Enabling Our Emerging Farmers
By Katlin Swisher
Round Right Farms in Preston County. Photo by Round Right Farms.
The U.S. Census is an important tool for gauging things like a state’s population and economic vitality. For instance, West Virginia’s latest census results report that the Mountain State’s unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in December 2017 and that the population decreased by 1.2 percent between 2010-2016. It even goes so far as to show that the average age of a West Virginia farmer is 60 years, slightly older than the national average of 58.
What the census doesn’t do, however, is portray the hundreds of young farming entrepreneurs fighting to stay in West Virginia, contribute to a thriving economy and improve their local communities by producing nutrient-dense food. With this group in mind, the new West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition (WVFFC) is working to grow the local food and agriculture system in West Virginia in a way that provides viable incomes for farmers and local businesses while ensuring all West Virginia residents have access to locally produced food.
“Today’s beginning farmer isn’t inheriting land from their family, and they didn’t grow up on the farm,” says Spencer Moss, WVFFC’s executive director. “They are, however, college educated and often well-traveled. They see the effects of industrialized agriculture on the food system and the environment and have a desire to contribute to the world in a different way. They want to build up the organic matter in soil, breathe life into these small West Virginia towns and feed their communities. If West Virginia is trying to keep a population of young people, then we need more
young farmers.”
Establishing a Support System
The WVFFC is making success more achievable with its Beginning Farmer Program. The program creates opportunities for accessing land, coordinates a peer-to-peer learning community and facilitates networking and the sharing of agricultural training programs in West Virginia.
“We are working to respond to the needs of beginning farmers who are entering one of the toughest professions,” says Moss. “As more folks are trained and use our services to create agricultural communities and connections, we can foster a space that will promote more beginning farmers and thus provide jobs for West Virginians.”
The need for a program like this in West Virginia was identified in a meeting of beginning farmer training programs at the Small Farms Conference in 2016.
“These programs wanted to work together to troubleshoot problems, share resources and build more West Virginia farmers,” says Gabby Scrofano, WVFFC’s logistics and program coordinator. “However, it was evident that training farmers isn’t enough to create sustainable new farms in West Virginia. We must provide continued support for farmers as they try to go out on their own and lease or buy land, set up infrastructure and find markets to sell their products.”
Leveraging Agriculture Connections
What makes WVFFC’s Beginning Farmer Program different from other programs of its kind is that the organization does not host its own intensive training program, focusing instead on partnerships and social networking to help beginning farmers connect with resources like training programs, mentors and apprenticeships. All the services and resources offered are available at no charge.
Through the program’s website, www.wvbeginningfarmer.org, the organization maintains a database of West Virginia farmers who host interns and are committed to helping beginning farmers gain hands-on experience in the field of their choosing. Prospective trainees can also connect with intensive training programs around the state.
“We encourage young and beginning farmers to join our Facebook groups, where training and job opportunities are posted to help them connect with folks throughout the state already in the field,” says Scrofano.
The Beginning Farmer Program also offers transition services to complement the work of on-farm training programs.
“As young farmers matriculate out of training programs or apprenticeships, they need services if they’re going to start farming,” says Scrofano. “The resources farmers may need include but are not limited to help with finding land, getting business training, financing a farm, connecting with other farmers in their community or specialty, locating markets and borrowing, buying or leasing equipment. We are happy to talk one-on-one with farmers to help them find trainings, connect them with experts and work through any obstacles they may encounter.”
The WVFFC also coordinates the West Virginia Incubator Farm Network, an inclusive network of West Virginia agriculture training programs that train and educate the next generation of farmers.
“The network encourages collaborative efforts of program representatives to offer the most effective and supportive training to beginning farmers,” says Scrofano. “The network will continue to grow as we are planning to include farms that take on interns and provide hands-on experience for aspiring farmers.”
In addition, the WVFFC coordinates the West Virginia Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training, or WV CRAFT, a farmer-led, farmer-to-farmer learning community for young, beginning and established farmers from around the state. Each farm tour or round table ends with a potluck meal made with homegrown edibles and provides space for networking and organic community building.
“We are partially through our second year of WV CRAFT, and our communities have started to request offering more tours locally or within their regions,” says Scrofano. “This may be our next step in the program, piloting multiple local WV CRAFT tours in a community to help build the network and mentorships for farmers in the area.”
Addressing the Obstacles
One of the biggest challenges faced by beginning farmers is locating affordable land to start their businesses. In fall 2018, the WVFFC scheduled a series of planning meetings to discuss bigger, more robust land access options to optimize the resources and partnerships within the state.
“Creation of a land access program will help provide beginning farmers guidance on the next step to owning their own farm business after training,” says Scrofano. “We are currently exploring different strategies we can bring to the program, including a series of meetings with communities, organizations and businesses that have insight and innovative ideas to create a robust land access program in our state. If we can help farmers find affordable land, we are breaking down one of the barriers farmers have with entering this industry and maintaining a sustainable business.”
In the meantime, the WVFFC also has land seeker and landowner intake forms on its website to collect requests from individuals seeking land as well as individuals seeking farmers to lease their land.
“The land seeker and landowner program is in the beginning stages, and while we do not have a large database yet, we do have a handful of properties that have been submitted,” says Moss. “We have also been contacted by a number of farmers looking for land, and we handle intake on a farmer by farmer basis.”
According to the 2016 West Virginia Annual Food Systems Impact Survey, the WVFFC and its partners identified 139 new farmers contributing to various local food hubs in the state. During that year, $1.19 million was put back into the hands of 1,064 producers.
“It is evident that new farmers can have a significant impact on their local economies,” says Scrofano. “If we want to increase the health of our state, not only economically but also physically, we need to promote farming as a viable option as well as help folks interested in agricultural pursuits succeed.”
Solving the Food Desert Challenge
In addition to working to grow and diversify West Virginia’s economy, the WVFFC and its partners aspire to improve food shortages and food deserts in the state’s most rural locations.
“If we can increase the number of people in our state who have the knowledge, skills and resources to farm, we can increase the amount of food available in our state, especially considering that for the folks in rural areas like McDowell County, grocery stores are few and far between and the increase of farmers in that area could be revolutionary in feeding the community,” says Moss.
Additionally, the WVFFC and several of its partners are committed to creating pathways for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, users to access fresh farm food. The WVFFC received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year to double and triple SNAP recipients’ buying power at farmers markets and locally owned grocery stores, known as SNAP Stretch.
“That program is just getting off the ground, but we’re looking to put about $130,000 in additional funding in the hands of West Virginia farmers and low-income families,” says Moss.
Looking Toward the Future
As it continues to develop new initiatives to improve West Virginia’s economic outlook and lay the groundwork for future farmers, the WVFFC remains rooted in the state’s rich farming history.
“Look at the state flag—that’s a coal miner and a farmer,” says Moss. “We don’t want to lose the knowledge or tradition with an aging population. The WVFFC and all of our partners across the state have a lot to figure out and a lot of infrastructure to build in order to help make farming a more profitable business, but the sector is growing. This program has slowly been forming piece by piece over the past few years, and we intend for it to continue to grow.”
