A third of the United States’ 3.4 million farmers are over the age of 65, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Ag Census data. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture funds the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) to foster a new generation of beginning farmers and ranchers by providing grants to organizations for education, mentoring and technical assistance initiatives.
According to a study by the Center for Farm Financial Management (CFFM) at the University of Minnesota, between 2016 and 2021, NIFA awarded 261 standard BFRDP grants. Awardees reached 78,889 participants. Overall, BFRDP programming helped 4,398 participants start farming/ranching, prepared 22,072 participants to start farming/ranching, and improved the farming/ranching success of 19,840 participants. Since 2014, CFFM has served as the BFRDP Clearinghouse.
BFRDP participants said the program helped improve their profits and financial outcomes, expanded their use of government programs, allowed them to diversify and enter new markets, and access land and secure land tenure. In addition, the program increased number of farmers and ranchers and farms and ranches.
“This report is an investment in the training of individuals and aspiring farmers to start farming as well as improve farm sustainability for generations to come,” said USDA NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program National Program Leader Denis Ebodaghe.
Improved Profits and Financial Outcomes
Beginning farmers and ranchers experienced increased income, revenue or profits or an overall improvement in their financial situation due to their participation. Some ways in which this was achieved were by converting hobby farms to profitable operations, diversification, better business planning, and creating value-added products.
Of the 398 farmers and ranchers who responded to the survey question regarding whether farm and ranch profits increased because of participating in the program, 89% said their participation contributed to increasing their farm or ranch profitability. In addition, 17% of 253 farmers and ranchers said their profits increased by more than 50%.
For example, Growing Tomorrow’s Farmers: Beginning Farmer Training and Farmland Access for Socially Disadvantaged Populations offered training, technical assistance and mentorship to low-resource beginning farmers and ranchers in Western New York. Farmers and ranchers gained land access through incubator, community and demonstration-plots.
Forty-two participants were reported to have increased farm sales, and 35 earned incomes from community plots. In 2021, Providence Farm Collective, the organization leading the project, purchased $18,000 of produce from participants, which was sold through various market channels. Yields in 2021 were 403% greater than in 2020, and sales also increased by 473%. In 2022, sales increased by 242% from $29,306 in 2021 to $70,855 in 2022.
Increasing Independence and Income for Asian Refugee Farmers in North Carolina is a farm incubator for refugee farmers. Produce is sold through various market channels like farmers markets, an online marketplace and wholesale. Total farm income trended upward from $90,122 in 2016 to $187,136 in 2020.
Expanded Use of Government Programs
Beginning farmers and ranchers are often unaware of USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA), and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) grants, loans, and cost-share programs or they face difficulties in accessing them. To address this, BFRDP projects help their participants understand their options, connect them to local agents and offices, and help them navigate the application process.
A Beginning Farmer Program for Socially Disadvantaged and Limited Resource Producers in Arkansas conducted on-site visits to recommend conservation practices for participants interested in the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) program and offered support in developing farm business plans for USDA loan applications. They reported four participants received $450,000 in EQIP funding and five received $500,000 in USDA loans. They also assisted four ranchers in successfully applying for FSA’s Livestock Forage Disaster Program. The project team at New Roots for Refugees also reported that four of their participants received EQIP funds to build high tunnels on their farms.
The team at Facilitating Success for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers in Washington’s Remote Island Communities, in collaboration with their regional USDA Rural Development office, offered a workshop on USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant. One attendee, an immigrant from Botswana who farms on Whidbey Island, worked with the project team to successfully apply for this $49,000 grant. She used grant funds as working capital to expand her operation, produce value-added kale and beet chips, and to join Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
Diversified and Entered New Markets
A persistent challenge for beginning farmers and ranchers is limited access to secure market channels and new market opportunities. This is especially problematic for small-scale beginning farmers and ranchers who struggle to reach profitable markets capable of handling small volumes. BFRDP projects address this by helping participants foster relationships with buyers, develop marketing skills, identify new market opportunities and establish connections with existing markets.
BFRDP participants accessed various markets, including online marketplaces, schools, nonprofits, wholesalers, direct-to-consumer platforms, farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSAs), grocery stores and produce auctions.
Participants of RU Ready to Farm: Getting Rooted in the Garden State gained access to a one-acre plot and markets for selling produce. The project team reported their participants accessed two markets: a CSA and local food banks. Participants bundled their harvests into CSA-style bagged produce shares in the summer and actively marketed this to customers. Over 10 weeks, they served 46 customers about 6,715 pounds of produce with an estimated total value of $15,730. After the CSA ended, they donated about 1,000 pounds of produce to local food banks.
The project Enhancing Success for Beginning, Socially Disadvantaged Farmers through Customized Resources, Hands-On Training, and Comprehensive Supports offered a training program to beginning farmers and ranchers at their incubator farm, the Big River Farms in St. Croix, Minnesota, and provided access to built-in markets.
In 2019, their 18-week CSA had 147 members, generating $78,148 in gross income. Beginning farmers and ranchers also sold aggregated produce at four farmers markets, resulting in a $6,732 gross income. Sales to local food hubs brought in $3,670 gross income for participants. A new direct-to-consumer market opportunity was developed, offering discount wholesale groceries to state-wide communities.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities arose to sell produce through the food hub, and the CSA program grew to 240 members. Three incubator teams started their own CSAs, and additional funding enabled the food hub to purchase produce worth $68,000 (23,000 pounds) from project participants to distribute to local food shelves.
Accessed Land and Secured Land Tenure
Accessing and securing farmland and improving land tenure pose significant challenges for beginning farmers and ranchers in establishing their operations. Many BFRDP projects address this obstacle by equipping them with the skills to locate farmland, training landowners in land transfer, identifying affordable farmland, developing land transfer strategies, creating land-link and land-match initiatives, assisting beginning farmers and ranchers in negotiations, and coordinating land transfers.
A key objective of Expanding Integrated Solutions to Achieve Farmland Access for New Farmers is to prepare beginning farmers and ranchers to seek land and assist them in obtaining improved leases or purchasing land. In the first year of the grant, they reported that 900 individuals learned about farmland access resources, 149 received individualized support, 56 signed leases and three purchased farmland. The project report included this notable story about improving land security for 13 farmers in McFarland, Wisconsin.
Similarly, Accelerating Farmland Access in Vermont offers technical assistance covering land assessment, access, transfer and financing. They reported assisting 40 retiring farmers in transferring their land to new owners and helping 62 beginning farmers and ranchers acquire land.
Access to Land for New England’s Beginning Farmers: Phase 3 aims to enable New England beginning farmers and ranchers to access land to start or expand their farm businesses. They reported that 213 beginning farmers and ranchers accessed farmland and improved tenure security, and 48 transitioning farms completed transfer or succession plans.
Increased Number of Farmers and Ranchers and Farms and Ranches
Projects funded by BFRDP are ensuring there will be a “new generation” of beginning farmers and ranchers – regardless of age or production choice, which is essential to the continuation of agricultural production in the United States.
This includes those helped by Ensuring Beginning Farmers’ Long-Term Commercial Success. Over the course of the three-year grant period, the grantee reached more than 5,500 participants by offering programming for first year and intermediate-level farmers. The project involved specialized training, mentorship, access to markets and needs-based participant support stipends. As a result of this project, 127 participants started farming, 900 were helped in preparing to start farming, and 4,637 participants improved their farming success.
Arcadia’s Veteran Farmer Program reported that of their 101 participants, 42 started farming, 84 were prepared to start farming, and 42 improved their farming success. The project’s stated goal is to launch veterans into new careers in agriculture and increase the likelihood of their success.
The full report can be accessed at https://z.umn.edu/BFRDP-Eval.