We celebrate your decision to farm, and we are excited to support you as you begin your journey! As a beginning farmer, there are a few things you should know about funding your operation.
It's important to build up your experience
Farming is a capital intensive business. To be successful, you'll need access to land, infrastructure, equipment and operating capital so that you can buy inputs each season. This is true for container farmers as well.
Unfortunately, there are not many grants available to support the purchase of these assets. Once you're underway, you can secure grant funding to implement specific stewardship, marketing or infrastructure projects on the farm. But as you're just starting out, you most likely will not be able to access grants for purposes other than getting scholarships to agricultural training programs or universities.
The next source of capital you could access would then be loans. But most agricultural lenders require their clients to have at least 1 year of direct farm management experience before they'll issue a loan.
We recommend that you rent or lease land for at least a few years, or work for an existing farm operation, to build up your experience before setting out on your own. This will prove to existing lenders that you have the experience to generate income from the farm.
Once you start farming, you'll be eligible for special pools of grant dollars
After you've built up your experience enough to start out on your own, you'll classify as a "beginning farmer" in the USDA's eyes. A beginning farmer is a farmer with less than 10 years of consecutive farm operating experience. This means that you are eligible for special pools of grant dollars that the agency sets aside each year.
For example, a popular stewardship program called EQIP sets aside about 5 to 10% of dollars each year for beginning farmers. Beginning farmers also receive higher rates of EQIP grants - 90% cost-share on practices rather than the standard 75%.
Don't be afraid to get started!
Click here to learn more: Tips on Securing Funding for a New Farm.
We know this can be daunting to read about, and it's no easy task getting started with your farming journey. If you have further questions, we're here for you at: support@farmraise.com