Dreamin'

The more organized I become, the more I find that securing a bit of land for myself is not so outlandish. Now that I am following groups like the National Young Farmer's Coalition I may constantly consider how to beat out bureaucratic and/or political hurdles. These are my peers, organizing around food policy, and I need to stick with them. They will help me learn about opportunities like the EQIP Organic Initiative - an USDA program that provides technical/financial assistance to farmers with conservation dreams (deadline June 1). But I am getting ahead of myself. I don't even have land to work with yet.

In a recent article I learned about the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) and Opportunity Act. Here, the US Dept. of Agriculture issues grants for education, training, outreach and mentoring programs for young farmers. The 2008 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act appropriated $75 million for FY 2009-12 toward this end. The application deadline for FY 2012 is November 22! Last year 35% of the applications received were awarded funding.

There are many resources online about submitting strong applications. Now I just need to hone in my vision. http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/electronic.html I'd be willing to do all the prep work even if it meant no grant funding. Everything I will learn in this process will set me up for something good, I know it.