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Young Farmers at the Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference
Every February, the Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference is held near the beautiful Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The Driftless region of the Midwest, encompassing corners of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, holds rolling hills and fertile farming communities. The conference (formerly known as MOSES) brings together farming communities across differences in acreage and access to…
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The Swamp of Land Ownership
By Alex Ball When I first started farming at 18 with no previous agricultural experience, I jumped right into the food system with both feet, hoping to find either a clear path to economic success, or a hard path that would provide moderate stability and at least a profitable business. Reality quickly set in as…
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Chapter Capacity Grant Feature: Central Illinois Young Farmers Chapter
This is the fourth installment in a blog series featuring the ten recipients of our 2023 Muck Boot Chapter Capacity Grant program. Through this year’s grant program, the chapters received fundraising training and support to help them build long-term financial sustainability. — Young and BIPOC farmers are dealing with the impacts of climate change every…
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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: Website Consultant
Request for Proposals Released: March 18, 2024 Due: April 5, 2024 The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers/the Coalition) is in search of a website consultant to assist in the update and redesign of Young Farmers’ main website (www.youngfarmers.org), and land microsite (www.youngfarmers.org/land) in partnership with the Young Farmers Communications Team. Our websites are some…
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Farmers Need Action on Climate and Land in the Next Farm Bill
By Lotanna Obodozie 2023 was one of the hottest years on record. As spring approaches across the U.S., scientists say 2024 may be even hotter! Young farmers are leaders on the frontlines of this climate crisis and are driving attention to the need for climate action globally as well as in the U.S. Unpredictable weather…
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Reflections on the Equity Commission’s Final Recommendations to USDA
By Michelle Hughes For the past two years, I’ve served as a community-based organizational representative on the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Equity Commission. When I was appointed to the Agriculture Subcommittee by the Secretary of Agriculture in late 2021, I published a blog post about how I planned to use the opportunity to…
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The Results of the USDA Census of Agriculture Are Here!
On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The Census, conducted every five years, is a count of our nation’s farms and ranches and the people who run them, and provides a new outlook on the future…
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Spotlight on young farmers in Iowa
Young farmers in Iowa spent a day advocating for local food systems funding during the Iowa Food System Coalition’s Farm and Food Day on the Hill. The Eastern Iowa Young Farmers Chapter tabled in the rotunda, kicking off the new year with the goal of reigniting their policy and advocacy work for the first time…
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Discrimination Financial Assistance Program Update
The Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) application period closed on Wednesday, January 17, 2024. The DFAP program was open to farmers who have experienced discrimination in USDA lending prior to January 1, 2021. As a USDA cooperator, Young Farmers made hundreds of calls to farmers, hosted social media lives, wrote several blog post articles, and…
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RELEASE: New Census of Agriculture reveals more young and beginning farmers, but less farmland and fewer small farms
Contact: Jessica Manly, Communications Director National Young Farmers Coalition jessica@youngfarmers.org, 518-643-3564 x 722 (Washington, D.C., February 16, 2024) On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The Census, conducted every five years, is a count of our nation’s farms…