Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
The long term goal of this project is to get more skilled farmers on land in Central Texas using climate smart sustainable farming practices growing food for the local community.In this project Farmshare Austin with Austin Community College's Agricultural Sciences program, Green Gate Farms and Hope Full Farm, will launch the Central Texas Farm Incubator Collaborative. The Collaborative will provide beginning farmers in the start-up phase of their business with access to land, infrastructure, mentorship, business training and marketing outlets to bridge barriers to starting and sustaining a farm. By embracing a collaborative model, we are able to draw on the collective farmland and the collective knowledge of the mentor farmers, thereby reducing the barrier of land access for beginning farmers while leveraging the fertile resources of our community. We believethis collaborative model will be vital in serving more farmers for a longer period of time in an area where land access is limited and will foster community connections across our region between emerging and experienced farmers.The 2022 National Survey of Young Farmers shows finding affordable land "is the top challenge for young farmers." This is especially true in Central Texas, an area that, according to the City of Austin's 2022 State of the Food System Report, is losing 16 acres of farmland a day to development. Couple that with the disruptions in the food supply we saw during COVID and 2021's Winter Storm Uri and the fact that, per the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, the average age of farmers in Central Texas is 60, it becomes more and more apparent that supporting the next generation of farmers is paramount to the resiliency of our community.In the first 3 years of the Incubator Collaborative funded by this grant, at least 15 new farmers will launch and/or expand their new farm businesses. These 15 farmers will improve production practices, business and financial management practices and be connected to new markets. Through a series of workshops open to the public, at least 100 farmers will gain knowledge of organic and climate smart practices, 75 farmers will improve their understanding of food safety practices and 20 new farmers will gain comprehensive training on land access strategies. Framework and procedures will be developed to onboard additional landowners to the Collaborative, accessing more acreage to support more farmers in the years beyond this grant.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Increase the number and viability of new farms, prioritizing underserved and socially disadvantaged producers, by providing equitable access to the resources needed to farm, including land access, infrastructure, mentorship, market outlets and business training.Objective 1.1: Increase equitable access to the resources needed to farm through the creation of the Central Texas Farm Incubator Collaborative.Objective 1.2: Provide business management support for Incubator Farmers to increase farm viability and decrease the time a new farmer needs to become profitable.Objective 1.3: Support beginning farmers' market development by connecting new farmers to buyers in Central Texas.Objective 1.4: To expand land tenure and access and serve more farmers, create metrics and processes for vetting and onboarding new landowners to join the Collaborative.Objective 1.5: Assist Incubator Farmers to develop a post-incubator plan.Objective 1.6: Increase Incubator Collaborators' mentorship skills through mentor training.Objective 1.7: The Central Texas Farm Incubator Collaborative attracts and supports a diverse cohort of farmers and is a safe space for socially disadvantaged farmers.Goal 2: Increase the resilience of local food production by increasing the number of organic and climate smart agriculture practices being utilized by Incubator Farmers.Objective 2.1: Train Incubator Famers in soil health practices, certified organic production methods and water wise growing techniques.
Project Methods
Over the course of this grant, the Collaborative partners will provide up to 7.5 acres of land for 15 beginning farmers, with particular attention to supporting socially disadvantaged new farmers. Participants will have access to 1) up to 0.5 acre plot of irrigated farmland; 2) up to three years of individual technical assistance and mentorship; 4) continuing education in business management and sustainable growing techniques; 5) links to markets for locally grown food.In January of each year of the grant, 5 beginning farmers will be leased 0.5 acre plots located on Farmshare's 13-acre Certified Organic farm in Eastern Travis County, on the 17-acre ACC Student Farm on ACC's Elgin Campus, on Green Gate Farms 32-acre Certified Organic farm in Bastrop County, or on Hope Full Farm's 8-acre Certified Organic farm in Hays County. Each is a working farm with at least one on-site experienced farmer who will serve as mentor for the Incubator Farmers on their land. All sites have access to infrastructure and equipment for annual vegetable production, including cold storage and greenhouse space.The Incubator Manager will assign participants' location based on their personal preference, chosen crop plan and business model, and Mentor specialization at each partnering site. Once accepted, each Incubator Farmer will work with their mentor to refine the business plan outlined in their application and develop individualized goals specific to their vision and skill set. Participants will revisit the plan with their mentor and the Incubator Manager at least quarterly to review progress toward goals and develop strategies to address challenges.Collaborative partners will connect Incubator Farmers with local marketing outlets including Farmshare's Fresh For Less Food Access program, ACC's Food Access programs, Green Gate Farms Farmstand, the Central Texas Farmers Co-op, local chefs and farmers markets.Monthly rent will be based on a graduated lease structure that increases each year of the program. The first two years will subsidize the market rate for turnkey, high-quality, irrigated land appropriate for growing annual specialty crops. In the 3rd year, farmers will be expected to pay market rate. At the end of the three years, Incubator Farmers may elect to extend their leases, but, although the relationships built in the incubator will continue on, they will no longer have formal mentorships financially supported by the program.In addition to their farmer mentor, Incubator Farmers will access 1-on-1 financial technical assistance from an experienced Ag Lender from Farm Credit Bank of Texas and monthly continuing education workshops and online courses in business management and climate smart production. Monthly workshops will support the continuing education of Incubator Farmers without being too much of a drain on their time as they build their businesses. We will utilize both in person, live and asynchronous online courses to allow for a range of learning styles that reinforce key information in different ways. Workshops and online learning modules will cover key skills essential to farm viability, including marketing, financial management, food safety, and organic and climate smart production practices.In Year 3 of the program, Incubators will assess land needs to meet future business goals. For Incubator Farmers who are ready to move on from the incubator, they may attend Land Access workshops based on American Farmland Trust's "Farmland for the Next Generation Land Access Training Manual." The 7 part series will be monthly via zoom in year 3 of the grant, led by PD Michelle Akindiya and open for other beginning farmers to enroll.Mentors will receive training in mentorship skills, including DEI, in the first year of the grant. The collaborative will create a metric and processes for vetting and onboarding new landowners to expand the collaborative in years 2 and 3 of the grant.Marianna Espinoza, Independent Evaluation Consultant, will design and implement the evaluation plan for this project. Marianna will join the Collaborative Planning meetings for the first 6 months of the grant to inform the development of qualitative, formative and participatory evaluation methods that will be utilized to gather feedback from Incubator Farmers and mentors throughout the 3-year project. Results of these evaluations will be shared at quarterly Collaborative meetings to drive discussions on how we can best address challenges and improve the program. The evaluation will intentionally be equity-centered by elevating the voices of socially disadvantaged and limited resource beginning farmers to ensure that we are embodying equity in our development and implementation of this project, and to identify areas where the Collaborative may need more training in order to fully support a diverse farming community.Quantitative financial and production data will be collected from Incubator Farmers annually to assess profitability and sales goals. Qualitative data will be collected from Incubator Farmers, mentors, and project partners to assess and improve processes that contribute to positive program outcomes. All data will be disaggregated and anonymized before shared with the public.At the end of the grant, the evaluator will create a summary report of the evaluation findings and outcomes of the project that will be shared with the Central Texas farming community and published on Farmshare's website.