October 29th, 2024
By Elizabeth Beggins
APPLICATIONS OPEN TO SUPPORT FARMERS: Funding and Training Opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic
WASHINGTON, DC – American Farmland Trust (AFT), in collaboration with regional and national partners, announces three open applications to support Mid-Atlantic producers by advancing soil health, farm vitality, and peer-to-peer learning. The organization will accept submissions for two new grants for Virginia farmers and ranchers through November 15th and for an Advanced Soil Health Training course through December 9th.
AFT’s Healthy Soils Grant Program is offered in collaboration with the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and modeled after a successful program introduced by the Maryland Department of Agriculture in 2023. Created to boost innovation and impact, fill gaps, and address barriers to implementing soil health-building systems, the program seeks to incentivize the adoption of practices and transformation of systems that go above and beyond current standards, supporting farmers, ideas, and expenses that are ineligible for other programs. Awards up to $30,000 for a single producer or $50,000 for a group of producers will be considered. A recorded Q & A webinar will be available online beginning October 30th.
Additionally, Virginia farmers and ranchers are encouraged to apply for the Farm Vitality Planning Grant. Designed to bolster the long-term vitality of producers’ operations, this grant focuses on funding professional services for those planning the future of a regenerative farm, including business planning, strategic expansion, farm succession, enterprise diversification, financial and labor management, and land acquisition costs, among others. Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to help farmers pursue individualized, substantive business consulting services leading to powerful changes in operations. An informational webinar for this opportunity is scheduled for Tuesday, November 5, 7-8:00 PM ET.
Part of a suite of initiatives under the organization’s Regenerate Virginia program, and associated with AFT’s Brighter Future Fund, these grants are intended to protect the future of farming by providing direct support to farmers and ranchers.
Amanda Cather, AFT’s Mid-Atlantic Senior Program Manager, further explains, “Even with the record amounts of funding available through traditional channels today, farmers tell us that they need to fill gaps with more flexible funding opportunities. The idea is to trust their innovation and creativity, offer accessible application and reporting requirements, and help catalyze business development and systems-level shifts.”
The grants are also designed to encourage farmers to leverage funds for cost-share program readiness. A new no-till drill, for example, might help a farmer engage more fully with tillage reduction and cover crop cost share funds. Applications are open in English and Spanish.
For regional farmers, ranchers, and farm advisors, in partnership with the Black Family Land Trust, AFT is also launching the Mid-Atlantic’s Advanced Soil Health Training (ASHT), a program funded by the USDA through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) program. The training is designed primarily for wheat, corn, soy, cotton and dairy farmers of any scale to deepen their soil health knowledge and give them the tools to bring this knowledge to a wider audience.
Applicants with experience implementing soil health practices, who want to mentor, and are excited to work with AFT in facilitating transitions on regional farms (including their own, if applicable) are encouraged to apply. Four Mid-Atlantic trainings, which start the first week in February 2025 and run through the end of the year, will be held in Virginia, Central Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Eastern Maryland respectively.
“American Farmland Trust and our partners are proud to offer these flexible, accessible funding opportunities created with farmer feedback in mind,” said Cather. “We look forward to helping farmers take the next right steps for their operations and to supporting their regenerative journeys.”
For more information or to register for the upcoming webinars, visit the American Farmland Trust Mid-Atlantic website.
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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 8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.