By: Sara Riegler and Annie Sholar
In this edition of the NOFA/Mass Policy & Advocacy Newsletter, we take a look at how the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) supports new farmers in an industry increasingly dominated by large-scale industrial operations.
The average age of farmers in the US is just over 58 years old, and has been rising consistently year after year. The reasons for that increase are complex and interconnected, but a major factor is how difficult it can be for new farmers to enter the industry and build a successful farm.
Land access – which includes both being able to afford productive agricultural land, and qualifying for enough credit to make the up-front capital investments needed for a new farm – is a major challenge for new farmers.
This is especially true for farmers who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color, who were historically blocked from accessing USDA financial support. (This history of USDA’s racist lending practices is long and ongoing; the Center for Public Integrity has a good summary of past court cases and current-day political fights about the issue).
But even for new farmers who do manage to lease or buy land to start their farms, the challenges to running a successful farm can be daunting.
There’s the ongoing, years-long process of learning how to work with a farm’s soil, which can be highly variable even on the same property. There’s also all of the hard work of getting a business off the ground: building a market, managing staff, and complying with complex food safety regulations.
For the past 15 years, the Farm Bill has included funding in an attempt to address these challenges through the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program (BFRDP).
In addition to a land link program, connecting retiring farmers and beginning farmers, the Farm Bill also includes provisions for connecting new farmers with educational resources on financial literacy, marketing strategies, production methods, food & farm safety, and more topics helpful to farmers just entering the business. Unfortunately, in the 2014 Farm Bill, a requirement that 25% of the yearly funds in the BFRDP go to support socially disadvantaged farmers, which would include BIPOC farmers, was reduced to just 5%.
NOFA/Mass is proud to be partnering with the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) to support beginning farmers in Massachusetts with funding from the BFRDP.
We’re bringing expanded Soil Health, Farm Finance, Grant Writing, and Technical Assistance to beginning farmers. Our shared focus with PPLT is on supporting BIPOC beginning farmers in their work building food sovereignty and sustainable livelihoods for all.
We’re especially excited to announce our Beginning Farmer Soil Health Training Series, starting in May! This series is designed to equip new farmers with the tools and foundational understanding to build strong collaborations with soil, the foundation of all life.
Through a series of 3 on-farm workshops and supplemental webinars, we’ll be exploring the world of soil health, uncovering foundational principles to rich productive soil and highlighting the various ways to tend the physical, chemical, and biological properties of our growing spaces.
The three-part series will run concurrently at two different farms in Massachusetts – Woven Roots Farm in Tyringham, MA and Farming is Life in Winchendon, MA.
Participants can choose which series to participate in based on their geographic location. While attending all three workshops in the series will make for a rich educational experience, it is not a requirement; participants are welcome to attend one, two, or all three workshops throughout the season.
Read more and register for the events here.
For more information about resources for Beginning Farmers, please see the Beginning Farmer Resources page of the NOFA/Mass website.
