Beginning Farmers Make Strides With Support From Federal Programs

As the average age of our nation’s farmers and ranchers continues to rise, ushering in the next generation of American producers has become a national priority. Congress recognized the potential crises this lack of production capacity could cause nearly a decade ago, and responded by creating the first ever federal program aimed exclusively at training the next generation – the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) not only announced the opening of the fiscal year (FY) 2018 application window for BFRDP, they also provided some helpful inspiration for applicants by announcing the awarded FY 2017 projects. In all, BFRDP awarded an $18 million investment in FY 2017 to support 36 new farmer training programs across the country. Most projects awarded this year will run through 2020.

 

 

Farmers entering agriculture today have very different needs from those of their predecessors, and they also face new and complex challenges that would have been unprecedented just a few decades ago. Given the heightened complexity and difficulty of entering and succeeding in agriculture, the interest in training and outreach programs has grown substantially among beginning farmers over the last several years.

 

Many of these projects have been made possible thanks to federal support from programs like BFRDP. In fact, BFRDP remains to this day the only federal program dedicated explicitly to training the next generation of American farmers and ranchers.

 

Since its creation in 2002, BFRDP has invested nearly $145 million in developing and strengthening innovative new farmer training and resource programs across the country. To date, the program has funded 291 projects across the entire country.

 

 

Projects funded in FY 2017 were relatively balanced across regions: the South had the most projects at 31 percent, followed by the West at 28 percent, the Northeast at 22 percent, and 19 percent of projects in the North Central region.

 

Like last year, the majority of this year’s projects will be run by community-based (CBO) and non-profit organizations – including several National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) member organizations. CBOs and non-profits have played a vital role in developing innovative beginning farmer training programs over the past decade, and were the primary drivers behind the program’s initial creation.

 

The 23 non-profit-led projects funded this year represent 64 percent of total awards, down from the high-water mark of the 78 percent funded last year. In recent years, BFRDP has consistently awarded 60 to 75 percent of grants to projects led by CBOs and non-profits, which reflects the statutory intent to prioritize projects led by these valuable partners. Total funding allotted to these groups also fell as compared with last year, from 76 percent to 61 percent. In total, $10.7 million will be invested in these groups to train, educate, and cultivate the next generation of farmers.

 

NSAC has been a consistent advocate urging USDA to prioritize support for non-profit and CBO-led projects, given these organizations’ unique perspectives and unparalleled connections to the farmers and ranchers in their communities.

 

Thirteen projects funded by BFRDP this year will be led by cooperative extension and other academic or government institutions. As in previous years, university-led projects received larger awards on average than non-profit or CBO-led projects. The average university-led project for FY 2017 is $562,147, compared to $466,577 for non-profits and community-based organizations.