USDA announces funding for beginning farmer programs

Officials at USDA announced this week the distribution of $17 million in funding through the 2009 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, according to a USDA release.

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) is a competitive grants program administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (formerly known as the Cooperative State Education and Extension Service CSREES) at the USDA. BFRDP grants are awarded to local, state, and regionally based networks and partnerships to support financial and entrepreneurial training, mentoring and apprenticeships for beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as land link programs that connect retiring with new farmers and innovative farm transfer and transition practices. BFRDP grants have a term of 3 years and cannot exceed $250,000 a year.

The BFRDP was first authorized in the 2002 farm bill, but it never received funding during the annual appropriations process. In the 2008 Farm Bill, BFRDP was reauthorized and now has $75 million in mandatory funding over the next five years. Twenty-five percent of the yearly BFRDP funds are set aside for projects serving limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, including minority, immigrant, and women farmers and ranchers, and farmworkers.


Source: agriculture.com

Publication date: 11/6/2009

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