Incubators Aren't Just for Business... Farm Incubator Programs

We've done features on business incubators, and food business incubators, but did you know that there are farm incubators, too?  Various programs have popped up to start new farmers in the business with  (small) grants of funds, land (leased), and consultation and training to help urban farmers get a good start. 

For instance, the city of Cleveland, Ohio has a Gardening for Greenbacks program that gives grants of up to $3000 for those who go through the market garden training program, or have contracts for produce, or a member of a farmer's coop or a community supported agricultural program.  For more information, contact Jennifer Scofield at 216.664.4310.

The nearby Kinsman Farm leases out quarter acre lots to newbie farmers and mentors them and helps them develop business plans.  In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Tilian Center provides quarter acre lots with access to equipment and consultation to help them get their feet wet in farming.

For the closest thing to a national directory of farm incubators, try this searchable website provided by the National Incubator Farm Training Initiative.   

They warn that it's not being updated, but it is as close to a directory as we can find.  You might also try googling the phrase "farm incubators" and the name of your state.  

Money for Farmers in Michigan--and Elsewhere-- to Help Reduce Greenhouse Gases

The Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA has announced grants available to farmers in 21 Michigan counties to plant cover crops and try new "nutrient management practices."  It's an effort to reduce greenhouse gases.The application deadline is April 15, 2013.  Payments will be made after the practices are put into effect, so farmers will still have to provide the funding on the front end. For more information about this and other environmental incentive programs for Michigan farmers, see this page. 

But since the grant is ultimately funded by the federal government, there's money for other states as well.  To find out more about other federally funded programs for farmers working to improve the environment with new farming practices, see this page of programs and their links.  They will include the latest states and nonprofits who have received funding for things like agricultural water enhancement and the wildlife habitat incentive program, and who will create funds for individual farmers.  Farmers need to identify the organizations and states that received federal funds, then ask for their guidelines for application.  Also, the USDA has just opened applications for another round of funding for states and nonprofits; whoever receives these grants will announce grant opportunities to farmers and ranchers in the next year.

Money to Improve the Life of Farm Animals, or Rescued Animals

Two groups of animals have traditionally had a hard row to hoe--animals in need of rescue, and farm animals.  Some funding exists to make the lifes of these animals a bit better.

Animal Welfare Approved is an organization dedicated to improving the lifes of farm and ranch animals and providing certification to farms that provide humane, free-range lives for their animals.  They also provide grants to farms for projects that improve the conditions of the animals; for instance, non-lethal predator control, for better housing and genetic improvements.  In the past, grants of up to $5000 have been made.  Right now, they have already taken applications for the 2012-2013 grant cycle and will not take applications again until 2014.  But you may wish to get on their email list to find out about the next round of funding.

Red Rover is a nonprofit dedicated to saving the lives of animals rescued by individuals.  Often, veterinary care for rescued animals is a real hardship, so they offer money to help with life-threatening medical conditions in these animals.  They also provide grants for the boarding of pets by victims of domestic violence, so that the animals can safely escape, too.  In addition, they have a listing of other national and local grant sources to help pet owners.

See these other postings on financial help for pets.

Another Source of Scholarships in Agriculture

For high school and college students seeking scholarship money to study agriculture, a possible source are the state and county farm bureaus across the United States.  Farm bureaus are nonprofit groups that provide lobbying, public education efforts for the agriculture and ranching industries, as well as benefits for their members, like insurance and banking products and discounts on goods and services. 

If you look at the range of state bureaus (a directory of state programs is available at the American Farm Bureau Federation), you will see a variety of programs, including scholarships.  Some restrict scholarships to the children of members or young people who are active in farm bureau programs, but some do not.  For instance, Ohio's farm bureau has several scholarships, some for the children of members, but others open to all young people studying agriculture.  The North Dakota Farm Bureau has several scholarships for those entering college up through graduate study. 

Besides state bureaus, many county farm bureaus offer small scholarships, too.  These are more likely to be for the children of members, but some are open to all.  You can google the name of your county, or check the state bureau to find a local one near you.

Awesome Teeny Tiny Grants for Growing and Preparing Food

We've written about the Awesome Foundation, which is really a string of giving circles that are springing up locally around the world.  A small group of people give $100 a month into a pool and decide which project they will donate $1000 to, based on an extremely simple application form.  That's it.  They leave the definition of "awesome" loose, so as to caste a wide net.  And since it's not a real foundation in a legal sense, they do not have the legal obligation to perform "due diligence"--for instance, making sure the recipient has 501(c)3 (not for profit) status with the IRS. They can give with a free hand to projects that seem awesome. Of course, they don't get the tax deductibility, but they get flexibility and freedom. 

For the first time, a chapter of the Awesome Foundation has been created not around a locality, but a subject.  The Awesome Food Foundation gives $1000 grants for food-related projects.  This has in the past resulted in a grant to convert a mobile kitchen to one that is powered by solar panels, a project to convert shipping containers into portable farms for refugee camps, and a compost mobile that collects household food scrap to create the material for compost for community gardens. The sky's the limit in imagination--as long as you can work with $1,000.  If you have a food-related awesome idea that $1,000 can significantly push towards reality, you may want to give them a try.

Money for Urban Farmers in Detroit, New York

Now that population losses have given Detroit vacant land equivalent in size to the entire city of Paris, some people are making lemonade out of a lemon situation and turning the vacant land to farmland.   Backyard horticulture in the D was always strong, as befitted a city with lots of relocated peasants and sharecroppers and their descendants, but now it's turned into bigger business.  It's reclaiming at least some of the land, and creating a chance to make healthful food available in a city where many of the supermarkets fled. 

Charter One Bank has announced the availability of some small grants for farmer's markets in the city, and vendors at Eastern Market, the city's biggest market.  The vendors at Eastern Market are eligible to apply for grants of between $500 to $3,000.  In addition, eight to ten grants ranging for $500 to $3,000 are available for urban farmers for equipment, land, or other materials. These are for farmers that complete farm training program at the Greening of Detroit, The Garden Resource Collaborative, Earthworks Urban Farm or the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. 

In New York City, the Farm City Fund makes loans available to urban agriculturalists in the New York metropolitan area.  Loans for new ag businesses, or the expansion of existing ones, range from $5,000 to $30,000.  Only 5 loans will (and probably have been made) in 2012, but the program is expected to grow.

Finding Aid for Refugees

There was a previous posting about the urban legend of the availability of lots of cash for immigrants to America.  While immigrants build their businesses by working hard and investing in business first and consumer stuff after they make the money, there does exist a variety of help for refugees to the United States.
local ethnic self-sufficiency groups

Who are “refugees?”  According to U.S. law, a refugee: “is a person who is outside his or her country of nationality or of last habitual residence and faces in his or her own country “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”  This now includes people victimized by human trafficking.  The programs that help these people are funded by the federal government, but to find where to get assistance, you have to find the state and local organizations who receive grants from the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, who in turn provide services.  Here’s a map of state and local agencies that provide coordination for services like health care, translation, services for elderly refugees, and individual development accounts.  

In addition, there’s a page that outlines various refugee services to be financed by the federal government.  These are meant to be a source of information for nonprofits and local agencies who might want to apply for a grant.  However, if you are an individual in need of assistance, or know someone who is, go to the bottom of each page and see if they have a list of current grant recipients.  These will be local organizations that provide the federally funded service, and these are the people you want to contact.  These include lists of providers of microenterprise assistance (helping refugees find funding and technical assistance for business enterprises), and recipients of Wilson-Fish grant recipients (a federal program that emphasizes more flexible cash assistance and integration into the community), and a new microenterprise home based child care program.  Another program is RAP-P, the Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program, which helps establish refugees with successful farm businesses.  For more possible sources of assistance, see the National Immigrant Farming Initiative to find projects in your region.

Disaster Money, and How to Find It

The terrible tornadoes and storms in the south remind us how fragile life is, and how quickly it (and all our possessions) can be taken away.  Where do you find help?
If a "natural disaster" is declared by the federal government, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is the place to go.  In the case of Alabama, Oklahoma, and North Carolina, web pages have been created to let people know how to get help.  You can follow the links, or remember this number: 1-800-621-3362.  It's the general number to find FEMA disaster assistance.  If you live in another part of the country harmed by a declared disaster, here's a link to all the federally declared disasters for 2011, with links that tell you how to get assistance.  Here, in general, is a step-by-step of what you are eligible for, and how to apply.
Besides help for individuals, the SBA also offers low-interest loans for businesses hurt by disasters.  Likewise, the USDA has disaster assistance programs, and the Internal Revenue Service has a page devoted to tax assistance to disaster victims.  Don't forget to check out your state's page for disaster management--the link is at the bottom of the SBA page.

Looking for Some Sustainable Farmers and Ranchers to Honor

The Sand County Foundation is taking nominations for the 2011 California Leopold Conservation Award.  It's a $10,000 prize to recognize a rancher or farmer in California who "demonstrates outstanding, sustainable management of natural resources."  It's one of the Leopold Conservation Awards, also offered in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming and Wisconsin.  They are made in honor Aldo Leopold, the ecologist who wrote A Sand County Almanac.  See the website for applications for each state.

Money for Beginning Farmers

One of the things that agricultural agencies and interest groups in America are hoping to nuture are new farmers.  With the growing interest in setting up small farms, artisinal farm products, like cheese, and the growing market for organic and herbal crops and heritage meat and milk production, more people are interested in starting their own farms, but have no idea of how to finance them.  Help is out there.

Start out with this great Beginning Farmers website.  It has lots of information on starting farming, urban farming, permaculture, small animal husbandry and more.  And its  funding resources page gets you started on grants and loans.  If you are a regular reader to this blog, you have already guessed that loans make up the vast majority of the financial help listed--because they aren't rip-off artists, and reflect reality.  And if you just want money for general start-up costs, like buying the land and equipment, most of that will probably come from loans.  The Beginning Farmers will show you all that as well.  But even within the confines of reality, there are some outright grants in there.

Another good source is this page from the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center.  It gives some grant contracts, tips on successful grant writing in agriculture, and links to other forms of financing on the left-hand side of the page.

One grant source is value-added producer grants.  These are given to cooperatives, as well as individual farmers and ranchers for: "planning activities and for working capital for marketing value-added agricultural products and for farm-based renewable energy."  "Value added agricultural products" are those that are further processed after harvesting.  Also available are grants for renewable energy systems and energy audits.

Another is the site run by the Sustainable Agriculture and Resource Education program.  These are for research, marketing, and sustainable innovations. 

Don't forget the programs that may be run by the Agriculture Department in your own state.  This is a chart of state programs.