Farmer's grant from uncle Sam

[piglady]

Just heard about this and thought it might help someone.

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/beginn...andrancher.cfm

[Nature_Lover]

This is a grant for colleges, native american tribes, and organizations to apply for.
The money is allocated to grant programs that help young farmers learn how to be competitive in a new market where most traditional farmers (aged 50+) will be retiring.

It is research and education seed money, none of it goes to any individual farmers.

Looking at the application requirements, it's geared towards professional grant application writers.

Thank for the link!

[texican]

Nature Lover's right.

Uncle Sams not going to give you anything, without a lifetime of strings attached.

Besides, the 19M wouldn't buy but a handful of farms or a couple or ranches. The ranch I've been hankering for the last five years only costs 29M the last time I checked!

[fordy]

Originally Posted by texican

Nature Lover's right.

Uncle Sams not going to give you anything, without a lifetime of strings attached.

Besides, the 19M wouldn't buy but a handful of farms or a couple or ranches. The ranch I've been hankering for the last five years only costs 29M the last time I checked!

..................I stumbled across a smallish , 2800~acres , located at the very western end of the OK panhandle , $1,945,000 ! Looks like it is in NM , beautiful rocks , canyons . Mule deer , Elk , etc . Maybe , if I win the lotto for Christmas It'll still be available ! , fordy

[PrairieBelle22]

The USDA does have some cost sharing opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers. Their EQIP program pays a high percentage for the construction of conservation practices such as pond construction, pasture planting, cross fencing...there are too many practices to list. We are in the middle of one of these conservation contracts for my 80 acres which already got a new pond!! (so excited about that one) We will also get 3/4 mile of cross fencing, a creek crossing, weed and brush control...all cost shared at a rate of 90% for beginning farmers. Check at your local Natural Resources COnservation service center for an application. In Oklahoma, our current sign up period is until Jan 7, 2011

Rhnea

[Riverdale]

Nope.
Nada.
No.


Firstly, It is NOT the goobermints role, nor responsibility
secondly, look to #1

[ErinP]

In light of the fact that farmers are literally the backbone of this nation (how are we going to eat, afterall??), I would say it is very MUCH government's responsibility to ensure it remains a viable industry!

However, it has been my observation that most of the government's "beginner" programs are not actually for beginner's. They're for those who already have a pretty well-established operation and need a little more push behind them.

Not sure if that's the case with this larger community-based grant, though...

[PrairieBelle22]

Remember the good ole days when the high prairie was over farmed and then a drought hit, and we got the good ole dust bowl? Well these programs came about to combat that severe erosion. And it worked!!

Here in Oklahoma (some of the hardest hit with the dust bowl) we have had several very wet years starting with the spring of 2007, then an inland hurricane that summer. But the years just prior to this wet period, we had a drought that was dryer than the dust bowl years! But we did not have huge dust storms nor loss of inches and inches of precious top soil due to erosion! and when the rains came, we didn't have as severe of flooding as we could have. Why? Because of these programs.

These are "behind the scenes" programs - kind of hidden like a storm drain - but necessary none the less for the preservation of the precious topsoil that grows the yummy tomatoes in my garden. Having lived here in Oklahoma all my life and having had parents that were married at the very beginning of the Great Depression, I fully appreciate what these programs have done for the high prairie. And I understand that these programs are not really about helping the farmers and ranchers monetarily as much as it is about conservation.

As far as the ratio of established farmers vs. beginners, it is probably about 50-50. Of course, beginning farmer money is for them only. It is set aside and separate.

[rambler]

Those sorts of farm programs.... Can be a little hard on the nerves if you are a head-strong homesteader type.

The money is there for the govt to spend as the govt wants, and so you need to bend to their wishes, and do things their way. It doesn't have to make sense, or work well, it just has to be their way.

So - if what you want to do happens to fit one of the programs to a T, then you're in clover.

But, if you want things your way, and a little off from the goal of the program, you won't ever be happy being involved with something like that. Beating your head against the wall.

The program mentioned won't put much money into any farmer/ homesteader/ gardener's pocket directly, but it is a shift in direction in that it is aimed at smaller, garden-type folk, not corn/soy/wheat farmers like many other programs.

Depends on your view of govt in general as to whether that is a good thing or not.

--->Paul

[ErinP]

Which "programs" are you talking about, Belle?

"Government programs" run the gamut from EQUIP to CRP to Beginning Farmer to assorted crop subsidy programs (which, in my area, are directly responsible for overworking the prairie and farming ground that never should have been turned up in teh first place!)

And if you think beginning/established is 50/50, you might want to do a little more research.

[PrairieBelle22]

In this area the pendulum has actually swung heavily toward the beginning farmer. So very, very many of the old guard farmers and ranchers are retiring and getting out of the business and their children have careers in the big city and do not want to be saddled with the hard work of that family farm/ranch. The "small" farm of 160 acres is now being divided and sold off in to 5, 10, 20 and 40 acre plots. Herein lies the death of that producting farm. The large farms of thousands of acres are also being divided and sold again and again. I see it every day. The young people that we see that are purchasing these smaller properties usually have a "town job" and maybe run a few cattle on the side. They aren't interested in the production level that their predecessors were.

Erin, I'm not very familiar with CRP, so I can't speak to what it entails nor the local impacts due to the program, but EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) works to enhance environmental quality by providing alternatives to tillage and soil exposure. It is not a subsidy program at all. It offers a cost share for erosion control proactices such as riparian area planting and protection (through fencing and barriers), no till planting, ... and on and on.

Most of these conservation programs are run by a local board of directors. And in most places they have a hard time finding people who care enough to fill the board positions. (it is non paying) You might give your local conservation district a call and find out when their meetings are and attend some of them. You have the right to go and voice your concerns about programs that you see are having an adverse effect. If no one says "hey, this isn't working right", they won't know anything is wrong.

[SilverFlame819]

The day the govt REALLY wants to hand me money to farm, I'll be so excited I'll spontaneously EXPLODE with happiness (and be dead, so the farm would be pointless)... I've done tons of research about govt grants for farming and they make it ALL so complicated.

So until the money falls out of the sky, I'll continue to spend my free time digging through www.landsofamerica.com and drooling all over the keyboard.

:S

[ErinP]

Erin, I'm not very familiar with CRP, so I can't speak to what it entails nor the local impacts due to the program, but EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) works to enhance environmental quality by providing alternatives to tillage and soil exposure. It is not a subsidy program at all. It offers a cost share for erosion control proactices such as riparian area planting and protection (through fencing and barriers), no till planting, ... and on and on.

I'm well aware of what EQUIP is.
I just meant that your label "government program" runs the gamut of a whole host of different things. EQUIP, CRP, assorted crop subsidies, Beginning Farmer, etc.
That's why I asked which in particular you were referring to.

Some programs have been godsends. Others have been disastrous.
And really, which is which is completely dependent upon circumstances...

[Terri]

Last weekend I attended a short course on sweet potatos.

The gent has a greenhouse and he starts his sweet potatos in early march. He sells 12000-15000 slips in the spring. As near as I can tell he grosses $50,ooo a year off of those slips, which he sells retail in the spring.

He suggested that we sell slips to the local nurseries, keeping in mind that the slips cannot be held long after cutting.

The good thing about doing it without government help is that more is under your control.

[texican]

Originally Posted by fordy

..................I stumbled across a smallish , 2800~acres , located at the very western end of the OK panhandle , $1,945,000 ! Looks like it is in NM , beautiful rocks , canyons . Mule deer , Elk , etc . Maybe , if I win the lotto for Christmas It'll still be available ! , fordy

Well, shoot, that's pocket change. Never been in the W end of the panhandle, but do have some relatives nearby in NM (near Raton). Does it have a full time stream on it?

Land suitable for farming is gawdawful expensive. The amt. available in the grant wouldn't buy much. Heck, scrub timber adjoining part of my pine plantation sold last year for 5k/acre.

[rambler]

Just read on another forum, an 80 acre of farmland in Iowa sold for $13,950 an acre. Sounds like it is to be farm land bought by a farmer.

Last year good farm land by me was $4500 or so an acre. No idea what it is this year. Heard a rumor of $6000, but don't know if that really was near me.

--->Paul

[texican]

It's almost impossible to make a go of it, in traditional farming, with land prices so exorbitant... You could be looking at a multimillion dollar investment, along with infrastructure... the interest payments alone would kill you.

The only way I could see a newbie getting into traditional farming is to marry into it or inherit it. Even if you inherit it, it's going to be destroyed by the death tax rule... doesn't take much to get hit, and Uncle Sam and his Entitlementistas will take up to ? 45%.

[brreitsma]

No one can begin farming in my area. A lot has been sold to developers. $100,000 an acre.

[ErinP]

Originally Posted by texican

The only way I could see a newbie getting into traditional farming is to marry into it or inherit it.

Most people managed to skirt the death tax rules by transfers prior to death and other perfectly legitimate methods. This is what estate planning is FOR, afterall.

So far as your original point, yeah, even in ranching (which has considerably less upfront costs (very little machinery, MUCH cheaper land, etc)) there's still no way to get into it in a traditional sense.
Not even if the wife has the proverbial job-in-town.
We've looked at it from every angle.
It's just not possible.

So, you have to approach it from a non-traditional sense, build up a little at a time, and maybe someday with some luck and time, it might support you.

[treasureacres]

Originally Posted by rambler

Just read on another forum, an 80 acre of farmland in Iowa sold for $13,950 an acre. Sounds like it is to be farm land bought by a farmer.

Last year good farm land by me was $4500 or so an acre. No idea what it is this year. Heard a rumor of $6000, but don't know if that really was near me.

--->Paul

I would guess that land, or part of it, was purchased for development. Most land here is going for 6 to 7 grand per acre, and this is for top farm ground. There is no way a farmer will make money, and will actually lose quite a bit on land that expensive.