What's the Hold Up with the Farm Bill?
For those hoping to see some advancement on the US Farm Bill, this summer has so far been a disappointment. With less than two months remaining before the expiration of the current bill, the process to create the Farm Bill of 2012 continues to be a victim of election year politics. Here is a quick […]
Oklahoma Farmers Appeal to Congressman Lucas for Support
Recently, a group of Oklahoma’s finest young farmers met with Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK) to discuss the US Farm Bill and the needs of Oklahoma’s next generation of food producers. The meeting was organized by Samantha Joelle Honey Lamb, a greenhorn farmer of 3 years in Hobart, Oklahoma. The proprietor of Early Bird Acres, she […]
For the Native and the New
It was less than 90 years ago when the perfect storm of environmental destruction culminated from the combination of poor farming practices and brutal drought conditions. The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s is the reminder of what consequences result from the work of over-ambitious, newly settled farmers. In return for neglecting the delicate balance of […]
North Carolina is Building its Local Food Economy by Supporting Beginning Farmers
In North Carolina, there is no shortage of support for local food but there is a real need for young farmers able to produce it. In 2007, North Carolina’s Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) was struck by how much food the state imports from far away places. CEFS, which provides agricultural research and education […]
Farm Bill Clears the Senate – Your Input is Needed!
Last week, the Senate voted to pass the Farm Bill by a 64-35 margin. I was footsteps away in the Congressional Visitors Center talking to other students my age about the gravity of that moment. For a bill that authorizes nearly a trillion dollars in funding (much of which impacts the 45 million who receive […]
Pioneering Latino Farmer Training in Louisiana
When Kathia Duran, now the Executive Director of the Latino Farmers Cooperative of Louisiana, began selling her cheeses at farmers’ markets in the New Orleans area, she was one of only three Latino vendors. Although many of her fellow Latinos were also agriculturalists in the region, they did not have opportunities to access the direct […]
A Holistic Management Approach Improves the quality of life for beginning women farmers
Imagine a farmer-training program that not only boosts beginning farmers’ sustainable cropping skills and enhances their profits, but also teaches leadership and communication skills, and strengthens family decision-making. This whole farm approach is how Holistic Management International, an Albuquerque-based international non-profit, seeks to improve the quality of life and land for beginning women farmers. HMI, […]
Thanks to farm bill funding, The Land Stewardship Project is helping farmers grow farmers
This is a new series of blog posts to highlight the amazing programs funded by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. This grant program is slated for a 50% cut in the 2012 Farm Bill. The Land Stewardship Project has successfully trained young farmers for the past 15 years with its farmer-led, community-based sustainable agriculture […]
Take Action! Funding for Beginning Farmer training at risk in Farm Bill
As you’re reading this, Senate staffers are putting pen to page and writing the Farm Bill. Working round the clock, they’re piecing together the legislation that will determine the fate of critical farm programs for the next five years. And, from what we’re hearing, the Senate’s draft doesn’t look good for young and beginning farmers: […]
Announcing a New Resource for Beginning Farmers: Start2Farm
In February the USDA unveiled Start2Farm.gov, its latest resource for beginning farmers. The program, which acts as a clearinghouse database of training and assistance programs, is funded through a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) grant by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The resources that Start2Farm provides are broken down […]