USDA restores funding through Farm Bill for its ‘Beginning Farmers’ effort

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WASHINGTON – United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the availability
of $19 million in funding for beginning farmer training grants through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher
Development Program (BFRDP).
This highly successful initiative, administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture,
provides competitively awarded grants to academic institutions, state extension services, producer
groups, and community organizations to support and train new producers across the country.
"BFRDP is the only federal program exclusively dedicated to training the next generation of farmers
and ranchers," says Juli Obudzinski, Senior Policy Specialist with the National Sustainable
Agriculture Coalition. "Although the program has only been around for a few years, young farming
communities around the country are already seeing real impacts on the ground."
Since 2009, BFRDP has invested more than $70 million to develop and strengthen innovative new farmer
training programs and resources across the country, and has funded 145 projects in 46 states. BFRDP was
authorized as part of the 2002 Farm Bill, The new 2014 Farm Bill has renewed funding for the program,
providing $100 million over the next five years.
"New farmers that are entering agriculture today have different needs and face new challenges
compared with farmers who started farming decades ago and are now facing retirement." Obudzinski
continues. "Beginning farmers are younger on average, and less likely to farm full-time than more
established farmers. They also tend to operate smaller farms, have more diversified operations, and an
increasing number come from non-farm backgrounds with little access to farmland, which has traditionally
been passed down from generation to generation."
BFRDP addresses the barriers new farmers face – like access to credit and affordable farmland – by
supporting increased technical assistance, innovative farm training and mentoring programs, and
land-linking resources to help ensure the success of the next generation of farmers, a generation that
faces unprecedented challenges when pursuing a career in agriculture.
The program has been stranded without funding since October 2012 when the 2008 Farm Bill expired, and
USDA could not issue an RFA or make any new grants last year.
NSAC is pleased the program retains a strong focus on partnerships with community-based organizations and
a core element of the program’s success over the years. Applications are due June 12, and awards are
likely to be announced later this year.

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