This interesting program receives grants through the bloated farm bill. It is nice to know that taxpayers are funding the "immigrant" farmers. and that grants are being awarded based on ethnicity. SEE USDA article below.

No other group of "immigrants" that have come to this country has been so coddled and paid at the expense of the US taxpayer they either made it on their own or failed. The US a country of immigrants but he previous groups have been capable not dependent. US taxpayers of all ethnicities that are struggling to make ends meet are being forced through taxes to pay for the empowerment of people strictly because of their ethnicity. JMO

Immigrant Focused Program Trains Latinos to be Farmers

Published December 02, 2012
Associated Press



  • In this photo taken on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012 in Salinas, Calif., Andres Garcia Rico and his wife, Guillermina Salazar, pose for photographs with their daughters, from left: Stephanie, 7; Cristina, 5; and Andrea, 9, next to the field where Rico and Salazar trained this summer to become organic farmers. (AP Photo/Gosia Wozniacka)



SALINAS, Calif. – Bending over beds of shriveled strawberry plants, former farmworker Domitila Martinez pulls pieces of black plastic row covers in preparation for next season's planting. Except this time, she's the boss.

Martinez, who escaped the civil war in El Salvador three decades ago, used to pack tomatoes and harvest grapes for long hours and little pay in Central California. Then, one day, she heard an announcement on the radio: She could become a grower herself.

She enrolled in a small farmer education program in Salinas that trains farmworkers to establish and manage organic farms. Today, she grows four acres of organic strawberries in the Salinas Valley and sells them to Whole Foods markets.
"I really like being out here working," Martinez said, "because I'm working for myself."

The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, known as ALBA, helps bring minority, low-income farmworkers into a profession long dominated by Anglos. Since the program started in 2001, it has created more than 80 small farm businesses.
With demand for locally grown and organic food skyrocketing, more people have become interested in farming in recent years, spurting a growth in farmer training programs.

But few programs focus on immigrants, especially Latinos, who historically have had difficulty making it as farmers because of language and cultural barriers, lack of resources, and lack of government support.

While the number of Hispanic farmers grew by 14 percent over the past five years, according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, significantly outpacing the increase in U.S. farm operators overall, Hispanic farmers comprise only 2.5 percent of all farm operators.

A lot of farmworkers are working tirelessly to invest in their children's futures, but ALBA gives them the opportunity to improve their lives within their lifetime.
- Nathan Harkleroad, program manager

ALBA gives farmworkers, most of whom are first generation Latino immigrants, the opportunity to move up the job ladder, teaching them crop planning, production, marketing and distribution skills.

"A lot of farmworkers are working tirelessly to invest in their children's futures, but ALBA gives them the opportunity to improve their lives within their lifetime," said program manager Nathan Harkleroad.

Other programs include Oregon-based nonprofit Adelante Mujeres, which offers a 12 week Spanish-language sustainable farming class, as well as access to land, technical assistance and a farmers market; and the Center For Latino Farmers in Washington state, which conducts workshops, provides resources and other assistance.

At ALBA's 90-acre ranch in the Salinas Valley, an area known as "the Salad Bowl of the World," participants attend bi-weekly classes during six-months of intensive training. They learn about pests and planting, beneficial insects and cover crops. They meet with guest speakers ranging from local farmers to university biologists. They visit irrigation supply stores, compost suppliers, farms and farmers markets.

"The idea is that the participants know how to access things, and that they develop relationships," Harkleroad said.
This year, the program added a three-month apprenticeship during which participants grow and sell crops as a class. Aspiring farmers then present a business plan. They fill out food safety and organic certification paperwork. And while most are farmworkers, a few spots are open to other aspiring farmers — the training is accredited by Hartnell College in Salinas.
ALBA also offers a farm incubator program, allowing newly minted farmers to lease the organization's farmland for up to six years — with access to tractors, equipment, irrigation and other support for a reduced fee.

And it runs a licensed wholesale distribution program called ALBA Organics, helping the new farmers with storage, marketing and distribution. It sells to stores and institutions such as Google, Trader Joe's, University of California at Santa Cruz, and Stanford University housing cooperatives. In fiscal year 2012, ALBA Organics brought in sales of $4.5 million.

For Martinez, who graduated from the program a decade ago, assistance in finding land and the use of equipment proved crucial.

"This program gave me the ability to start farming on my own," said Martinez. "When you're starting out, you have no money for tractors or other things."

The 60-year old Martinez now employs four people during harvest season and others throughout the year — but still does the bulk of the labor herself. She started out by selling her strawberries door to door, but later contracted with Whole Foods stores in the San Francisco Bay area and the central coast.

Farmworkers say ALBA's other benefits include reduced exposure to dangerous chemicals in the fields.

"We learn how to work with nature and how not to hurt the environment and the workers," said Andres Garcia Rico, who works in large scale agriculture and completed the training this fall with his wife. "There are so many people dying of cancer, getting sick because of pesticides."

Small scale farming also offers a break from the repetitive motions that farmworkers perform all day on conventional farms. ALBA farmers grow up to 60 varieties of fresh produce — so their work varies throughout the day.

And organic farming rubs off on the family's dietary habits, Rico said. His three daughters helped plant and harvest the vegetables this summer — and were more than happy to eat them for dinner.

As ALBA farmers promote and sell their organic produce to friends and at area farmers' markets, those benefits expand, Rico said, resulting in more Latinos turning to organics.

Perhaps the biggest benefit at ALBA is the sense of community. On a recent November morning at the sprawling ranch, families tilled and weeded their plots and children rode bicycles on dirt paths. The farmers, ranging from very experienced to those just starting out, greeted each other and exchanged advice.

This winter, about 50 will be farming at the ranch, including 16 new farmers. For most, Harkleroad said, it takes a few years to go into farming full time. Usually, two to three acres can generate a full time living.

In January, Rico and his wife will plant romaine lettuce and cauliflower, followed by an array of other vegetables.
"It's going to be a challenge, but we're doing it for us and for our children," Rico said. "Our dream is to have our own ranch someday."

Read more: Immigrant Focused Program Trains Latinos to be Farmers | Fox News Latino



USDA announces funding for beginning farmer programs

Agriculture.com Staff11/04/2009 @ 2:35pm


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.
"We have been waiting for this moment for some time and are very excited that the USDA is finally able to award grants to programs aimed at helping the next generation of producers get a start on the land," said Aimee Witteman, Executive Director of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. "By providing tools and assistance such as training in business planning and linking new farmers with land, programs funded by the BFRDP promise to help new farmers and ranchers become economically viable land stewards."
Among the 29 2009 BFRDP grant recipients, according to USDA, are:

  • Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), Salinas, California: awarded $515,862 over three years to build upon their outreach programs that provide educational training on organic farm production, marketing, recordkeeping, pest management and whole farm planning for farm workers and aspiring farmers who want to operate their own small farm business.
  • California FarmLink, Sebastopol, California: awarded $525,000 over three years to build on California FarmLinks ten years of experience facilitating farm transitions, providing technical assistance, hosting workshops, financing farm operations, and empowering farmers to build assets through California Farmlinks Individual Development Account program.
  • Land Stewardship Project, Minneapolis, Minnesota: awarded $413,820 over three years for Collaborative Alliance of Farm Beginnings Programs -- Planning and Supporting Farmer to Farmer Education in Sustainable Agriculture to work with partner organizations that are offering Land Stewardship Project trademarked Farm Beginnings program around the country.
  • Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), Spring Valley, Wisconsin: awarded $151,515 over three years for Developing Farm Financial Knowledge of Beginning Organic and Sustainable Farmers to produce a book, workshops, and a two-day mini conference for beginning farmers on farm financial management so they can utilize simple tools and resources to assess their financial situation.
  • 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.

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