A new website recently unveiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture centralizes information for beginning farmers looking to grow into the industry, said Jeff Stackhouse, livestock and natural resources advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension Humboldt and Del Norte counties office.
The department launched the website last month, which aims to be a one-stop shop where beginning farmers can explore the department’s grants and programs, including those that help new ranchers with business planning. For example, the website lays out numerous ways to utilize the Farm Service Agency, which helps farmers with financing.
“It’s really nice that the resources are in one place, and for the most part, the generations of beginning farmers are tech-savy and can easily navigate a website, unlike most baby boomers,” Stackhouse said. “The resources are not only helpful for beginning farmers starting from scratch, but also people who want to show a greater interest in their family’s business by finding ways to contribute financially, with new fencing or a new greenhouse.”
Deborah Giraud, farm, community and economic development advisor at the UC Cooperative Extension Humboldt and Del Norte counties office, said people in many different professions have a passion to do the work, but may not be well-versed in such business skills as accessing loans and bookkeeping.
“There are a bunch of statistics about how many farmers are over the ages of 55 and 65, and soon there will be a lot of overturn of farmers,” Giraud said. “Many beginning farmers have trouble starting out because it’s so expensive to buy land, and it takes a long time for people without years of experience to be credit-worthy.”
Michelle Wyler, Community Alliance with Family Farmers Humboldt County regional manager, said there are a lot of young people in the area who are interested in farming but don’t have access to land or capital.
“We’ve seen similar results as the U.S. Department of Agriculture as to what new farmers are looking for, in that they want more access to markets and business planning,” Wyler said.
The UC Cooperative Extension is a partnership among California counties, the University of California and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which puts together programming and provides information about agriculture in communities.
To learn more about the new website, visit www.usda.gov/newfarmers.
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