2501- Outreach & CyPres Projects
Socially Disadvantaged and Limited Resource Farmers and Ranchers Outreach
The focus of this project is Building Capacity and Resilience of Small and Medium-Sized Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Increase Participation in Federal Programs. In this project Institute serves four types of producers. The Advance and Mature Farmers (40%) who own, operate, or have the foundations to own Sustainable and Viable Farms & Ranches (SVFR); the Intermediate Farmers (20%) who need continued support on a trajectory to build SVFR; the Nascent Farmers (20%) who receive support and have the potential, but are slow to yield desired results for SVFR; and the New and Beginning Farmers (20%) who lack information on accessing USDA programs and technical knowledge of agricultural protocols to build SVFR.
For the past two and half decades, the Institute has used a Comprehensive Hub and Extension Spokes Strategy (CHESS) focusing on two Strategic Objectives to assist these producers in: (1) increasing agricultural productivity and (2) accessing commercial marketing opportunities, thereby increasing local and domestic trade of Specialty Farm Food Products. This strategy has resulted in the implementation of best practices whereby a foundation of producers has been created who have expanded their farming operations and/or transitioned from low productivity, underemployment and unemployment into commercially viable and economically sustainable enterprises7. The implementation of this strategy has been supported through the facilitation in accessing over 20 USDA programs in seven Agencies and Offices to provide the requisite Basket of Services and Resources™.
Socially Disadvantaged and Limited Resource Farmers and Ranchers Outreach
The focus of this project is Building Capacity and Resilience of Small and Medium-Sized Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Increase Participation in Federal Programs. In this project Institute serves four types of producers. The Advance and Mature Farmers (40%) who own, operate, or have the foundations to own Sustainable and Viable Farms & Ranches (SVFR); the Intermediate Farmers (20%) who need continued support on a trajectory to build SVFR; the Nascent Farmers (20%) who receive support and have the potential, but are slow to yield desired results for SVFR; and the New and Beginning Farmers (20%) who lack information on accessing USDA programs and technical knowledge of agricultural protocols to build SVFR.
For the past two and half decades, the Institute has used a Comprehensive Hub and Extension Spokes Strategy (CHESS) focusing on two Strategic Objectives to assist these producers in: (1) increasing agricultural productivity and (2) accessing commercial marketing opportunities, thereby increasing local and domestic trade of Specialty Farm Food Products. This strategy has resulted in the implementation of best practices whereby a foundation of producers has been created who have expanded their farming operations and/or transitioned from low productivity, underemployment and unemployment into commercially viable and economically sustainable enterprises7. The implementation of this strategy has been supported through the facilitation in accessing over 20 USDA programs in seven Agencies and Offices to provide the requisite Basket of Services and Resources™.
