University of Illinois Extension

Illinois Small Farms

Welcome

Illinois Small Farms provides information for the commercial small farmer as well as the small acreage landowner. The purpose of this website is to provide easy access to information for small-scale farmers and those who work with them.

What’s New

USDA Announces Amended Farm Bill Provisions and New Sign Up Deadline

Owners and operators of farms with 10 or fewer base acres now have the opportunity to receive payments for the 2008 Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program. On Oct. 13, 2008, President George W. Bush signed a bill that made amendments to the 2008 Farm Bill. These amendments apply to farms with crop acreage bases of 10 acres or less. These changes and clarifications allow some producers more flexibility in farming practices and create new sign-up opportunities with new deadlines for some farms. The amendments also apply to the new Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE) Program.

Learn more.

NCR-SARE Announces Calls for Proposals

NCR-SARE announces the 2009 Calls for Proposals for both the Youth & Youth Educator Sustainable Agriculture Grants and the Graduate Student Grant Program.

Youth Grants are new part of the Farmer Rancher Grant Program. The purpose of the Youth Grant Program is to provide opportunities for youth in the North Central Region to learn more about Sustainable Agriculture.

YOUTH GRANTS: These grants are awarded to youth ages 8-21 for on-farm research, demonstration, or education projects. Research and demonstration projects are for hands-on efforts to explore sustainable agriculture issues and practices. Education projects can involve teaching others about sustainable agriculture or attending a sustainable agriculture conference, workshop, or camp. $400 maximum. Deadline: January 30, 2009.

YOUTH EDUCATOR GRANTS: These grants are awarded to educators to provide programming on sustainable agriculture for youth. $2,000 maximum. Deadline: January 30, 2009.

NCR-SARE instituted the Graduate Student Grant Program for officially registered graduate students (Masters and Ph.D.) enrolled at accredited colleges or universities.

GRADUATE STUDENT GRANTS: These grants are for graduate student projects lasting up to three years. Projects must benefit agriculture in the North Central Region. $10,000 maximum. Deadline: January 28, 2009.

The calls for both the Youth Grant and the Graduate Student Grant will be available on the NCR-SARE website in December 2008 at http://sare.org/ncrsare/

For more information about the Youth Grant Program contact NCR-SARE Associate Regional Coordinator, Joan Benjamin at 402-472-0809, 1-800-529-1342 or .  For more information about the Graduate Student Grant Program contact NCR-SARE Graduate Student Program Coordinator, Bill Wilcke at 612-625-8205 or . For additional information, contact Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, Illinois SARE Coordinator, , 217-968-5512.  For information about Illinois Graduate Student Grant Program recipients - http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/smallfarm/sare/

NCR-SARE Awards $100,000 Diversity Grant

For Barbara Norman, sustainable agriculture is more than an interest; it's a lifestyle.

Norman is a third generation farmer on her blueberry farm in Van Buren County, MI, and has been awarded the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program's (NCR-SARE) first ever Diversity Grant for $100,000.

The Diversity Research and Education Grant Program is a new NCR-SARE grant program. Its purpose is to fund people and/or projects that can help NCR-SARE reach and work with underserved audiences to improve agricultural sustainability in the region. Chaired by Robin Salverson, the NCR-SARE Diversity Committee was formed to respond to NCR-SARE's goal to reach and work with underserved audiences.

Norman has selected three specific areas to concentrate efforts for this project: Detroit, MI, Kankakee, IL, and the historical farms of Nicodemus, KS. Norman and Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS) outreach coordinators targeted these three underserved communities based on demographic data and the potential to build on key relationships with service providers in those underserved communities.

Moving forward with the project, MIFFS outreach staff will meet with potential leaders and early adopters in the targeted communities, develop partnerships with service providers who are interested in working with the underserved communities, and establish this SARE sponsored project as a means to develop relationships among SARE, the leaders/early adopters, the underserved farmers, and the service providers.

To read more about NCR-SARE Diversity Initiative, go to http://sare.org/ncrsare/diversity.htm

Illinois Department of Agriculture has Funds Available to Reimburse Certified Organic Producers and Handlers for Certification Costs

To be eligible for reimbursement, an organic production or handling operation must be located within Illinois, comply with the USDA National Organic Program regulations for organic production or handling and have received certification or continuation of certification by a USDA-accredited certifying agent between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009.

Under Illinois' current agreement with the USDA, producers and handlers can make application for reimbursement to the Illinois Department of Agriculture by submitting the following documents:

  1. Illinois Organic Certification Cost-Share Program application
  2. W-9 form (Rev. 10/07)
  3. Copy of the certificate or continuation of certification document from the USDA-accredited certifying agency
  4. Copy of your paid, itemized invoice from your certifier

Based on the receipt of the completed application packet by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, reimbursements will be on a first-come, first-served basis until the limited program funds are exhausted.

For more information, contact Delayne Reeves at 217/524-9129 or .

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