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

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience continues to besmall farms, underserved agriculture producers, and urban farmers at our two locations: Small Ax Farm and Yes Farm. We reached out to famers in small groups of up to 10 participants, larger groups of up to 40 participants, and many individuals or partners. We continue to access the needs and challenges experienced by these farmers. We are engaged in assisting them in applying for FSA farm numbers as their first steps in accessing USDA programming and educate farmers about the available USDA programs, processes, and how they may offer assistance to their work and future goals of farming such as accessing land, increasing production, and managing their farm businesses and operations. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Yes Farm hosts small trainings from local officials such as an Air Quality Soil Testing Workshop. We alsosupported two farmers' attendance at the 2024 Field School Incubator Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. 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?In 2025, we seek to offer more on-site professional development for farmers at both Small Ax Farm and Yes Farm as well as the farms of participants where their neighboring farmers and colleagues feel particularly comfortable with hands-on learning activities.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. To increase participation in USDA and other programs and services through outreach and technical assistance to small socially disadvantaged rural, suburban, and urban farms in the three most populous counties in western Washington, primarily in King County, the most populous and diverse county in the state. We have offered formal and informal training to new farmers such as hands on education in the field as well as supported conference attendance and farm education programming. This has been particularly impactful for younger farmers and helped to increase interest in farming for this population. We continue to offer coaching, support and facilitation of access to USDA and other resources. 2. To increase farm viability and financial success for our targeted farmers, leveraging USDA and other resources we offer customized group and individual farm training, consultation, coaching, mentoring, and hands-on assistance by experienced successful farmers. We offer support for implementation of USDA recommended practices through training, consultation, coaching, mentoring, and hands-on assistance on a small scale as our farmers do not often have farms large enough to implement practices on a large scale. We also work to improve financial management skills and success through group and individual training, coaching, and mentoring at our two locations and often on farms of our participants to be able to demonstrate first hand how to improve financial management.

Publications

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

Outputs
Target Audience:During the 2023 reporting periods, Black Farmers Colllective placed emphasis on immigrant farmers, small farms, underserved agriculature proiducers, and urban farmers at our two locations: Small Ax farm and Yes Farm. We reached out to farmers in small groups of 2-3 or individually. This first year, we have focussed on assessing the needs and challenges experienced by farmers in these special populations. We are currently engaged with assisting them to apply for an FSA farm number as their first step in accessing USDA programming. Due to the historic lack of USDA paraticipation from these groups, we have spent considerable time creating relationships of trust and educating farmers about the available USDA programs, processes for accessing benefits, and general understanding or how these proagrams may assit them in land access, production increase, and farm business and operation management. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Provided professional development for five urban farmers to attend the Black Urban Growers Conference (BUGS) in Philadelphia, PA in October, 2023. 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?We will continue working with farmers to obtain FSA farm numbers. We currently have 4 farmers in cohort #1 and 7 farmers in cohort #2 who all need to complete this first step before qualifying for USDA resources. We are continuing to recruit for next cohorts of farmers. Most of these farmers operate on small farms and do not currenly have any association with USDA. This requires reaching out to connect and create relationships with farmers to assess their needs and challenges, offer education and support, and offer technical assistance as needed to begin thier process of obtaining FSA farm numbers. We also hope to proved additional professional development via online seminars, on-site presentations, and other education for farmers.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1) Increase participation in USDA and other programs and services through outreach and technical assistance for 45 - 65 small socially disadvantaged rural, suburban, and urban farms in the three most populous counties in western Washington, primarily in King County, the most populous and diverse county in the state Provided education and technical assistance for farmers to obtain FSA farm number as the first step in qualifying for USDA programs. Have succeeded in assisting 1 farmer in our first cohort of 5 in obtaining farm number In our conversations and assessments of need and challenges, our farmers began to think deeply and critically about their positions as minority urban farmers, their impact on their households and communities, and to seriously reflect on their goals and what kind of support is needed to help accomplish them. There was also a significant sense of pride from the farmer who received his FSA farm number. It was not only his first step in qualifying for USDA programming, but also seemed to provide validation of his role as an urban farmer.

Publications