Kimberly J. Vallejo, director of marketing and outreach for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets in New York City, said Thursday’s meeting was one of several organized by the department and its commissioner, Richard A. Ball, to help new farmers with several challenges they face. The statewide listening tour builds off Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s State of the State initiative to create a beginning farmer program.
“You guys know the challenges facing new and beginning farmers,” Ms. Vallejo said to an audience of farmers and service providers. “There are a bajillion of them.”
The presentation opened with Ms. Vallejo discussing the state’s beginning farmer program, a “one-stop shop” meant to inform upcoming farmers about the financial and operational assistance available to them.
Ms. Vallejo described the program website which she said offers information and links about funding opportunities such as the Consolidated Funding Application, capital workshops, risk management resources like insurance, technical assistance, marketing initiatives such as Taste NY and the state Grown and Certified program and more.
“We need to ensure we are helping the next generation of farmers succeed,” Ms. Vallejo said.
Presenters from Empire State Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency described some financial programs and services new and prospective farmers could use to help their businesses.
Bonnie Devine from Empire State Development discussed the state New Farmers Grant Fund Program, which can award eligible farmers anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 for projects that cost at least $30,000, including purchasing new machinery and supplies and construction. Lynette Wright, public affairs and community outreach specialist for FSA, described several FSA loans available to farmers including microloans, which she said “were built for beginning farmers,” the direct farm loan program and farm storage facility loans.
“We like to call ourselves America’s lender of first opportunity,” she said.
Laura Cardoso, an agriculture labor specialist with the Department of Labor, described the department’s on-site consultation program, which provides free health and safety inspections at farms and identify potential U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations, and the agriculture labor program, which connects business to workers, provides them with information on labor laws and helps with H-2A and H-2B foreign guest worker programs.
Catherine M. Moore, agricultural program leader of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, discussed the extension’s Small Farms Program, which provides resource guides, workshops, tools for business planning and the Farm Ops program for veterans interested in pursuing careers in agriculture.
“We do a lot with the veterans,” Mrs. Moore said.
The feedback period drew comments of appreciation and criticism of some state programs as well as general discussions about the agricultural industry.
Jay M. Matteson, agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Local Development Corp., said the New Farmers Grant Fund Program proved helpful for farmers he knew, but he added that the process behind receiving state grants takes too long, particularly the process for the Consolidated Funding Application.
“The CFA process is ridiculously slow,” he said.
Gouverneur farmer Jeremy Wood said he felt the state efficiently distributed and marketed materials about the programs for farmers, but called the presentation “a joke.”
Mr. Wood, who owns North Woods Farm with his wife, Brittany M., said he felt that none of the programs would help new or prospective dairy farmers starting with small operations because small farmers have no opportunities to enter the market. The Gouverneur farmer argued that larger dairy operations have prevented smaller farms from entering the market by flooding it with their milk produced by relying on immigrant labor, particularly illegal immigrant labor.
“If we had an opportunity to sell our product, then we would flourish,” he said.
Ms. Vallejo said she will take the feedback from the presentation and share it with the her fellow Department of Agriculture and Markets staff members and other state departments to help guide improvements to their programs and services or to create new options for beginning farmers.
Source: Watertown Daily Times
Link: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news03/staff-from-state-and-federal-departments-host-session-to-help-new-farmers–20170918
