DELTA FARM START

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1029214
• Grant No.: 2022-49400-38621
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $613,510.00
• Proposal No.: 2022-05790
• Project Start Date: Sep 15, 2022
• Project End Date: Sep 14, 2025
• Grant Year: 2022
• Program Code: [BFRDA]- Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Standard

Recipient Organization
Mississippi Delta Council for Farm Workers Opportunities, Inc
1005 North State Street
Clarksdale,MS 38614-6523

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
MDC proposes Delta Farm Start to serve 60 of these families throughout 12 counties in Mississippi's North Delta: Coahoma, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Sunflower, Bolivar, Hinds, Homes, Humphrey, LeFlore, Sharkey, Tunica and Washington. Coahoma county ranks third nationally in highest-priority areas for food access intervention. Delta Farm Start will provide: a proven system to 60 farmers that ensures better farming practices, business training, financial risk management with a focus on acquisition and management of AG credit, farm financial benchmarking, natural resource / conservation management, diversification and marketing strategies, farm financial benchmarking, AG training for veterans, food safety and recordkeeping and economic Participants will implement on-farm tech through the web-based program developed by MDC and Up In Farms - FarmQMS, to give beginning farmers and ranchers the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed decisions for their operations and enhance their sustainability. revitalization, particularly in socially disadvantaged communities in Mississippi's North Delta. Through the proposed Delta Farm Start, MDC will implement a demonstrated a proven method for participants to fully equip participants with the resources to sustainably own or lease a farm business operation and to operate a farm or ranch achieving a minimum annual value of $10,019 in production. Based on the outcomes from this tested model, a $1,650 micro-grant investment to 60 participants will produce a 400% ROI of $601,140 of increased individual participant income and $1,172,160 of total economic impact for the targeted service area, with a total project budget of only $733,510.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
601	1499	3100	100%

Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management;

Subject Of Investigation
1499 - Vegetables, general/other;

Field Of Science
3100 - Management;

Keywords

beginning

farmer

and

rancher

development

program

Goals / Objectives
Scope of Work - Delta Farm Start will recruit 6-8 small scale farm operators and/or farm workers or new ranchers per year from each of the 3 defined Categories, to receive 4,398 hours of training, one-on-one on-farm coaching and mentoring, and a) 60 micro grants of $1,650 to participants for AG farm/ranch start-up or expansion expenses, b) access to 83 acres donated for participants who do not own their own land, c) access to a full suite of specialty crop farming equipment from Alcorn State University Extension, including low- or no-cost tractors, tilling and precision seeding and spraying equipment, d) walk-through for individual participants with applications for FAS and NRCS Farm ID, crop insurance, irrigation, hoop house resources and any other applicable EQIP practices e) collaborative partner processing plant prioritizes participant harvests, f) access to approved seed and pesticide vendors plus group discounts for supplies, g) cold storage and cold transportation, h) secured and coordinated aggregate sales to buyers, and i) organized access to a labor pool through two regional agencies specializing in providing labor for harvests during the season. In addition, participants who are military veterans will have access to veteran specific micro-grants and tiered lending and other military veteran financial supports. All will be provided at no cost to ensure the financial viability of new and existing small-scale farming operations and AG related enterprises.Objective 1: Implement the proven farming/ranching, enterprise training model with curricula and resources tailored to needs of minority, low-income, limited-resource, small-scale and veteran farmers in the Northern Mississippi DeltaObjective 2: No less than 60 participants will have the tools to transition into meaningful, productive, profitable, and sustainable farm/ranch entrepreneurs. They will have the skills and resources necessary for success in the field of agriculture, community leadership, and to contribute to household food security and local economic sustainability.Objective 3: Evaluation

Project Methods
1)Renew and formalize MDC's Delta Farm Start Recruitment Panel that will becomposed of: two previous BFRDP participants who are also Gulf War Era II veterans, one of thembeing Mr. Walter Porter, Porter Family Farm, who has built one of the most successful enterpriseslaunched through MDC's BFRDP pilot AG enterprise program to date. The other will be Mr. Tony Jonesowner and operator of Chulahoma's Garden a farmer with less than 5 years farming experience butthat through the program has become an anchor farm for the program.Providing on-farm training and mentoring for new participants in the program each season. The panelwill also include Ray Coleman, Director of Communications, Mississippi VA Board as well as Jerry D.Allhands, the Coahoma County VA Officer. These panel members with MDC Delta Farm Start staff willtake input from MDC's military veteran leadership and use their own experience and expertise toimplement a targeted rural veteran and veteran student referral and recruitment process as outlinedin § 3. d.2) Finalize modifications to MDC's model curriculum and develop a FarmQMS user's manual. Finalmodifications to both the curriculum and the FarmQMS user manual will be approved and informed bythe MDC leadership and Delta Farm Start recruitment panel. MDC's Board of Directors has threemembers who are military veterans, including Board Chairman,W.J. Jones. Curriculum additions will include input from veterans and veterans services andinformation on available funding for veteran owned/operated AG enterprises, such as BeginningFarmers and Ranchers Loans for Veterans, Farm Service Agency Direct Farm Ownership Loans andDepartment of Veteran Affairs Farm Loans: Home Loans for Rural Residents. Finally, MDC's collegecurriculum and training partners will provide material to incorporate available degree choices forAG sector careers.3) Facilitate an Introductory Seminar for participants on the program and resources to introducefundamental topics for this group such as farm/ranch enterprise ownership, cooperativeassociations, post-secondary education/training and community-supported agriculture, basic businessplanning, and farm management; initiate teambuilding among the Participants, and presentagriculture's role and importance in the local economy and food security.4) Facilitate an Intensive 4 Day Workshop series hosted at the MDC AG and career training facilityand will offer intensive practical learning in topics as described in Section 3 (c ) below that arerelevant to local agriculture and tailored to the target audience. Topics will include: Federalassistance and crop insurance, break-even analysis, disaster planning and preparation for smallfarms, introduction to entrepreneurship and ownership and estimated profit exercises for beginningfarm /ranch operations and related AG enterprise.5) Provide In-Depth - on farm training with Delta Farm Start collaborative partners. Over 4,398hours of training, one-on-one on farm coaching and mentoring will be provided on-farm, in the fieldwith 1-4 farmers, including the farmers cultivating the land where training is taking place. Allaspects of farm enterprise will be part of the training, business management in the classroom andall aspects of crop production will be trained on-farm, from soil preparation to seed and seedlingvariety selection, irrigation, planting process, spacing, fertilizer/herbicide/pesticideapplications, access to equipment, harvesting, labor coordination,coordination of sales to aggregate buyers, high tunnel/irrigation applications and more.

Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Of 120 trained new and potentially new growers throughout the 12 targeted Mississippi Delta Counties: Number started farming operations: 67 of 120 trained = 55.8% Number trained to prepare to start farming: 120 of 120 trained = 100% Number in first 10 years of farming that improved their success: 67 of 120 trained = 55.8% Number Limited Resource Producers: all 120 participants and all 67 producers = 100% Number African American beginning farmers: all 119 trained = 99.99% Number Women beginning farmers: 50 of 120 trained = 42% Number Veterans beginning farmers: 15 of 120 trained = 12.5% Number under the age of 50 (Young Farmers): 40 of 120 trained = 33% Number completing GAP certification: 1 of 120 trained = .008% Number participating in Genuine MS® : 6 of 120 trained = 5% 63% increase in families incorporating local and regionally produced fresh vegetables into their weekly meal prep 89% of families (422 per week) learning and incorporating new vegetables into their weekly diet Changes/Problems: FarmQMS - was never fully functional for growers to implement on a wider scale. In PY2 we have initiated a transition to Share.Farm in hopes of resolving this issue. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? MDC and its BFRDP partners completed 2 CFR 200 Training by March 1, 2024 MDC and its BFRDP partners attended the Alcorn Small Farmer and Rancher Conference in September 2024 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Through MDC's BFRDP, RFSP and RFBC project partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As we enter the next reporting period, our focus remains on advancing our goals of supporting small-scale farmers and promoting agricultural sustainability. Adaptation to evolving circumstances and seizing opportunities for growth and development will be key priorities. This will be accomplished by developing three new aggregators to activate the Farm to School market throughout Mississippi. We are hoping to target at least 200 schools in PY3. The developing aggregators include Tim Bradford, (Bradford Farms), Ben Burkette, (Indian Springs Farms) and Glyen Holmes, (Holmes County Food Hub)

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: Outputs: 1 proven training model was implemented with 107 (PY1) + 13 (PY2) new farmer participants access to 83 acres donated for participants who do not own their own land,- all 83 acres in production in PY2 access to a full suite of specialty crop farming equipment from Alcorn State University Extension, including low- or no-cost tractors, tilling and precision seeding and spraying equipment, - two full suites of equipment were available and accessed by 47 participants in PY2 through six of the twelve counties walk-through for individual participants with applications for FAS and NRCS Farm ID, crop insurance, irrigation, hoop house resources and any other applicable EQIP practices - 120 new farmer participants were walked through New Farm ID, FAS and NRCS available resources cold storage and cold transportation - MDC provides walk in cold and freezer storage plus two cold trucks for all participants products or harvest transport and CSA activity. Activities: PY1 to date (August 2022) PY3, the training team, which includes the evaluation team, has provided - (*Note: Calendar of training days for each project year available upon request) 2772 hours of small group training, and 346 hours of one-on-one training to growers, and 120 growers enrolled and trained using Delta Farm Start Enterprise and AG career training model 1 grower became GAP certified - remaining growers operated under Alcorn State University Processing Plant GAP certification Outcomes: PY2-120 additional growers have participated in aggregate mid-tier sales and aggregate mid-size CSA programs - leading to the success of the larger scale CSA program launched by MDC Food Hub and supported by Alcorn State University, Feed the Children and by the Community Foundation of NW Mississippi. Additionally, standing purchase orders from MDC partner Alcorn State University Produce Processing Plant supported newly established growers. 67 of 120 Delta Farm Start trained beginning farm operations, produced and sold over 171,000 lbs of produce (CSA) + 69,960 lbs Alcorn (Aggregate buyer) 67 growers averaged approximately 3,596 lbs over a 12-week season in PY2 producing 240,960 lbs 67 growers went from 0 lbs of commercial sales to 240,960 lbs total over PY2 an increase from 37 growers and 82,500 lbs from PY1 resulting in a 192% increase 120 farmers have been identified and enrolled as project participants - of the 67 farms that had begun small-scale commercial farming operations through PY2, they have all continued to grow into commercial operations over the 2023-2024 season and we have added two more for a total of 67 active growers. PY2 has included monthly TA online meetings and monthly onsite visits to different producers each month. Visits are attended by 5-15 growers each month. Objective 2: Outputs: 120 participants trained and provided tools to transition to meaningful, productive, profitable and sustainable farm/ranch AG enterprises MDC Food Hub utilized it's on-site commercial kitchen and cold storage as a base of operations and both dry and cold storage for the CSA programs 26 week guaranteed receiving season for growers PY2: MDC Food Hub received 2 days per week for 12 weeks PY2 and Alcorn Processing Plan received 2 days per week for 14 weeks stretching into the late Fall PY2 creating a 26 week receiving season for producers - all qualifying products were guaranteed to be accepted and purchased - supported through Feed the Children, the Community Foundation of NW Mississippi and various church collaboratives purchasing CSA boxes for their congregations weekly or for special events. Total participants have increased to 120 growers in PY2 with 67 new small-scale commercial farming operations. DRA completes and submits all required reporting to MDC monthly to accompany invoicing as well as completes all reporting to the funding agency in a timely manner and ensure that any questions or information required by the project officer is addressed promptly. In PY2, the MDC Delta Farm Start BFRDP has provided 2772 hours of small group training and 346 hours of one-on-one training to growers throughout PY2. This training has been provided to growers with a combination of MDC BFRDP staff and project partners, including NCAT, Warehouses4Good, DRA Resources and MS Minority Farmers Alliance as a mentor for smaller scale growers on how to shift to commercial production. Evaluation team has submitted monthly reporting to MDC/FWOI in a timely manner and has ensured that any questions or information required by MDC administration or staff is addressed promptly. Activities: MDC Food Hub manages a large-scale CSA operation in collaboration with Feed the Children, the Community Foundation of NW Mississippi as well as with a collaborative of churches in the north Mississippi Delta region. MDC Food Hub collaborated with Alcorn Vegetable Processing Plant to coordinate aggregate buying for standing POs held by Alcorn to fulfill purple hull pea and greens orders for both Kroger's and Walmart. 2-3 on-farm training days per month, with additional on-site MDC Food Hub VAP trainings each month, VAP training included use of the on-site MDC commercial kitchen and proper use of cold storage facility Outcomes: 24 weeks total x 475 boxes per week x 15lbs of produce per box = 171,000 lbs of produce total delivered to families most at need and purchased from 67 growers at $2.50 per pound = $427,500 at an average of $6,380.00 per participating grower in PY2 Over 14 weeks 69,960 lbs of produce total was then received, processed and sold as part of Alcorn Processing Plant standing POs with Kroger and Walmart and then available for Delta families most at need to purchase at their local grocer Alcorn Processing Plant purchased bushels of purple hull peas, turnip/mustard/collard greens from 67 Delta Farm Start growers at $1.75 per pound = $122,430 % Change in behavior - 55.8% (67 total) of participants began harvesting product weekly during a 26 week season 55.8% (67 total) of participants began selling produce and VAPs commercially on a weekly basis during a 26-week season 100% increase in available CSAs in PY2 No less than 475 families per week incorporated fresh local food into their weekly meal prep, recipe cards were provided in each CSA box, 89% of families had not ever cooked turnips, beets or cabbage prior to receiving Delta Farm Start CSA boxes % Change in knowledge Number started farming operations: 67 of 120 trained = 55.8% Number trained to prepare to start farming: 120 of 120 trained = 100% Number in first 10 years of farming that improved their success: 67 of 120 trained = 55.8% Number Limited Resource Producers: all 120 participants and all 67 producers = 100% Number African American beginning farmers: all 119 trained = 99.99% Number Women beginning farmers: 50 of 120 trained = 42% Number Veterans beginning farmers: 15 of 120 trained = 12.5% Number under the age of 50 (Young Farmers): 40 of 120 trained = 33% Number completing GAP certification: 1 of 120 trained = .008% Number participating in Genuine MS® : 6 of 120 trained = 5% 63% increase in families incorporating local and regionally produced fresh vegetables into their weekly meal prep 89% of families (422 per week) learning and incorporating new vegetables into their weekly diet % Change in farm income 171,00 lbs of produce sold to CSA partners at $2.50 per pound = $427,500 PY2 69,960 lbs of produce sold to small scale aggregators at $1.75 per pound = $122,430 PY2 An average of $8,207.91 per farm for the 67 participants PY2 Total Income to 67 Participants over PY2 = $549,930 Total Project Cost: $733,510 ROI for Delta Farm Start = N/A until PY3 % Adding new marketing strategies Number selling produce to small aggregators from new farming operations: 67 of 120 trained = 55.8% Number completing GAP certification: 1 of 120 trained = .008% Number participating in Genuine MS®: 6 of 120 trained = 5%

Publications

Progress 09/15/22 to 09/14/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The Delta Fresh Start BFRDP has reached 107 beginning farmers in PY1. These growers are: 100% African American, 19% Female, 19% Veterans, 34% under the age of 50, 100% small-scale new commercial operations, 100% residents of targeted 6 Mississippi Delta counties Changes/Problems:FarmQMS - was never fully functional for growers to implement on a wider scale in our previous funding cycle. In PY1 it has remained at a beta testing phase with feedback from growers on how to improve the system. Grower feedback is primarily focused on a system that has a significantly simplified onboarding process as well as an improved and more intuitive user interface. The FarmQMS software development has been transferred to TruNorthern What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?MDC and it's BFRDP partners will have completed 2 CFR 200 Training by March 1, 2024 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?N/A due to PY1 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As we enter the next reporting period, our focus remains on advancing our goals of supporting small-scale farmers and promoting agricultural sustainability. Adaptation to evolving circumstances and seizing opportunities for growth and development will be key priorities. This will be accomplished by developing three new aggregators to activate the Farm to School market throughout Mississippi. We are hoping to target at least 200 schools in PY2. The developing aggregators include Tim Bradford, (Bradford Farms) , Ben Burkette, (Indian Springs Farms) and Glyen Holmes, (Holmes County Food Hub)

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: Implement proven farming/ranching, enterprise and AG career training model with curricula and resources tailored to needs of minority, low-income, limited-resource, small-scale farmers in the Northern Mississippi Delta. As a continuation of our previous funding cycle, BFRDP 2019-2022: 107 farmers have been identified and enrolled as project participants - of the 35 farms that had begun small-scale commercial farming operations in PY1, they have all continued to grow into commercial operations over the 2022-2023 season and we have added two more for a total of 37 active growers. Growers participating in weekly trainings both on-farm and via zoom have shifted to aggregate sales, both the MDC Food Hub as well as collaborative partner Alcorn State University Produce Processing Plant have moved over 82,500 pounds of produce from the 37 growers that reached the stage of production or increased production in PY1. Transitioning into the new 2022 BFRDP funding cycle BFRDP will work collaboratively with our RFSP project to integrate on-farm mechanical harvesting that goes straight to production and farm-to-school sales. Development of FarmQMS has been transitioned from Up In Farms to TruNorhtern. All feedback from producers will be incorporated into the next iteration of the software which we are expecting to be tested by growers this spring 2024. PY1 has included monthly TA online meetings and monthly onsite visits to different producers each month. Visits are attended by 5-15 growers each month. Objective 2: 66 participants will have tools to transition into meaningful, productive, profitable, and sustainable farm/ranch AG enterprises as entrepreneurs or to AG related careers, having the skills and resources necessary for success in the field of agriculture and to contribute to regional household food security and local economic sustainability. Total participants have been increased to 121 growers in PY1 with 37 new small-scale commercial farming operations. Production coordinators continued to be involved weekly with on-farm T/TA with all participating growers throughout the 2022- 2023 season - Prep began in January and harvests began in April and continued through December of 2023 As FarmQMS was not operational during PY3 in our previous BFRDP awarded grant, increased production as well as increased integration of FarmQMS to facilitate the creation of both physical and virtual access to aggregated produce inventory did not happen. The team reverted to traditional strategies for aggregation marketing and sales. The increased data collection on the status of each participant's crop(s) and harvest timing was not able to be tracked through FarmQMS and therefore sales to both institutions and mid-tier grocery buyers was accomplished through traditional methods this new funding cycle. However, we are anticipating the newest iteration of FarmQMS to be available to growers during the Spring and Summer growing seasons of 2024 with new user interfaces and simpler onboarding process. We are looking to integrate very basic food safety data as well in this next iteration. OUTPUTS Delta Farm Start PY3: DRA completes and submits all required reporting to MDC monthly to accompany invoicing as well as completes all reporting to the funding agency in a timely manner and ensure that any questions or information required by the project officer is addressed promptly. FarmQMS reporting will hopefully become an integral component of BFRDP monitoring, evaluation and reporting during this new funding cycle for ALL GROWERS participating. Currently FarmQMS is undergoing a redesign phase and has been transferred to TruNorthern for the redesign. DRA organizes and hosts the standing weekly zoom grower and training team meetings, and collects data from growers while on site during monthly site visits, as well as through phone, email, and via zoom. (Note - Detailed data collection by participating grower, including grower sales receipts are available upon request.) As noted in monthly reports, the evaluation team continually makes modification requests to the programming team for modifications to the FarmQMS interface and system. The programming team TruNorhtern is currently working on these modifications. In PY1, the MDC Delta Farm Start BFRDP has provided 693 hours of small group training and 206 hours of one on one training to growers throughout PY1. PY1 to date, the training team, which includes the evaluation team, has provided 1,386 hours of small group training and 173 hours of one-on-one training to growers. This training has been provided to growers with a combination of MDC BFRDP staff and project partners, including, NCAT, Pesqueira Training Services, DRA Resources and MS Minority Farmers Alliance as a mentor for smaller scale growers on how to shift to commercial production. Training hours have been confirmed by the evaluation team through data collection including training schedules and proof of grower attendance as well as on-farm one-on-one meetings held with growers and follow up interviews with growers confirming training efficacy and potential outcomes. This training has been provided to growers with a combination of MDC BFRDP staff and project partners, including NCAT, Pesqueira Training Services, DRA Resources Mississippi Minority Farmers Alliance as a mentor for smaller scale growers on how to shift to commercial production. Monthly TA meetings have been added on farm for participants as well as bimonthly TA training team online meetings to coordinate all regional grower training efforts with collaborative partners as well as regional stakeholders. Evaluation team has submitted monthly reporting to MDC/FWOI in a timely manner and has ensured that any questions or information required by MDC administration or staff is addressed promptly.

Publications