Despite the delay and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic the ABFFC was still able to begin addressing many of the goals set forth in our vision. We added to and continued BFRDP-sponsored services for new and beginning forest farmers. Our vision, developed by project partners during a NIFA-sponsored retreat in 2014, remains the same: To support beginning Appalachian 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.
From 2015 to 2021, the Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmer Coalition (ABFFC) trained hundreds of new and beginning farmers on production, processing, and sales, and improved value-added opportunities and elevated forest farming’s national profile in the United States. There are more than 1,300 ABFFC members with over 760 self-identified as new and beginning forest farmers. The ABFFC has provided more than 60 technical training and outreach programs from New York to Tennessee and reached in excess of 9,000 people at conferences, keynotes, special panel sessions, webinars, virtual events, and other invited events. In year one of this project there was a focus on virtual outreach due to COVID-19, which has increased our expected outreach efforts. In year 2 and 3, the project expects to move to a more in-person setting.
For “Seeding and Growing” we: 1) increased membership, stakeholder support, partnerships, and networking; 2) deepened technical assistance in herbal NTFP cultivation, processing, and sales; 3) launched technical assistance in edible NTFP cultivation, processing, and sales; 4) expanded value-added farm verification, post-harvest assistance, and sales connections; 5) improved access to affordable planting stock; 6) increased mentorship between experienced and new and beginning forest farmers; 7) will host a regional or national conference in 2021; and 8) will inform development of the American Forest Farming Council (AFFC). The AFFC is a separately funded project that will cement the ABFFC’s legacy in the form of a professional forest farming association. The Project Director for “Seeded and Growing” is Project Director for the AFFC project and will manage inter-project communication.