U.S. Department of Agriculture grant will allow the University of Connecticut to restart a training program for new farmers that had been stopped due to a lack of funding.
U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney announced the $597,598 grant on Thursday. With the federal money UConn will be able to bring back the program, called "Advancing the Business of Farming in Connecticut in Partnership with Agriculture Learning Centers," and provide support, education, mentoring and technical assistance to beginning farmers.
"Connecticut farming is booming and more and more farmers are making a living off the land," Murphy said in a statement. "But access to money and training can be hard to come by, and new and aspiring farmers need our help."
The three lawmakers and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro invited Michael Scuse, acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to a meeting with young farmers in Hartford in June where they asked for help in a variety of areas including more federal aid to cope with Connecticut's very expensive agricultural land.
In Connecticut, one in four farm owners have less than 10 years of experience. Between 2007 and 2012 Connecticut saw a 15.1 percent increase in those beginning farmers — one of the largest increases in the nation.
"We should be doing everything we can to support young people who want to enter this field of work," Courtney said in a statement.
Murphy said he visited Sweet Acre Farm in Lebanon Thursday — which was founded in 2011 — to hear from the owners about how training they received at UConn was critical to starting the business.
"I'm thrilled that UConn will now be able to relaunch their program and get Connecticut's aspiring farmers the tools and resources they need to break into the industry," he said.
The UConn program will combine current training at the university with six statewide partners to provide focused training on business and financial management, farmland access, marketing and fruit and vegetable production. UConn began offering the program in 2012 through a similar grant.
UConn's grant was part of $17.8 million in federal money that was earmarked for 37 projects to help young farmers and ranchers.
"We see new and beginning farmers and ranchers as a critical force in sustaining food security, food safety, and many other aspects of agriculture that will become even more challenging as our global population grows," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
Scuse said in Hartford that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was committing $5.6 billion over the next several years to help new and beginning farmers around the nation. The average age for American farmers is about 58 and the average age in Connecticut is slightly higher.
