BFRDP Projects

Battleground to Breaking Ground Expansion Project
[Progress Report]

Award Amount: $750,000
Grant Program: 2021 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Project Director: Erin Kimbrough
Email: erin.kimbrough@ag.tamu.edu
Organization: Texas A&M Agrilife Extension

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  • Overview
  • Results
  • Materials
  • Delivery Area
  • Comments

Project Overview

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.

Number of Participants: 808

Results

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