More than $53 Million Invested to Help U.S. Farmers Prosper
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced grant investments of more than $53 million across three unique programs for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and military veterans to support American agriculture.
“Agriculture offers promising career opportunities, particularly in farming and ranching,” said Parag Chitnis, acting NIFA director. “Federal investments in programs that help new farmers get into the business, support military veterans who are considering farming and ranching as a new career, and address serious stress-related mental health issues among farmers, are critical to ensuring our next generation of food producers are able to successfully meet the challenges facing agriculture.”
While there are many excellent opportunities in agriculture, beginning farmers and ranchers have unique needs for education, training, and technical assistance. For those within their first 10 years of operation, it’s vital they have access to capital, land, and knowledge and information to help improve their operations’ profitability and sustainability. USDA-NIFA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) awarded more than $16.7 million in 48 projects to deliver the support new farmers and ranchers need.
Long before the pandemic caused an increase in stress around the world, stress-related mental health was already a rising concern across farm communities coast to coast. USDA-NIFA introduced a competitive grants program, the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN), reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill, which supports projects to provide stress assistance for people in farming, ranching, and other agriculture-related occupations offers a conduit to improving behavioral health awareness, literacy, and more favorable outcomes for them and their families.