Hardly a day goes by on the 1-800-FARM-AID hotline when we don’t get a call from a farmer that goes something like this: “I keep hearing about all these grants for farmers. Is it just the big corporate farms that get those or what?”
Well, I respond, there are a number of grant possibilities for farmers available, and no, they are definitely not just for big corporate farms. True, the big guys likely have the advantage in being able, say, to hire grant proposal writers or whatever, but access to public information about grant possibilities is available to anyone who wants to go after it. But where to start?
One of Farm Aid’s old friends and one of the most dependable farm advocates I’ve had the pleasure to work with is Cissy Bowman of Hoosier Organic Marketing & Education (HOME) out of Clayton, Indiana. She’s recently made it her business to pull together grant information and funding opportunities in one place and spell it out clearly for anyone who wants it.
As first published in Farm Indiana, Cissy’s articles (embedded below) on funding are straightforward, informative and timely. Though addressed to Indiana farmers specifically, Cissy describes funding opportunities available to farmers nationwide. I want to encourage Farm Aiders to pass along this link to the first three articles in her series, and to feel free to be in touch with me for more articles as they become available.
We will also include Cissy’s articles in our Farm Aid Resource Network search tool, where any farmer—small, big, or middle-sized—can get at them readily, along with additional links to funding opportunities for farmers, financial counseling help, disaster help, technical assistance, legal advice and a whole lot more.
Funding Opportunities for Indiana’s Farmers #1 by Farm Aid
Funding Opportunities for Indiana’s Farmers #2 by Farm Aid
