workshops attracted 447 community members. Technical assistance including
business planning, agricultural production, and farm financing was provided by
TKC's Rural Cooperative Business Development Services (RCBDS) team to 45 individuals
and businesses.
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Award Amount: $250,000
Institution: GENERATION INFOCUS FOUNDATION INC
Project Director: Tiffany Ray (tiffany@generationinfocus.com)
Funding Opportunity: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Our program creates a positive ecosystem promoting professional and financial...
Our program creates a positive ecosystem promoting professional and financial growth for beginning farmers in the Atlanta region through an agricultural incubator immersion program. The 20 beginner farmers per year includes veterans, socially disadvantaged, limited resource, or farmworkers, including women, African-Americans, Latinx, Asian, and LGBTQ farmers, with at least 60% of the budget going to serve these groups. Training includes the hands-on application of knowledge as they learn and work on the farm weekly and all participants will receive training through the University of Georgia. The objectives of the project are to continue training of graduate students, complete the repairs of the training site 100%, and continue to work toward agricultural sustainability. GIF has submitted request for no-cost extension from March 2022 to May 2023. During the extension period, GIF will continue classes through May 2023. For this, we will continue our advertisement, marketing, and community outreach efforts. The project milestones are slightly revised based on the following learnings from the first year of implementation: the lesson learned from growing lavender is that it takes about three years to generate income and turn it into a profitable venture. Since three (3) years is a substantial period for the farmer to acquire the desired profitability, the cultivation of this crop cannot be considered sustainable for beginner farmers. In light of this, we adapted the project by designing a specialized program to train beginner farmers in handling, cultivating, and processing hemp. We are rationalizing this based on the development in the state regulation and market. As hemp farming is now legal and profitable, cultivating this crop usually takes farmers 3-6 months to realize. Thus, our activities are designed to expedite the revenue generation and profit-making process through hemp production to sustain farms and livelihoods for beginner farmers.
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Award Amount: $599,533
Institution: Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)
Project Director: Kelly Coleman (kelly@buylocalfood.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
This
renewal Standard BFRDP project built upon a successful Development Grant...
This
renewal Standard BFRDP project built upon a successful Development Grant (PD: Kelly Coleman, award 2012-49400-19591). The lead agency (CISA) managed this state-wide project through an established network of five collaborating
agricultural community-based organizations (CBOs): Berkshire Grown, Central
Mass Grown, Northeast Harvest, Southeastern MA Agricultural Partnership and
Sustainable Nantucket. One hundred percent of federal funds went to CBOs.
The long-range goal of
this project was to improve the sustainability and profitability of beginning
farm businesses in Massachusetts by providing tailored technical assistance. During this grant we served 521 beginning farmers in the following topic areas: entrepreneurship
and business training (priority C), financial and risk management
training (priority D), and diversification and marketing strategies
(priority F). Activities included 81 workshops, 19 networking events, and 343 one-on-one assistance consultations, plus detailed program evaluation.
After participating, farmers continued to have access to on-going technical assistance
and peer support through the collaborating organizations. As a result, 92% of participants (520/568 surveys) “moderately increased” knowledge and 66% of
participants (374/568 surveys) “substantially increased” knowledge in the areas of
marketing, business planning, financial analysis, diversification, or
value-added production. By the end of the project we had collected data to confirm that 119 farmers implemented a change (78% of the 134 respondents) and 23 have already seen an increase in their income by at least 5% (45% of the 51 respondents to this question). We believe the success of these outcomes will improve the economy and
food security of the region.
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Award Amount: $626,230
Institution: NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
Project Director: Angel Cruz (aecruz@ncsu.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Farming and ranching offer a viable path for returning veterans...
Farming and ranching offer a viable path for returning veterans to transition into society and capitalize on skills that made them successful in the military. However, these opportunities may be missed due to a lack of targeted training programs, guidance, and information for veterans. In order to meet the growing demand for younger farmers, strengthen local food systems, and increase veteran participation in the agricultural community we need to expand access to high-quality and affordable training, specifically longer duration more intensive hands-on training. We have developed and are now beginning to implement North Carolina's first Registered Agricultural Apprenticeship Program for military Veterans. This program, Boots on the Ground: North Carolina's Veteran Farmer Apprenticeship (NC VFA), is a beginning farmer apprenticeship program for veterans in NC that is increasing the number of veteran farmers in NC. We plan to apply this Registered Apprenticeship model across the state and share the model regionally and nationally. This apprenticeship program helps veterans bridge the gap between education and hands-on learning with employer and mentor involvement, structured on-the-job training, related instruction, rewards for skilled gains, and a recognizable occupation credential. Furthermore, this registered apprenticeship allows veterans to use their GI bill education benefits to supplement the cost of housing and supplies.
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Award Amount: $491,950
Institution: University of Maryland Extension, Baltimore City Office
Project Director: Neith Little (nglittle@umd.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
This project is a collaboration of six Maryland organizations: University...
This project is a collaboration of six Maryland organizations: University of Maryland, College Park (UMDCP); University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES); University of Maryland Baltimore, Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI); Farm Alliance of Baltimore (FAB); Black Yield Institute (BYI); Southern Maryland Agriculture Development Commission of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland (SMADC). Our goal is to alleviate what beginning farmers have told us are two of the biggest barriers to their success: land access and market access. In 2022, thanks to USDA-NIFA funding, we were able to expand our efforts to support urban, peri-urban, and historically underserved beginning farmers. Different organizations in our collaborative team taught about market research, legal issues related to leases and land access, and methods of growing and marketing African heritage crops. We launched a new online portal for a one-on-one entrepreneurial coaching program and recruited and trained new coaches. We started building out new online resources for realtors, landowners, and land seekers. We held community convenings and listening sessions to build concensus on urban farmland access and tenure. We look forward to building on and expanding this work in 2023.
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Award Amount: $749,979
Institution: Hoola Veteran Services
Project Director: Emily Emmons (emily@hoolafarms.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
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Award Amount: $473,915
Institution: Appalachian Sustainable Development
Project Director: Kathlyn Baker (kterry@asdevelop.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2017 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The project applicants represent a regional coalition joined across the...
The project applicants represent a regional coalition joined across the Tennessee and Virginia border in a region called the “Heart of Appalachia”. Our coalition represents a 20-year track record of building the local food economy from farm to fork, across all economic classes, across all ages. Through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program we improved start-up opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers to establish and sustain viable agricultural operations and communities. The coalition developed 4 main objectives in response to feedback from beginning farmers served by our organizations.
- Enhance Regional Coalition: The Coalition increased networking and communication channels through quarterly meetings, an active working relationship between the Program Coordinators, and the development of a mentor learning infrastructure that continues to be successfully executed.
- Whole Farm and Local Market Education: In total 106 students participated in ARC&D's Winter Business Intensive and Field School. An additional 800 individuals particpated in the virtual Summer Field School held in 2020. A demonstration garden showcased the challenges and benefits of wholesale organic production. Over the grant period, 12,500 lbs. of produce was harvested and approximately 966 individuals visited the sites.
- Internship-Mentorship Networking: Farmer and Rancher Mentoring (FARM) was created for adult and youth beginning farmers. Throughout the project period, 47 interns (200 hour and 70 hour) successfully completed the internship program. 31 farmer mentors participated in the educational experience.
- Peer-to-Peer Circles: Peer learning circles are designed to create an educational and support network for farmers. A Women’s Farmer Roundtable was established in October 2018 in Tennessee and are still meeting regularly to date in 2020.The group plans to continue meeting after the project period.
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Award Amount: $600,000
Institution: Grow Food DBA Viva Farms
Project Director: Michael Frazier (michael@vivafarms.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program 2021 Awards
Summary
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Award Amount: $593,462
Institution: Agroecology Commons
Project Director: Leah Atwood (leah@agroecologycommons.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program 2021 Awards
Summary
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Award Amount: $595,133
Institution: Clemson University
Project Director: Dave Lamie (dlamie@clemson.edu)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
As a collaboration of organizations, coordinated and led by Clemson...
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.
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Award Amount: $238,441
Institution: NCAT
Project Director: Tammy Howard (tammyh@ncat.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
Over the course of Building Farm Foundations and Planning for...
Over the course of Building Farm Foundations and Planning for Success: Beginning Farmer Training for Military Veterans, we have complete 4 -40 hour Armed to Farm trainings with 90
participants from throughout the Intermountain and North Western US. In addition we did a follow up
training for Armed to Farm Alumni titled Armed to Farm 2.0 a Lean Canvas Enterprise
Planning model with 13 hours of training. This training had 13 Armed to Farm graduates that
wanted to dig into their business plan or try out planning for a new enterprise. Of the 90 veteran participants in
the Armed to Farm training, 23 have started farms and our post training evaluations indicate that 60 made positive changes
to their business planning and production practices as a result of
the trainings.
In an effort to increase the success
of our Armed to Farm graduates, we provided one on one technical assistance at
the trainings as well as follow up technical assistance as needed. This included 55 individual technical assistance sessions by NCAT
staff and our project partners throughout the course of the project. We
have watched a network of veteran farmers grow and solidify through the efforts
of NCAT, the veteran participants, and our project partners. We have a Montana based email
listserve to promote agriculture events of interest for Armed to Farm alumni to
attend. 25% of the Armed to Farm alumni in Montana have joined the national
Armed to Farm Facebook group and participate regularly. Our partner Vilivus Training Institute's efforts to recruit a
veteran apprentice on their organic grain farm, did not materialize. Vilicus
Training Institute, instead, provided mentoring and guidance on organic certification,
USDA program participation, and cover cropping strategies to 10 veteran
farmers.
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Award Amount: $231,679
Institution: National Center for Appropriate Technology
Project Director: Margo Hale (margoh@ncat.org)
Funding Opportunity: 2016 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Summary
The
National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) partnered with Sterling
College, Farmer...
The
National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) partnered with Sterling
College, Farmer Veteran Coalition of Vermont (FVC) and United Farmer Veterans
of Maine, University of New Hampshire (UNH) Cooperative Extension, Maine
Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and New Entry Sustainable
Farming Project in Massachusetts to educate and support military veterans in
the Northeast U.S. who are beginning farmers. Our project, Building Farm Foundations and Planning for Success: Beginning Farmer
Training for Military Veterans in the Northeast U.S., has served hundreds of beginning farmers who are military veterans in Vermont, New
Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and other Northeastern states. In the first year of the project we provided training to more than 250 military veteran beginning farmers in each year of our project. These trainings consisted of one-day workshops on various production topics in locations
throughout the Northeast, and an intensive training through the
week-long Armed to Farm program, NCAT’s sustainable agriculture training for
military veterans. The project supported veterans chosen to participate in Sterling College’s six-week Summer
Agriculture Program and Farmstead workshops and provided registrations to MOFGA’s beginning farmer
trainings. The project also offered farm business planning assistance to
military veterans through workshops and one-on-one technical assistance. We worked to build and strengthen the network of
military veteran beginning farmers through outreach and supporting existing
networks.
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Award Amount: $748,755
Institution: Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP)
Project Director: Molly Nicholie (molly@asapconnections.org)
Funding Opp |