ACTION ALERT:
Beginning Farmer & Rancher Sign-on Letter to
the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee
Please review the letter below. If your organization would like to sign-on, please e-mail Adam Warthesen at the Land Stewardship Project. For more information, call 612-722-6377.
October 19, 2007
Dear Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee:
There are good opportunities in farming today – growth in organics, local and regional markets, grass-fed and sustainably-raised livestock, and in energy crops, to name a few. It’s hard work, but there is opportunity in agriculture.
Because of this, there is real opportunity for beginning farmers and ranchers. We see this in our communities – new farmers getting started as well as real and sustained interest in training, education and mentoring of beginning farmers and ranchers.
We respectfully urge you to provide $15 million per year in mandatory funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, and to authorize and provide $5 million per year to fund the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account Pilot Program to help the next generation enter American agriculture, and succeed. This should be a top priority for the Agriculture Committee as you finalize the bill to be sent to the Senate floor.
There is a critical need to enact public policies to support beginning farmers and ranchers at this time. In 1978, there were 350,000 farmers 34 years of age and younger. In 2002, the Census of Agriculture reports that number fell to fewer than 70,000. With a diminishing number of beginning farmers and ranchers involved in agriculture, coupled with the new opportunities that exist in this sector of our economy, the time is now to invest in the tools and resources that will help and encourage the next generation of family farmers.
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program is good public policy that addresses key obstacles to beginning farmers and ranchers and provides smart, cost-effective start-up support and education for America’s next generation of family farms. It helps deliver the kind of practical training and mentoring, and builds the kind of community support, that is the most effective way to help new farmers and ranchers succeed. In July, USDA’s own Beginning Farmer and Rancher Advisory Committee recommended passage of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, and funding the program at $20 million per year.
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account Pilot Program will support financial training and matched savings accounts to assist those of modest means to establish a pattern of savings and build equity in a new farming operation. Asset-building strategies have proven to be successful public policy, and it is time for agriculture to share in this success.
As you may recall, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program was passed in the 2002 Farm Bill, but never funded. In the 2007 Farm Bill, we need effective action. Not just words, but deeds. You have the right policy language and the support in the countryside. The opportunity is clear, and the time to act is now to provide a real commitment of dollars.
Sincerely,
Coalitions
Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment
Community Food Security Coalition
Federation of Southern Cooperatives
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
National Family Farm Coalition
National Immigrant Farming Initiative
Rural Coalition
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Individual Organizations
Agriculture and Land-Based Training Associations CA
Angelic Organics Learning Center IL
Blue Skys Flower Farm CSA RI
California Farm Link
California Food and Justice Coalition
Center for Economic Security MI
Center for Rural Affairs NE
Central Illinois Farm Beginnings
Clean Up the River Environment MN
Community Food and Agriculture Coalition of Missoula County MT
Connecticut chapter of Northeast Organic Farming Association CT
CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems
Dakota Rural Action SD
Delta Land and Community Inc. AR
Farm Fresh RI
FRESHFARM Markets DC
Good Food for People TN
Growing Healthy Foods, Farms & Families GA
Hmong and Lao Assistance Association Inc. NC
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy MN .
Institute for Social and Economic Development DC
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Iowa Farmers Union
Kansas Farmers Union
Kansas Rural Center
Kirschenmann Family Farms, Inc. ND
Land For Good MD/NH
Land Loss Prevention Project of Durham NC
Land Stewardship Project MN
Liberty Prairie Foundation IL
Madeira Gardens MD
Manic Organic CSA RI
Michael Field Agricultural Institute WI
Michigan Food and Farming Systems
Michigan Land Use Institute
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service WI
Milwaukee Food Council WI
Milwaukee Urban Ag Network WI
Minnesota Catholic Conference
Minnesota Citizens Organized and Acting Together
Minnesota Farmers Union
Minnesota Food Association
Minnesota National Farmers Organization
Minnesota Project
Missouri Rural Crisis Center
Multicultural Farmers Program MI
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative OK
Nashville Urban Harvest
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National Farmers Union
National Grange
National Organic Farming Association – NY
Native Seeds/SEARCH AZ
Navajo Nation Farmers and Ranchers from the Navajo Reservation AZ/NM
New England Small Farm Institute MA
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project MA
New Farmer Development Project NY
Northeast Organic Farming Association – VT
Northern New York Agricultural Development Program
Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society ND
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
Organic Farming Research Foundation
Pennsylvania Farm Link
Practical Farmers of Iowa
Prairie Crossing Beginning Farmer Incubator IL
Root River State Bank MN
Rural Advancement Foundation International
Rural Life Office Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Rural Madison WI
Shorewood Nutritional Advisory and Physical Activity Committee
Slow Food Wisconsin Southeast
South Valley Economic Development Center NM
Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota
Sweetwater Local Foods Market MI
Texas Mexico Border Coalition
The Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota
The Corporation for Economic Opportunity SC
The Kitchen Table Project WI
The Land Connection IL
The New American Sustainable Agriculture Project ME
The Small Planet Institute MA
The Verley Family Farm LLC VA
Urban Agriculture Conference Milwaukee WI
Wisconsin Farmers Union
Vermont Grass Farmers Association
Vermont Land Link
Vermont Land Trust
