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Because farming is so central to our nation’s identity—and its idea of itself—this future can feel fraught. In 2012, the USDA forecast that most (70 percent) familyfarms would transfer hands over the next 20 years. Will familyfarms as we know and love them survive, and how do the ones that are thriving now do it?
American Farmland Trust (AFT) is raising money to support farmers and ranchers affected by recent federal funding losses or delays.The goal is to provide 200 farmers a grant each up to US$10,000. Now in its fifth year, the Brighter Future Fund has helped more than 400 farmers across the United States and over 50,000 acres of farmland.
The American familyfarm is the cornerstone of our nation—but is its existence in jeopardy? As the land of the free and home of the brave, the American familyfarm has been a foundational part of this nation and the meaning of independence. According to the 2022 ag census, familyfarms still dominate U.S.
As a participant in the BIOS program run by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Russ collaborated with fellow orchard farmers to share best practices for ecological farming, furthering his commitment to environmental stewardship. Jaclyns dedication extends beyond the markets through her leadership in the Apple Core Project Inc.,
House and Senate proposes innovative solutions to the farmland access crisis Contact: Evan Flom, Campaign Communications Manager National Young Farmers Coalition press@youngfarmers.org , 518-643-3564 x 742 Washington, D.C. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. 1237) was introduced in the U.S.
Photo credit: Sanctuary Farms This month, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced more than $300 million in awards to 50 projects focused on increasing underserved farmers and ranchers’ access to land, markets, and capital.
Outside of Charleston, South Carolina, in the picturesque marshes of the Kiawah River, sits more than 100 acres of working farmland. But unlike neighboring farms that focus on production for faraway markets or keep a single family afloat, the farm at Kiawah River is supporting 185 families who live in the surrounding homes.
Instead, the Wall Street Farm Bill directed most of the subsidies to incentivize overproduction of a handful of key commodities, particularly corn and soy. Under the New Deal Farm Bill, a farmer faced with low corn prices could switch to another crop or even idle a portion of farmland in exchange for financial support.
My Land Advocacy Fellowship with the National Young Farmer Coalition empowered me to share my experience of growing up on the familyfarm with my senators and representatives offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The LASO Act would expand on the promise of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of seeds that get sown in the fall, and without rain, they’re not going to germinate,” said Amy Hepworth, owner of Hepworth Farms, a seventh-generation familyfarm located just off the Hudson River in New York state. But the impacts of climate change are making their jobs harder.
It’s even worse when the owners of large-scale farms don’t live in or meaningfully contribute to the community. Recognizing the value of farmland and the fact that, as a popular phrase goes, “they’re not making any more land,” investors are buying up agricultural acreage. Brooks grew up on a small familyfarm in rural Tennessee.
The proposed $100 million of annual funding over ten years will complement the Department’s existing farm production and conservation programs, and be available to a wide variety of entities, such as tribes, municipalities, non-profits, and cooperatives. “The USDA recently announced 50 awardees of the program.
However, achieving this goal has become increasingly difficult in today’s competitive market. farmland that is rented or leased. At the same time, the number of farms and farmland in the U.S. lost nearly 142,000 farms from 2017 to 2022. lost nearly 142,000 farms from 2017 to 2022. has been in decline.
In the months before Patrick Brown was born in November 1982, his father, Arthur, lay down on a road near the familysfarm to prevent a caravan of yellow dump trucks from depositing toxic soil in his community. Patrick currently operates Brown FamilyFarms on the land that Byron worked as a sharecropper once he was freed.
Niman Ranch offers a guaranteed market for its farmers’ and ranchers’ products in exchange for a high standard of practices. Steven says that this gave the Imhoffs the opportunity to invest in quality equipment that make other aspects of day-to-day farm life easier.
Community Farmers Markets (CFM) Serving as an umbrella organization, CFM was established to meet the demand for more efficiently managed, community-based and sustainable farmers’ markets in Atlanta. CFM reports that in 2023, they served more than 65,000 in-person shoppers and over 160 vendors at weekly markets.
One of the main bottlenecks for the farm bill has been disagreements over crop insurance —and how much funding should be allocated toward it. Opponents of increased crop insurance have long maintained that it drains taxpayers while benefiting large corporations and leaving more diversified familyfarm operations with nothing.
According to the recently released 2022 Census of Agriculture , the largest four percent of US farms (2,000 or more acres) control 61 percent of all farmland. Similarly, in 2015 , 51 percent of the value of US farm production came from farms with at least $1 million in sales, compared to 31 percent in 1991.
The 2022 Census of Agriculture reported that the number of American farms fell below two million for the first time in almost a century. Kids are leaving the familyfarm to pursue careers outside of agriculture, and they’re not coming back. When am I going to start running the farm?” Is agricultural policy to blame?
The hearing covered various topics, including the lack of data on farmland tenure, foreign ownership of farmland, and rising land values driven by non-farming buyers. The Issue of corporate ownership of farmland and farm consolidation is very, very important. The Farmland for Farmers Act (S.
“Of 400 farms in our county, only five are organic,” says Matt Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Organics in Hutchinson, Minnesota. His 2,500-acre familyfarm is patchwork across 40 miles of land the family owns and leases, and grows organic corn, soy, wheat and specialty crops such as beans and peas.
There’s been a slight reduction in both sales volume and value growth within the ag real estate market. That trend has continued into the first half of 2023 with fewer properties being offered for sale and market values that, while still strong, are dramatically off the pace seen in the first half of 2022.
It was founded in 2013 in the Champaign-Urbana area by a group of researchers, students and farmers that were interested in exploring how perennial agriculture and agroforestry could benefit Midwestern farmlands. The organization focuses on Illinois and Wisconsin but also does support work in Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana.
Brooks Lamb is a writer, and the land protection and access specialist at American Farmland Trust. He grew up on a small farm in Marshall County, Tennessee, and lives in Memphis now. I should mention that our farm was, and still is, a familyfarm in the strongest sense. A childhood photo from the familyfarm.
Farm Hounds Familyfarms often struggle to stay profitable as agriculture becomes more concentrated. There were 141,733 fewer farms in the US in 2022 than in 2017, according to the Census of Agriculture. Farm Hounds jerky. Is there a way to make healthier dog food that won’t burden the planet so much?
A daytime sleep schedule can curb quality time spent with loved ones, as well as limit when wares can be sold or traded in local markets. Its also impacting their ability to support themselves and their families through a generations-old trade. But what the family is already doing is waking up at 5 a.m. Im very proud of that.
Prime farmland, it attracted countless farmers, including the Black farmers seeking to fulfill the promise of “40 acres and a mule” that followed the American Civil War. But Black farm ownership has dropped dramatically over the years, with just 1,500 estimated to remain in Arkansas today. There’s not many on the market.”
Funding through the Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities Act will provide critical resources to both individual producers as well as community-led organizations to implement farmland access, retention, and transition projects.
Creating a Farmer Seed Liaison position in the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), whose responsibilities include strengthening competition and choice in the seed marketplace (Sec. Provides $5 million in mandatory funding for Organic Production and Market Data Initiatives, to remain available until expended (Sec.
Agronomy, Crop, and Soil Science Societies (ASA, CSSA, SSSA) AgTexas Farm Credit Alabama Ag Credit Alabama Farm Credit Altamaha Riverkeeper Amcot American Beekeeping Federation American Biogas Council American Bird Conservancy American Chestnut Land Trust American Farm Bureau Federation American Farmland Trust American Pulse Association American Rivers (..)
As it reads now, the bill fails to prioritize equitable farmland access, divests from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and strikes climate provisions that would assist farmers in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for extreme weather events. The Farmland Access Act (S.2507)
CalCAN is one of hundreds of sustainable, organic, and familyfarming organizations across the country that is engaged in farm bill advocacy this year. Sponsors: Representatives Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), and Chellie Pingree (ME-01) See here for more information. agriculture by the year 2040.
As westward expansion swept across the region in the late 1800s, settlers began draining the 40-foot deep lake for farmland. Despite the resilience of family [farms], the mega-trend is undeniable,” says Raudabaugh. These state incentive programs all help to keep familyfarms in business while advancing innovations. “It
In October 2020, the Bear Yuba Land Trust, Sierra Harvest, BriarPatch Food Co-op and Tahoe Food Hub bought the land through a partnership called Forever Farm. True to the Humboldt spirit, her scrappiness and tireless creative troubleshooting has allowed her to chase down funding for the furtherest flung corner of California.
I lived around farmland and was surrounded by farmers,” says Tim. “I I was really in tune with the movement of the seasons and the farm cycle—and I enjoyed that.” The dugouts remained low throughout most of the summer, not only on their familyfarm, but on the majority of farms in southern and central Alberta.
It changes what your vision of a familyfarm is and how you have to go about getting there.” Between 1935 and 2023, the number of farms in the U.S. decreased by 72 percent, while the average farm size nearly tripled. Independent familyfarms are the bedrock of healthy rural economies,” says Treakle.
Our Farm-to-Market program continues to grow and assist farmers to gain access to local markets. We are excited to see the newly released bill AB 1009 which aims to create a Farm to School Food Hub program, and expect to work with partner organizations on this bill.
40 Acres & A Mule Project , United States 40 Acres & A Mule seeks to acquire Black-owned farmland to be used to celebrate and preserve the history, food, and stories of Black culture in food and farming. promoting environmentally sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on their land.
The USDA spent the most money—6 percent of its total purchases, or $270 million—on food from Cargill, which is the country’s largest private company and has long been accused of creating unfair markets for farmers and perpetuating deforestation in South America. What Role Does Farmland Play? Read More: Dust is a Growing Problem.
The Coalition worked with partners and Senators to introduce bi-partisan legislation to direct FSA to establish a pre-approval and pre-qualification pilot program for Direct Farmland Ownership loans this Fall, the Farm Ownership Improvement Act (S. The approach to addressing speculative ownership of farmland misses the mark.
Larry Banowetz has raised pigs on his familyfarm in eastern Iowa for 45 years. On the commercial market, you just kept losing outlets to sell your pigs, says Larry. In 2018, Caleb took over the familys hog farming work, becoming a fifth-generation Banowetz farmer as a junior in high school.
Despite the beauty of the surrounding farmland, food was often scarce. For more than 30 years, the Thompsons had farmed on 20 acres, growing tomatoes, green beans, and squash—basic crops meant to provide food for themselves and the local community. Food insecurity is a complex, deeply rooted issue that requires a holistic approach.
Agriculture was the first industry mentioned, and the ways in which consolidation was driving the loss of small familyfarms became one of Vilsacks most-cited talking points throughout the administration. A fifth rule related to creating fairer cattle markets is still in its early stages. Under his tenure, the U.S.
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