American Farmland Trust (AFT) is excited to announce the Brighter Future Fund (BFF) to assist farmers in successfully launching, growing, and sustaining farms in the face of forces impacting the food and agricultural system, including the COVID-19 pandemic, changing markets, severe weather, and climate change.
Donor Name: American Farmland Trust
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/15/2022
Size of the Grant: $5,000
Details:
The American Farmland Trust seeks to support farmers across America through the Brighter Future Fund. They also recognize that social and racial injustices are entrenched in the history of their nation and their agricultural system.
Their past informs inequities that persist today, and marginalized agricultural producers have been denied equal opportunity to prosper, facing challenges such as loan discrimination, barriers to accessing federal and private programs, exploitative labor practices, intimidation, and theft and appropriation of land. AFT seeks to uplift, support, and amplify the work of a wide range of farmers through this program.
Funding will be allocated to two primary categories:
professional services and equipment or infrastructure costs. Grants are intended to leverage other resources (either in-kind from the farmer, or other private and public funds) and make a difference for farmers to improve farm viability, access, transfer or permanently protect farmland, or adopt regenerative farming practices and increase resilience to climate change.
Additional information that will be taken into consideration when making funding decisions include:
- Priority for individuals who dedicate a majority of their worktime to farming or ranching;
- Need-based consideration of projects;
- Diversity in farms as determined by the dollar value of farm products sold, acres in farming and farm products grown, raised, or produced.
Award Amount and Project Eligibility
Grants will be awarded in amounts up to $5,000 per project. A project may involve one or more individual farmers or farm families. Only one grant can be awarded per farmer/farm family.
Eligible Projects (include but are not limited to):
- Professional Services –
- Hiring an attorney to develop a farm lease, provide legal representation for a farm transfer or purchase, develop an estate plan to support a farm transfer, or navigate heirs property issues.
- Hiring a business, financial or estate planning consultant to assist with a farm transfer plan, business plan, or finance/loan plan.
- Hiring a service provider to support business planning and other services necessary for farmland access or expansion such as land search planning, property assessment, facilitation, succession planning, or crafting agreements.
- Paying transaction costs associated with securing land to farm. These may include costs associated with purchasing a farm, negotiating a lease agreement, or developing an agricultural conservation easement (e.g., survey, appraisal, etc.).
- Infrastructure and Equipment –
- Paying capital costs associated with improving soil health and enhancing land for farm production. Examples include: irrigation, fencing, or soil improvements.
- Purchasing farm equipment or implements that would allow farmers to improve soil health, increase productivity, or enhance crop quality.
- Acquiring new equipment or making improvements to increase marketing and sales of farm products.
- Replacing infrastructure or equipment lost or compromised from natural disasters.
For more information, visit Brighter Future Fund.
