July 1st, 2024
By Michael Shulman
Applications Open for AFT’s Brighter Future Fund Grants
The National Grant for Historically Underserved Farmers and Ranchers awards grants up to $5,000
(Washington, D.C.) American Farmland Trust has begun accepting applications to help farmers nationwide improve farm viability, access, transfer, or permanently protect farmland or adopt regenerative agricultural practices. The last day to submit applications is July 8.
AFT’s Brighter Future Fund’s National Grant for Historically Underserved Farmers and Ranchers provides grants of up to $5,000 per project. The grant focuses its support on beginning, socially disadvantaged, limited resource, women, and veteran farmers and ranchers to support greater equity and opportunities for all in agriculture. In 2024, the grant program will continue to fund farmers and ranchers nationwide, with additional support available to those affected by the Smokehouse Creek Wildfire in Texas, as well as expanded support in New York and New England.
“We deeply appreciate our many supporters, including corporate, individuals and AFT members, that made it possible for us to help farmers across the nation,” said Ashley Brucker, American Farmland Trust’s Agriculture Conservation Innovation Deputy Director. “These grants don’t just impact the lives of farmers and ranchers throughout the country; their inspiring stories reveal a ripple effect, enriching their families and entire communities.”
The Brighter Future Fund was launched in 2020 to help farmers launch, grow, and sustain farms in the face of forces impacting the food and agricultural system, including the COVID-19 pandemic, changing markets, severe weather, labor shortages, and supply chain disturbances.
The impact of Brighter Future Fund grants extends beyond individual awardees. Grants help drive new solutions for resolving key challenges facing our society by:
- Scaling up the adoption of regenerative farming practices and increasing the resilience of farms to climate change;
- Strengthening local food systems to be more resilient to disruptions caused by global events as well as providing equitable access to healthy food;
- Creating greater equity in opportunities for historically underserved farmers;
- Ensuring the availability of sufficient clean water and habitat for threatened wildlife;
- Improving long-term farm viability and community vitality.
“Domino’s purpose is to feed the power of possible – and we can only do that because of hardworking farmers and ranchers across the country,” said Jenny Fouracre-Petko, Domino’s spokesperson. “We’re grateful to AFT for the opportunity to deliver a difference by supporting Brighter Future Fund grants, empowering the grant recipients to unlock their full potential.”
Since 2020, AFT, with the support of Tillamook and corporate partners like Applegate, Butcher Box, Domino’s, iHeartMedia, Giant Food, major donors, and individual members, has provided approximately $5 million in grants directly to more than 2,000 farmers in 53 states and territories for pandemic relief, increased resilience, land access, and enhanced viability. The impacts of Brighter Future Fund grants go beyond individual awardees. Microgrants help drive new solutions for resolving key challenges facing our society by increasing the resilience of farms to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening local food systems, creating greater equity in opportunities for underserved farmers, ensuring the availability of sufficient clean water, and habitat for threatened wildlife, and improving farm viability and community vitality.
Applications will be reviewed and awarded in the order the applications are received based on eligibility. To learn more about the process and review the application materials, visit https://farmland.org/bff-ufr-applicants/.
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 7.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.