BFRDP Projects

Organic Seed Production for Beginning Farmers: An Internship Program, On-Line Course, and National Co-Learning Community
[Final Report]

Award Amount: $589,424
Grant Program: 2019 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Project Director: Micaela Colley
Email: micaela@seedalliance.org
Organization: Organic Seed Alliance

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  • Overview
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Project Overview

Organic seed production presents a lucrative opportunity for beginning farmers. Currently, the supply of high-quality commercial organic seed lags behind demand, and seed companies cite the lack of skilled seed producers as a primary factor. Beginning farmers are increasingly interested in producing seed as a primary enterprise, element of income diversification, or to ensure specific varieties remain available for on-farm use. High-quality seed production requires specialized skills not commonly available in beginning farmer training programs. The seed production internship program developed in BFRDP #12671 began to meet this need, but participants in that project requested more intensive seed production instruction and assessment, enhanced networking opportunities, and increased internship support to fully prepare them to enter the seed market. This project responded to these requests by 1) creating an online 6 month facilitated seed-production course and applied mentorship program for 140 students and 55 mentors; 2) increasing opportunities for peer- to- peer and in person learning for participants (regionally and nationally) for more than 1600 participants; 3) delivering seed production intensives and networking events in target regions (HI, NY, and NC) to facilitate national program expansion for 130 participants; and 4) providing professional development support for beginning farmer students upon program completion. This project additionally provided business stipends to 33 students ($3,000 each) to support success of their seed business through covid relief funds. This program reached at least 1229 beginning farmers in the four-year project period (including 1 yr extension). Partnering organizations included MESA, Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance, Viva Farms, NOFA NY, Carolina Farm Stewards Association and University of Hawaii, Go-farm Hawaii. 

Number of Participants: 1650

Results

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