Source: National Young Farmers Coalition
Washington, D.C. -- Today, 168 organizations and businesses
sent a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, urging the full restoration of the
Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (ILCMA) Program, which funds fifty community-based, locally-led projects that directly address the barriers facing young and beginning farmers across the country.
Regardless of geography, or whether they grew up on a farm, finding secure access to farmland is the greatest barrier faced by young, beginning, and aspiring farmers, and the number one reason farmers are leaving agriculture. The ILCMA Program was created to address the land access crisis, and the interrelated challenges of capital and market access.
The letter to Secretary Rollins details the alignment between the purpose of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program and the administration's goals to address the aging U.S. agricultural workforce and improve public health.
The new generation of farmers and ranchers, as well as retiring farmers and farmland owners, are depending on ILCMA projects for assistance with farmland down payment costs, low-interest loans to finance farmland purchases, predictable markets for their products, beginning farmer training, farmland succession planning, and more. Most of these crucial projects have been put on hold due to the federal funding freeze. Last week,
AgriPulse Reported that the ILCMA Program is currently on the short-list of programs being reviewed by the USDA.
"Due to the freeze of the land access grant program, we have needed to pass up opportunities to secure land for our network of beginning farmers, many of whom have short term land access - or no access at all," stated Agroecology Commons Collective, an ILCMA grantee. "These new farmers are passionate about land stewardship and capable and committed to ensuring a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply. They are seeking secure land access in a state where a beginning farmer's average income is highly incompatible with securing land, unless the land is inherited. Although they have been waiting patiently for our program to begin, they cannot wait in perpetuity and need clarity for their farming livelihoods. As an organization, it feels like we are navigating a storm where multiple funding freezes and terminations have left us plugging leaks and dodging tidal waves at the same time--all combined threatening to sink the boat we've worked so hard to build."
"We were ready for a year of growth and now, with the funding freeze, we are in a year of 'Let's hold on to what we have. Over the last 20 years, the nonprofit has trained hundreds of urban farmers in the region how to farm and get their businesses off the ground," said Brien Darby, Executive Director of Cultivate KC, an ILCMA grantee. "As agricultural land around Kansas City has been swallowed up by development, this grant project is intended to secure farmland for the next generation of farmers in our community, as well as develop sustainable pathways to help beginning farm businesses access the capital they need to succeed. USDA made a commitment to the agricultural community by investing in innovative solutions to some of the industry's most pressing challenges for beginning farmers. Freezing these funds has undermined trust with the agency, and we urge Secretary Rollins to uphold these contracts to restore faith in the agency's commitment to the next generation of farmers."
During her confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, Secretary Rollins stated, "The average age [of a farmer today] is 58 years old. If we really think we're going to have a sustainable thriving ag community in 20 or 30 or 50 years, after you and I [have probably] gone to meet our maker, then we have to reverse that trend." Later in the hearing, she stated, "If we hope to revive and restore our rural communities and go back to our family farms, we have to address [the aging agricultural workforce] immediately."
"We agree with Secretary Rollins that our nation's aging agricultural workforce puts the security of our farm and food systems at risk, and this threat must be addressed immediately," stated Amanda Koehler, Land Policy Associate Director for Young Farmers. "The Secretary has an opportunity to meaningfully address this crisis, while improving public health, by ensuring that Land, Capital, and Market Access contracts are fully restored and that the program is protected moving forward."
About National Young Farmers Coalition
The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at www.youngfarmers.org.