A new program will help give new California farmers and ranchers some hands-on help to get started in the industry.
Hands-on Help for New Producers
The United States Department of Agriculture allocates money for grants through their Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program (BFRDP). American Farmland Trust Executive Director of Programs John Larson says they took advantage of that money and have created a program that will offer more personalized help for people looking at getting into agriculture.
More About BFRDP
Beginning farmer education for adult and young audiences in the United States can be generally traced back to the advent of the 1862 and the 1890 Morrill Land Grant Acts. But for the first time, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub .L. No. 110-234, Section 7410), appropriated $75 million for FY 2009 to FY 2012 to develop and offer education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers. The Agriculture Act of 2014 provided an additional $20 million per year for 2014 through 2018. The reasons for the renewed interest in beginning farmer and rancher programs are: the rising average age of U.S. farmers, the 8% projected decrease in the number of farmers and ranchers between 2008 and 2018, and the growing recognition that new programs are needed to address the needs of the next generation of beginning farmers and ranchers. Find out more and apply for a grant.