Project Overview
Title: Farm Beginnings from Regional to National: Beginning Farmers and Viable Farms Initiative
Project Director, Amy Bacigalupo, Land Stewardship Project (LSP)
Project co-Director, Peg Schaeffer, Angelic Organic Learning Center (AOLC)
Project co-Director, Frank James, Dakota Rural Action (DRA)
The long-term goal of the Farm Beginnings Collaborative (FBC) is to expand the use of farmer-to-farmer training models as a proven approach for increasing the number and viability of farms producing food for local and regional food systems.
To reach this goal we have prioritized the following objectives for the next three years:
? Identify gaps and improve financial planning education for beginning farmers;
? Replicate Farm Beginnings with 3 to 5 new organizations joining the FBC;
? Expand the capacity of Farm Beginnings programs to reach socially disadvantaged farmers; and
? Increase the use of USDA programs by beginning farmers.
As a result of this project we have increased the knowledge of 14 beginning farmer trainers in financial planning education; we helped 5 farmer training organizations adopt curriculum that is equitable and inclusive for diverse audiences (DE&I); provided training that moved 6 organizations from neutral to somewhat skilled with using DE&I curriculum and we published "Farm Beginnings: Improving Financial Skills for Beginning Farmers" and provided training to over 95 beginning farmer trainers. We helped 5 organizations adopt Farm Beginnings tools and curriculum and NOFA Vermont joined the Farm Beginnings Collaborative. The long term impact of this project will be that there are more successful beginning farmers served through expanded and improved farmer-to-farmer training programs that are connected to the Farm Beginnings Collaborative from resources generated through this project.
Number of Participants: 0
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