OSU Receives $739,432 Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Project Grant from USDA

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small today announced a more than $46 million investment in projects supporting America’s veteran, underserved, and beginning farmers and ranchers to help aspiring producers enter the business and improve their skills and knowledge to sustain their operations for years to come.

“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. “Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing investments to support beginning, underserved, and veteran 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.”

Among the projects being funded by USDA is one proposed by Oklahoma State University, with their new extension specialist for Beginning Farmer and Rancher programs, Dr. Josh Campbell. Campbell will be the project director for the $719,432 project authorized by NIFA.

According to the project grant– “Many agencies serve Oklahoma Beginning Farmers and Ranchers (BFRs), but no systematic and collaborative effort currently exists to develop new BFRs. This project will establish such a program and strengthen Oklahoma agriculture through activites focusing on experiential learning, apprenticeships, and mentorship of underserved BFRs. The primary emphasis will be supporting new specialty crop producers within the scale of $10,000 – $100,000 in sales to become more viable businesses and launching first time indigenous BFRs into sustainable farm businesses. Our program will work with farm apprentices and mentees to address the need to grow more growers and scale farms beyond $100,000 in gross sales. This project was developed through feedback and support from partners including numerous beginning farmers, BIPoC producers, and tribal nations. All project elements were identified based on feedback from a series of meetings held with stakeholders during the planning process.

“This program brings together multiple partners including Oklahoma State University, College of the Muscogee Nation, the OKC Food Hub, and others, to develop resilient farm enterprises to strengthen our rural and urban communities. Three primary objectives include: 1) To aggregate existing resources, develop new educational content to launch new farm or ranch enterprises including content specific to Mvskoke people and other Oklahoma indigenous communities, 2) Supporting and strengthening existing BFRs towards increased operational sustainability with emphasis on business planning for socially disadvantaged BFRs, and 3) Develop the partnerships, peer networks, resources, and program infrastructure to launch new BFRs and to sustainexisting early career BFRs through training camps, apprencticships, and mentorships.”

According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture report from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, the average age of all U.S. farm producers was 58.1, 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 2501 Program provide education, mentoring, and technical assistance to help underserved, veteran, and beginning farmers and ranchers own and operate successful farms. These investments also help provide equitable participation in USDA agricultural programs.

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Grants

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

  • Washington Farmland Trust will recruit and provide 50 beginning producers with personalized technical assistance and connect them with landowners who are ready to transition their farmland to a new operation and ultimately allow beginning producers to establish or expand their farm businesses.
  • Nirvana Tea, Inc., in Detroit, Michigan 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 Georgia will provide individual farm plots, mentorship, climate-smart agricultural training, business plan development, and more to help beginning farmers improve and sustain farming operations.

2501 Program Grants

The 2501 Program is administered by the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE). The program awarded $22.6 million to 31 Fiscal Year 2024 grantees. Among them:

  • Tanka Fund in South Dakota 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.
  • The Florida International University Board of Trustees 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.
  • Wakulima USA in Washington State will provide a support system for immigrant and refugee farmers in South King County including training to help access farmland, improve production skills and facilities, and establish and expand market connections.

More information about the funded projects is available at the USDA 2501 Program website.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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