Grants and outreach to advance sustainable innovations to the whole of American agriculture. | |||||||||||||||||
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Farm Mentors Teach Production, Life Skills to New
Producers "I was looking for something I could do to raise my kids outside the city,” said Arellano, a Mexican immigrant who credits the Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS) organization with helping him get his start in farming. “When I came here, and they [MIFFS staff] told me about this farm, I just forgot about the bakery. MIFFS received a SARE grant to bring better opportunities to minority farmers through education. That knowledge, passed through pairing experienced farmers with aspiring ones, took advantage of the power of one-on-one learning. “Farmers learn better from other farmers,” said Barbara James Norman, a third-generation blueberry farmer in western Michigan and coordinator of the MIFFS mentoring project. “By going one-on-one in the field and around the kitchen table, we help small farmers become more economically viable. We get them going one farm family at a time.” The program, centered on African-American and Hispanic farmers, serves a growing need in southwest Michigan. Norman selected six mentors and paired them with 14 new farmers over the 2 years of the project. MIFFS augmented with training in English language skills, integrated pest management through Michigan State University, and proposal writing. The organization also held 10 well-attended weeks of business training using the SARE-funded “Tilling the Soil of Opportunity” course. While they intended the mentoring to last 2 days, some farmers extended their relationships, visiting frequently to share information or assist with harvesting or marketing. With help from Norman, who was assigned as his mentor, Arellano wrote a successful application for a USDA Farm Service Agency loan and purchased his farm in Covert in Michigan’s famed fruit belt. “They’ve been so good to me,” Arellano said. “Any time I have a problem, they help me.” After going to a MIFFS Web development workshop, he launched a website promoting his farm. [View the project report.]
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