Progress 01/01/24 to 12/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by this project are underserved producers as defined in our grant agreement. Also included in the target audience are service providers who support these producers with business technical assistance and inform and educate producers about USDA programs. During this reporting period, twenty-one service providers participating in the Growing Equity cohort reached beginning producers, small farms and ranches, organic producers, underserved agricultural producers, and limited resource producers. The twenty-one service provider entities include: ·Africulture (Virginia) ·Agriculture and Land-Based Training (California) ·Black Family Land Trust (North Carolina) (principal partner) ·Black Gold Resourcing LLC (Texas) ·CA Center for Coop Development (California) ·Central State University (Ohio) ·Community Alliance with Family Farmers (California) ·Croatan Institute (North Carolina) ·FarmaSIS (South Carolina) ·Feast Down East (North Carolina) ·Foodshed Capital (Virginia) ·Grow NYC (New York) ·Kentucky Black Farmers Association (Kentucky) ·Kitchen Table Advisors (California) ·Monte Azul (Puerto Rico) ·Potlikker Capital (New York) ·Southern Farmers Collaborative Group (Georgia) ·Southwest Georgia Project (Georgia) ·The Carrot Project (Massachusetts) (principal partner) ·Toxic Free NC (North Carolina) ·Virgina State University (Virginia) ·West Virgina University (West Virginia) (National Farm Viability Conference host) Changes/Problems:AFT has been unable to access the ASAP portal and is awaiting further guidance from the agency as to the status of this grant. Once we receive additional direction, we will adjust our approach as needed to align with the agency's expectations and ensure progress toward our goals in the next reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project's service providers had 3 virtual meetings during the reporting period, and one in-person meeting during the 2024 National Farm Viability Conference. Meetings offered cohort members a chance to share information around producer audiences they serve and types of business technical assistance provided, approaches to business technical assistance delivery, and common issues faced in BTA delivery, Cohort members also received in-depth training through the full National Farm Viability Conference. In a post conference survey, cohort members were asked to rank the relevance of conference topics to their work. Top ranked conference topics included accessing capital; business planning and development; farm financial management; and land access, retention and transfer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Cohort members conducted 252 webinars and other virtual events, attended by 1,664 producers. Of these, 1,085 received outreach regarding USDA programs and services, financial planning, business planning, agricultural credit and access to capital. Cohort members had 72,496 unique visits to their webpages. Most visited webpage topics included accessing USDA programs and services, agricultural production skills, financial management skills, conservation practices, risk management, mediation, discrimination and legal education, and access to capital. Cohort members reached 544 participants through online courses. Primary topics covered included accessing USDA programs and services, financial management skills, conservation practices, agricultural credit and access to capital. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?AFT is currently awaiting further guidance from the agency on the status of this grant. Once we receive additional direction, we will adjust our approach as needed to align with the agency's expectations and ensure progress toward our goals in the next reporting period.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To date, the project has provided outreach and training around USDA programs and services to 2,997 underserved producers. The project has also provided individualized business technical assistance to 1,653 underserved producers to support them with considering and applying for USDA programs, and specialized support to 1044 producers on key topics to increase their overall viability. As a result of the business technical assistance provided by cohort members, reported benefits to the target audience during this reporting period include at least: 367 participants increased farm size or capacity; 483 increased farm profits; 271 received USDA benefits; 347 applied for USDA program and 2,903 increased their understanding of USDA programs and services. Objective 2: Increase underserved producer access to USDA programs through expanded education and networking for BTA providers.

Publications

Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The intended beneficiaries of this project are underserved producers as defined in our grant agreement. They are our target audience, as are service providers who support these producers with business technical assistance and inform and educate producers about USDA programs. The specific audience reached this reporting period are the nineteen service provider entities that were selected to participate in the Growing Equity network through a competitive application process plus our two principal partners and the host of the National Farm Viability Conference. These service provider entities include: ·Africulture (Virginia) ·Agriculture and Land-Based Training (California) ·Black Family Land Trust (North Carolina) (principal partner) ·Black Gold Resourcing LLC (Texas) ·CA Center for Coop Development (California) ·Central State University (Ohio) ·Community Alliance with Family Farmers (California) ·Croatan Institute (North Carolina) ·FarmaSIS (South Carolina) ·Feast Down East (North Carolina) ·Foodshed Capital (Virginia) ·Grow NYC (New York) ·Kentucky Black Farmers Association (Kentucky) ·Kitchen Table Advisors (California) ·Monte Azul (Puerto Rico) ·Potlikker Capital (New York) ·Southern Farmers Collaborative Group (Georgia) ·Southwest Georgia Project (Georgia) ·The Carrot Project (Massachusetts) (principal partner) ·Toxic Free NC (North Carolina) ·Virgina State University (Virginia) ·West Virgina University (West Virginia) (National Farm Viability Conference host) Changes/Problems:The Growing Equity project set out to create a national network of 20 service provider partners to provide BTA to underserved producers. Through a competitive application process, the project team identified 20 competitive candidates to support the goals of the project. However, following an analysis of the proposed MOU provided to them by AFT, one of the potential service provider partners identified the reporting requirements associated with the project to be a significant barrier to their participation and subsequently declined our invitation to join the network. We chose not to reopen the application process but to move forward with a network of 19 service provider organizations along with AFT and our two principal project partners, BFLT and TCP. After discussing with network members the high degree of reporting required relative to the modest level of funding being provided, AFT reached out to NIFA staff to explore ways to lighten the reporting requirements for partners. AFT staff met with NIFA on December 18, 2023, and identified ways to simplify the required reporting for network members. AFT has revised and walked partners through a simplified reporting form and is grateful to NIFA staff for recognizing the challenge associated with extensive reporting requirements for small organizations that are receiving relatively small grants through this project. A number of factors, including organizational staff changes, uncertainty around subawardees versus consultant status, and discussions around reporting requirements, also impacted finalizing contracts with the two principal project partners, BFLT and TCP.Consequently, while contracts have since been finalized and are ready for signature, neither partner had an executed contract at the end of the calendar year, so invoicing for work performed in 2023 has been delayed. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has allowed for the creation of the network, which is positioned to provide opportunities for shared problem solving, training on culturally competent outreach and forms of BTA especially relevant to underserved producers. The project will financially support network member participation in the National Farm Viability Conference, the single largest gathering of BTA service providers annually. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The first reporting deadline for Network members is 4/15/2024. We look forward to conducting outreach to disseminate project findings in future reporting periods. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Convene network members to foster peer learning and networking throughout the reporting period and provide opportunities for shared problem solving, training on culturally competent outreach, forms of BTA especially relevant to underserved producers, and other topics as identified by the participants. Collect and aggregate quarterly reporting data to track the progress of the 21 network members toward the following outcomes: 11,500 underserved producers receive outreach about USDA programs and services. 1,650 underserved producers receive individualized coaching services to support them in considering and applying for USDA programs. 165 underserved producers receive substantive and specialized BTA services on key topics (e.g. business, succession, and marketing plans to support readiness for USDA applications) to increase their overall viability. Support labor costs associated with hosting the National Farm Viability Conference and expand Conference programming to include a greater focus on the needs of underserved producers. Support network member participation in the 2024 National Farm Viability Conference - the single largest gathering of BTA providers nationally. Facilitate USDA participation in the 2024 National Farm Viability Conference and create opportunities for USDA employees to learn from on-the-ground service providers and increase BTA providers knowledge and awareness of USDA programs and services.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: Increase underserved producer access to USDA programs through expanded outreach, coaching, and BTA directly to underserved producers. In the spring of 2023, AFT and its principal project partners-- Black Family Land Trust and The Carrot Project-- created a competitive application process to solicit proposals from BTA service providers interested in participating in the Growing Equity project. The selection criteria aimed to maximize reciprocal learning opportunities for these providers by focusing on: (1) achieving broad geographic representation and classes of underserved farmers receiving service; (2) ensuring that different forms of BTA services are represented and lead to increasing participation in numerous USDA programs; and (3) identifying a mixture of organizations that predominantly work with or are looking to expand their work with, underserved producers AFT and our principal project partners used our respective national and regional networks to advertise the Request for Proposals, and AFT and BFLT staff spent considerable time engaging with BTA service providers in several Southern states to explain the project and encourage them to apply. With our principal project partners, AFT created a scoring matrix for applications, and scored each of the 40+ proposals. Award letters and MOUs were then sent out to 20 top-scoring selected applicants, and MOUs with 19 network partners were executed by the end of the calendar year. AFT disbursed an initial tranche of funds to the 19 network partners to support their efforts in providing outreach, coaching and BTA to the underserved producers they work with. Objective 2: Increase underserved producer access to USDA programs through expanded education and networking for BTA providers. As part of development of the network member reporting form, the project team created a number of questions intended to track and aggregate increases in network members' skills, knowledge and impact related to BTA delivery. Supported the planning of the National Farm Viability Conference, as well as network member participation in the event. Coordinated USDA participation in the National Farm Viability Conference to foster connections between service providers and agency staff.

Publications