USDA Awards Aim To Assist New Farmers, Ranchers

The old saying goes that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For some, the journey may begin with a single shovelful, as they launch their careers as a new farmer or rancher. These are the folks that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking to assist when making awards recently under two agency programs.

USDA this week awarded more than $46 million to various recipients for projects supporting veteran, underserved and beginning farmers and ranchers to help aspiring producers enter the business and improve their skills and knowledge to sustain their operations.

“Starting or taking over a farm takes courage, and USDA wants to make sure our next generation of farmers have the resources and support they deserve to take that leap,” said Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small. These awards provide these farmers “with technical assistance and mentoring to build successful operations. These partnerships with local experts help ensure all farmers and ranchers have fair access to USDA's programs and market opportunities.”

USDA statistics show that the average age of all U.S. farm producers is 58.1 years old, up 0.6 years from 2017, and more than one-third are 65 or older. This continues a long-term trend of aging in the U.S. producer population. USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) and its 2501 Program aim to help encourage a new generation of farmers and renchers.

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) is administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which awarded 46 projects funded at $23.7 million, including:

• Nirvana Tea, Inc., in Detroit, Mich., which will provide underserved beginning farmers with education, financial literacy, technical assistance and mentoring with a special focus on hydroponic farming, a sustainable, year-round farming system.
• Augusta Locally Grown, Inc. in Augusta, Ga., which will provide individual farm plots, mentorship, climate-smart agricultural training, business plan development, and more to help beginning farmers improve and sustain farming operations.

The 2501 Program is administered by the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE). It awarded $22.6 million to 31 grantees including:

• Tanka Fund in South Dakota, which will provide technical assistance to Native American and Native veteran buffalo producers on marketing, food distribution, and value-added product development for local and regional food supply markets.
• Florida International University Board of Trustees, which will teach veterans and youth from underserved neighborhoods in Broward and Miami-Dade counties about climate-smart and sustainable farming, incubator farms, local food system production and financial management.

Hopefully this program, like the crops they produce, will continue to thrive and grow thanks to these grants.

Join us for our following Thompson Grants event:
Federal Grants Forum: Navigating the 2024 Uniform Guidance Changes | Oct. 29-30, 2024 | Virtual Event
Thompson Grants Workshop: Subrecipient Monitoring |Nov. 13, 2024 | Virtual Event