by Chris Clayton, DTN Ag Policy Editor
OMAHA (DTN) — USDA is emphasizing some of its programs to help smaller and mid-sized farmers and ranchers.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the support initiative Monday after speaking to members of the National Farmers Union at the group's annual meeting being held in Santa Fe, N.M. USDA rolled out the programs without characterizing what defines a small to mid-sized farmer or rancher.
Nearly 1.5 million farmers and ranchers reported farming fewer than 180 acres, according to the 2012 Ag Census, or more than 70{75f28365482020b1dc6796c337e8ca3e58b9dd590dc88a265b514ff5f3f56c30} of all farm operations. More than 813,000 producers reported farming fewer than 50 acres.
Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, said the announcement goes hand-in-hand with goals of NFU, considering the organization's ranks are filled with smaller operators. “This focus on small and mid-sized farmers in many ways is a focus on our members,” Johnson said.
Johnson also pointed out the fastest-growing segment of his membership involves farmers who are selling food directly to consumers.
Following a boost in the loan cap in the new farm bill, USDA will expand microloan opportunities to $50,000. Last year, USDA issued 4,900 such loans.
The Farm Storage and Facility Loan program also has been broadened to help fruit and vegetable producers with cold storage. Some of those producers also will be eligible to get a waiver from the crop-insurance requirement traditionally required for such storage loans.
The department also will be working with farmers who sell food products to achieve Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification. Such certification could also help those farmers meet FDA obligations under the Food Safety Modernization Act.
The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food website is going to develop more learning series reports on particular growing, marketing and management topics. USDA also intends to broaden the national farmers market directory to include community supported agricultural co-ops, on-farm stores and food hubs.
Vilsack also said USDA is adding seven new regional farm-to-school program coordinators nationally. He said the last data available showed $355 million in sales for the program in a single year, but a recent survey showed far more interest among school districts.
“We anticipate and expect this is only going to grow based on a survey that was recently done that shows literally thousands of schools interested in this opportunity,” Vilsack said.
Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, also credited USDA for not waiting until the farm bill was completed to begin creating a new whole-farm revenue product. Hoefner said the whole-farm pilot product will help diversified operators who do not grow large acreages of single crops. “We're really quite excited about the potential of this new product,” he said.
The 2014 farm bill had a variety of initiatives helping smaller farmers, including grants to groups that train or provide outreach under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
© Copyright 2014 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.
Posted with DTN Permission by Haylie Shipp
