December 1, 2017
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has announced awards to support the next generation of farmers and ranchers through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP).
“According to the 2012 Agriculture Census undertaken by the National Agricultural Statistics Survey, the average age of the American farmer is approximately 59 years old,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program provides the training and resources to attract a wide range of communities – veterans, refugees, socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, women, individuals from underrepresented groups, small farmers, aspiring farm workers, and others – into farming and ranching.”
BFRDP supports projects that deliver education, mentoring, and technical assistance programs to help beginning farmers and ranchers in the U.S. and its territories with entering, establishing, building and managing successful farm and ranch enterprises.
There are 36 grants totaling $17.7 million funded through fiscal year 2017’s BFRDP.
Alabama A&M University, Normal, Alabama, $600,000
Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Ajo, Arizona, $299,237
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, $599,971
University of California, Davis, California, $599,921
California FarmLink, Santa Cruz, California, $599,074
National Hmong American Farmers Inc., Fresno, California, $300,000
First Generation Farmers, Brentwood, California, $200,000
First Nations Development of Agriculture, Longmont, Colorado, $297,506
The Florida International University, Miami, Florida, $600,000
Global Growers Network, Atlanta, Georgia, $598,095
Athens Land Trust, Athens, Georgia, $298,893
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, $600,000
Shawnee RC&D, Simpson, Illinois, $325,113
Practical Farmers of Iowa, Ames, Iowa, $577,965
Kansas Department of Agriculture, Topeka, Kansas, $257,000
Cultivating Community, Portland, Maine, $597,252
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, $600,000
Renewing the Countryside II, Minneapolis, Minnesota, $576,017
Community Food and Agriculture Coalition, Missoula, Montana, $523,355
Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success, Manchester, New Hampshire, $539,275
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, $599,147
Glynwood Center, Cold Spring, New York, $404,650
Orange County Partnership for Young Children, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, $292,645
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, $600,000
Rodale Institute, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, $498,706
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Millheim, Pennsylvania, $391,596
Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation, Charleston, South Carolina, $600,000
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, $567,069
Utah State University, Logan, Utah, $599,615
Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, Montpelier, Vermont, $546,386
Virginia State University, Petersburg, Virginia, $600,000
Arcadia Food, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, $$597,124
Appalachian Sustainable Development, Abingdon, Virginia, $473,915
Seattle Tilth Association, Seattle, Washington, $597,846
Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, Medford, Wisconsin, $596,625
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, $480,051
Details on all of fiscal year 2017 awards can be found on the NIFA website.
These projects provide valuable training, education, and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers either entering into or improving their success in farming, ranching, and management of private forest lands. The knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed decisions for their operations, and enhance their sustainability will be provided by awardees such as Florida International University and Alabama A&M University.
Previous BFRDP awards demonstrate the positive impacts of this program on the success of farmers and ranchers. The University of Arkansas led a team of experts from the University of Missouri, Appalachian State University, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and the Farmer Veteran Coalition to develop targeted mentoring programs nationwide for beginning farmers and ranchers that emphasize business practices and marketing opportunities, such as a “veteran-grown” label program. The “Armed to Farm” program helped 99 veterans prepare to start farming, and 228 veterans improve their farming success. The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship in Wisconsin is the first formal apprenticeship for farming in the nation. It provides training to help transition farm ownership to the next generation of beginning farmers and aims to establish a standard career pathway for beginning dairy producers in support of profitable and sustainable businesses. The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship enrolled 140 approved Master training farms in 10 states with 43 active apprentices, 18 graduates, and 241 candidates for apprenticeship.
NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension that solve societal challenges. NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture.
Source: USDA NIFA
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