Progress 04/01/24 to 03/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers New and Beginning Farmers Urban Farmers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Policy Center continues to look for opportunities to participate in national forums to reach large numbers of farmers for increasing farmer awareness of the Policy Center and its mission. National and local forums included but are not limited to Field Days held by the other land-grant universities, National Small Farm Conferences, State Agricultural conferences, and outreach meetings hosted by CBOs.An additional objective is to educate farmers on the Farm Bill and the implications for them. We found that a large number of farmers were not aware of the Farm Bill or its implications for farming operations. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Policy Research Center at Alcorn State University used the outreach component to disseminate research findings, to gain perceptual data from stakeholders, and to share policy recommendations. Outreach strategies included,publications, creating educational materials, creating reading/resource rooms, and presenting at national conferences, growers' meetings, and field days.The Policy Center continues to look for opportunities to participate in national forums to reach large numbers of farmersforincreasing farmer awareness of the Policy Center and its mission. National and local forums included but are not limited to Field Days held by the other land-grant universities, National Small Farm Conferences, State Agricultural conferences, and outreach meetings hosted by CBOs.Increasing awareness of the Policy Center has led to increases in the number of farmers and ranchers who participate in focus groups and complete surveys for the research studies because they have a clear understanding of the purpose of the Policy Center and the importance of the research studies in making policy recommendations.An additional objective is to educate farmers on the Farm Bill and the implications for them. We found that a large number of farmers were not aware of the Farm Bill or its implications for farming operations.The Policy Center has produced informational brochures for distribution at conferences and often uses exhibit booths to share mission, goals and objectives, and current research studies. Participants are directed to the Center's webpage for additional information and encouraged to periodically monitor the webpage for updates.? What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The Policy Center plans to continue to increase awareness of the Center, its mission, and research studies designed to make recommendations of policy that will improve the success of all farmers. Improving the success of all farmers is expected to contribute to overcoming the mistrust, both current and generational, that exists between some farmers and USDA. Agreements are in place to facilitate training in financial and tax planning, recruitment of youth to land grant colleges to increase next generation of agriculture professionals and education on Farm Bill.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goals and Objectives Accomplishments: Organization(s): University of Mississippi, Southern University, and the University of Pine Bluff Research Study Title: Assessing Impacts & Demands of Food Rx Grant Making & Programming for farmers and ranchers Status: Completed. Full Study available upon request. Infographic in Exhibits. Organization: The New School Research Study Title: Examining the Social Equity Implications of the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production's County Office and Granting Program through a Racial Equity Lens: A Pilot Study Status: Completed. Full Study available upon request. Infographic in Exhibits. Organization: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Organization: The Farmers B.A.G. Research Study Title: Cultivating Value in Agriculture: Advancing Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers through Comprehensive Research and Youth Empowerment Status: Completed. The final report gave insight to persistent barriers in the states of VA, NC, and SC. Full report available Status: Completed. Three keys themes in the findings. Lack of Awareness:Youth Engagement: Barriers to USDA Program Access: A major theme in the responses was the difficulty in accessing USDA programs. This highlights the systemic barriers that need to be addressed through targeted policy changes and community outreach. Recommendations: Research data has informed the policy recommendations. 1. Increase Funding for Comprehensive Community Outreach Programs 2. Expand 4-H and Other Youth Agricultural Programs 3. Develop a Targeted Strategy for Raising Awareness of Key Agricultural Policies and Programs 4. Address Barriers to Accessing USDA Programs 5. Foster Inclusivity and Equity in Agriculture Through Policy and Education Organization: EmpowrD/ JBG LLC/ Tuskegee University Research Study Title: The Current State of Black Farming Phase One Status: Completed Phase I. Study available upon request. The Policy Center hosted two planning meetings, November 2024 and March 2025 with the research team with the focus on implementing Phase II. Team members are updating research designs, methods, and state partners and will deliver the updates to the Policy Center in April. Recommendations: Phase I-Recommendations span across several categories. The recommendations were generated by the team after a review and analysis of the data and recommendations from the 11 previous studies, the USDA Equity Commission Report, and the 2023 Farm Bill recommendations generated by the Policy Center, as well as an analysis of Census data and relevant legislation and policies. These recommendations include previous recommendations not implemented and an expansion of some of the Equity Commission recommendations. Recommendations: Phase II- This phase is in the beginning stages of the research; therefore, recommendations have not been developed. Work collaboratively across 1890 and other land grant university communities. Objective 2: Accomplishments The Policy Center hosted a third 2-day strategy meeting between USDA (Sec/Agency Administrators) and 1890 Leaderships (Presidents/Deans/Directors/Program Managers) in July 2024, in Washington, DC to discuss 1890 priorities. There were one hundred eleven (111) participants in the meeting.. The meeting was considered a success and the feedback was positive with ratings of over 90% good or excellent in all categories. Conduct strategic outreach to farmers to increase awareness of the Policy Center to ensure maximum participation in studies and USDA programs. Objective 3: Accomplishments The Policy Center staff presented Farm Bill (2023) and Policy Center Updates at the following outreach events. Hosted farmer listening sessions. 3rd Annual Farmers Conference in Charlotte, NC, in February 2025 Objective 4: Accomplishments The Policy Center executed an agreement with the NOPBNRCSE to host training for 150 farmers in conjunction with the spring meeting for NOPBNRCSE members in February 2025 in Charlotte, NC. The objective was to provide Training/Technical Assistance to farmers and ranchers on USDA, NRCS Programs and Practices" and to discuss issues and challenges faced by farmers and ranchers for consideration in preparation for the next Farm Bill. The 2025 NOPBNRCSE Farmers and Employees Conference was held in Charlotte, NC February 24- March 1st. The conference theme was "Cultivating the Next Generation of Leaders in Agriculture." The conference offered the opportunity to come together to explore vital topics and foster connections among farmers and ranchers. It provided the space to review conservation programs and practices and to discuss the issues and challenges faced by farmers and ranchers regarding the upcoming Farm Bill. This event featured industry speakers, networking opportunities, breakout sessions, and landowner resources. The 2025 NOPBNRCSE Conference had 261 attending. The demographic breakdown was 170 farmers and 91 NOPBNRCSE members, Agricultural Professionals, Sponsors, Presenters, and Others. The Lloyd Wright Small Farmers Luncheon attendance was forty-six (46) participants and the Pearlie S. Reed Excellence in Conservation Banquet attendance was forty-eight (48). The survey responses overwhelmingly praise the conference content, describing it as informative, comprehensive, and relevant to the needs of farmers at various levels of experience. Participants appreciated the actionable information, clear delivery, and the thorough coverage of critical topics. Many found the content timely, well-organized, and easy to understand, though some suggested simplifying industry jargon for beginners. Attendees also expressed interest in accessing shared materials post-conference and requested additional focus on urban agriculture and trust formation. Overall, the content was seen as highly valuable, engaging, and impactful. See attachments for report and evaluation of conference. The Policy Center executed an agreement in December 2023 with the Tennie Group to: 1) provide financial training including business plan preparation, accounting statements, and recordkeeping, 2) educate clientele in tax preparation and legal deductions, and to take advantage in depreciation, 3) provide training in Crop Insurance, and 4) provide training in budget development to assist in planned operations. Output deliverables included 200 farmers and ranchers trained in financial literacy or financial planning, 80 percent will become financially literate to be able to prepare business plan for example, to access credit, 80 percent will receive training in tax preparations, and corporate restructure, and 80 percent will file their taxes correctly by taking advantage of deductions and depreciations, and 60 percent will incorporate their farms or ranches and operate as businesses. Additional outputs included 90 percent will be exposed to Crop Insurance Education, and 70 percent will enroll in one of the following programs: Multiple Crop Insurance, Pasture Rangeland Forage (PRF), Whole Farm Revenue,and Hemp Insurance and develop direct marketing strategies, and 80 percent will receive training in budget construction and 70 percent will understand the need for budget construction and will adopt it for planning purposes. The Policy Center executed a second agreement in September 2024 with the Tennie Group to: 1) provide financial training including business plan preparation, accounting statements, and recordkeeping. The Tennie Group provided status reports for the period January through March 2025. See attachments.

Publications

Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers New and Beginning Farmers Urban Farmers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Joint meeting of Policy Center and NOPBNRCSE in Charlotte, NC in February 2024--100 farmer attendees and 100 agricultural professionals.The second training session was held in February 2024 in Charlotte, NC. See Exhibits for farmer evaluation results and Attachments for program, report, and full evaluation. OBHRPI provided a status report for the period January through March 2024. See attachments. Next Heirs Property train-the-trainer workshop scheduled for Houston, TX in June 2024. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Policy Center staff presented Farm Bill 2023 and Policy Center Updates at the following minority outreach events. Hosted farmer listening sessions. 2nd Annual Harvest Ball hosted by the Tennie Group in Raleigh, NC. Over 400 participants in November 2023 Kentucky Small Minorities Farmers Conference at Kentucky State University in November 2023 with over 100 farmers National Black Growers Council Conference in Memphis, TN in December 2023--100+ attendees. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The Policy Center, in collaboration with the Southern Risk Management Education Center (SRMEC) at the University of Arkansas and the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) at Mississippi State University, designed and developed an Heirs Property Training Curriculum (Overview, Prevention, and Resolution) for Cooperative Extension staff and CBOs--funded by NIFA AFRI grant. The curriculum was piloted in November 2022 in Atlanta, GA. Funding for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to provide heirs property training for the next two years was provided by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Nine of the nineteen 1890 land grant universities attended the first pilot. The second workshop was delivered on February 20-21 in DC prior to the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. Additional workshops were held March 25 prior to the Extension Risk Management Education Conference in Chicago, IL and in April in Dallas, TX. The MSIs started completing applications in the Results Verification System (RVS) on January 30, 2023, for the training subawards. A 2-day train-the-trainer session was held in Ponce, Puerto Rica in October 2023 for Extension staff from the University of Puerto Rico and USDA staff in PR--30 participants. A training workshop was also held for farmers on the third day--50 participants. Next training scheduled for February 2024 in Birmingham, AL

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Policy Center issued a request for proposals (RFP) for youth programs in June 2023, with proposals due in September 2023. Proposals received were reviewed and selections made in February 2024. The Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) along with two community-based organizations located in North Carolina, the Farmer's B.A.G. and Elijah's Farm, were selected to conduct research on youth in agriculture. This will be the first fully funded research study under this research priority and is a multi-state collaborative research study. The research team from FAMU provided a fully executed subaward agreement on April 22, 2024, and will begin monthly reporting in May. The Farmers B.A.G. research team provided a fully executed subaward agreement on April 30, 2024, and will begin monthly reporting in May. The teams met with the research analyst bi-weekly for collaboration and project management purposes. FAMU will be responsible for collecting data in Florida and analyzing data from the 4 states identified in the study. The Farmer's B.A.G. and Elijah's Farm will be responsible for collecting data in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Viriginia. Another 1890 strategy meeting is being planned for July 2024 in Washington, DC.

Publications

Progress 04/01/22 to 03/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience Beginning producers Underserved agricultural producers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Policy Center provided Farm Bill 2023 and Policy Center Updates to minority farmers at the NC Minority Farmers & Landowners Conference hosted by the NC Department of Agriculture on December 8-9 in Lumberton, NC. Event was attended by over 300 farmers. Policy Center staff is scheduled to present Farm Bill 2023 and Policy Center Updates at the MMFA annual meeting in January 2023 in Okolona, MS. MMFA is expecting at least 175 participants. The Policy Center executed an agreement with the MMFA in December 2022 to expand technical assistance to minority farmers in Northern Mississippi. According to the 2017 USDA Agriculture Census, Mississippi has 54,997 producers, 7,507 of whom are socially disadvantaged or underserved. To increase capacity and service delivery provided by USDA and Land-grant Extension staff, the Mississippi Minority Farmers' Alliance (MMFA) proposes to establish and operate an Agribusiness Resource Center (ARC) in partnership with the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Center and the Alcorn State University Small Farm and Agribusiness Center. When a producer/landowner contacts the ARC, he/she can be triaged to the group which most appropriately addresses his/her immediate need or assistance with a plan of long-term development. Providing such a community service promotes efficiency and cost reduction through coordination. With the collaborating groups, MMFA will conduct a program of rural wealth creation derived from small plots of land called MICRO-FARMS. The additional services of the ARC are designed to address other segments of underserved populations and are embodied in the following goals. 1. Develop a financial assistance program with a MMFA satellite lending location providing space and hours of operation for banks, credit unions and government lenders. 2. Develop a for-profit food cooperative and farmer's market equipped with the appropriate planning, training and supports for successful operation. 3. Develop specialized micro-farm training to maximize production on small plots of land with emphasis on hoop house earnings of $10-50K annually. 4. Train youth and veterans with disabilities on farm management and provide the necessary assistive technology and infrastructure. 5. Provide on farm training and technical assistance to this group of farmers/landowners Objective is for 100 underserved, socially disadvantaged farmers and veteran farmers and ranchers in ten North Mississippi counties (Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Oktibbeha, Pontotoc, and Tippah) to be exposed to new knowledge of production practices and other agricultural-related information that will enable them to obtain, own and operate successful farms and ranches. The Policy Center executed an agreement with the National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees (NOPBNRCSE) to host training session (s) for 75-100 Black and other SDFR in conjunction with the spring meeting for NOPBNRCSE members in April 2023 in Atlanta, GA. Objective is to provide Training/Technical Assistance for SDFR on USDA, NRCS Programs and Practices". How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Review and report on progress made by MMFA and NOPBNRCSE in providing training and technical assistance to underserved producers. Survey farmers that attended the trainings. Reviewand report on progress for two research studies--Food Insecurities and Urban Agriculture.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Policy Center issued a request for proposals (RFP) for food insecurities in November 2022 with proposals due in December 2022. Three proposals were received (University of Mississippi, University of Arkansas--Pine Bluff (UAPB), and Tuskegee University) that met the criteria from the RFP. The University of Mississippi proposal was the most comprehensive. We accepted the proposal and asked them to expand their study from Mississippi to Arkansas and Louisiana and to collaborate with UAPB and Southern University to ensure that minority farmers are included in the study and to inform Regional Food Hub project, an Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) initiative. In process of preparing subaward agreements. The Policy Center issued a request for proposals (RFP) for urban agriculture in December 2022, with proposals due by February 10, 2023. The Policy Center is in the process of scheduling a second 2-day strategy meeting between USDA (Sec/Agency Administrators) and 1890 Leaderships (Presidents/Deans/Directors/Program Managers) for June 2023 with proposed location of Washington, DC. The Policy Center, in collaboration with the Southern Risk Management Education Center (SRMEC) and the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC), designed and developed an Heirs Property Training Curriculum (Overview, Prevention, and Resolution) for Cooperative Extension staff and CBOs. The curriculum was piloted in November 2022 in Atlanta, GA. Funded for Minority Serving Institutions to provide heirs property training for the next two years was provided by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Nine of the nineteen 1890 land grant universities attended the first pilot. The second workshop has been scheduled for February 20-21 in DC prior to the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. The MSIs will report progress in the Results Verification System (RVS) starting on January 30, 2023.

Publications