USDA Provides $24M Investment for Beginning Farmers & Ranchers

USDA Chief Scientist C Jacobs-Young has recently announced $24 million investment in 45 organizations and institutions that teach and train beginning farmers and ranchers.

This investment is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BRDDP), which supports a wide range of professional development activities for new farmers and ranchers, including capital management, land acquisition and management, and learning effective business and farming practices.

According to the most recent Ag Census data from the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, while the percentage of farmers under the age of 35 continues to shrink, those over the age of 35 are continuing to enter the profession. The recently unveiled funds will help in the development of a new generation of producers in the United States.

“Investing in the professional development of our nation’s newest farmers and ranchers will help our food and agriculture sectors to flourish from the ground up. Strengthening and growing our next generation pipeline is important for the continued success of American agriculture and prosperity of rural communities,” Jacobs-Young told the media.

The funds are provided by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP).

The program funds three different types of projects:

Projects ranging from standard to new and established local and regional training, education, outreach, and technical assistance efforts that specifically address the needs of local and regional of beginning farmers and ranchers.

“We recognize that beginning farmers and ranchers have unique needs for education, training and technical assistance. Their success, especially in the first 10 years, often hinges on access to reliable, science-based information and the latest educational resources so they can improve their operations’ profitability and sustainability in long-term. This investment will benefit a rising generation of beginning farmers and ranchers that truly reflect the tapestry of American agriculture and the many diverse communities we serve,” Dionne Toombs, NIFA acting director told the media.

Educational team projects to conduct evaluation, coordination, and enhancement activities for Standard Projects and other non-funded beginning farmer programs in order to develop seamless beginning farmer and rancher education programs.

Curriculum and training clearinghouse projects intended to make curriculum and training materials accessible to beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as organizations that serve them directly.

Examples of BFRDP-funded projects include:

Corporacion Juvenil para el Desarrollo de Comunidades Sostenibles:

Through a strong recruitment program that includes socially disadvantaged farmers/ranchers/veterans in Puerto Rico, this project will increase the number of farmers and ranchers. It will offer business training, entrepreneurship, natural resource management, technical assistance, and services.

Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust:

This project will emphasize outreach and individually tailored educational services, as well as technical support, to help Black Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) beginning farmers understand sound business practices. Improved knowledge in business planning, financial education, and soil health are among the expected outcomes for BIPOC-beginning farmers. This project will build partnerships with underserved New England producers.

Federation of Southern Cooperatives:

This project will work with new and beginning farmers and ranchers in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina to mentor them for regional markets. Greater climate-smart agricultural knowledge and practices, as well as training on land tenure, will result in, stronger farm and forest management, income-earning strategies, estate planning, farm or business plan implementation, the continuity of family farming operations, and the aggregation of small-scale landowners through cooperative development.