Value-Added Agriculture
Mid-sized family farms and the farming communities they support have been facing tough economic times for consecutive decades. At the same time, powerful new trends in consumer demand along with innovative new business models across the supply chain have contributed to the creation of new markets for agricultural products. Remaining on the land increasingly requires the ability to add value to basic agricultural products through branding, processing, product differentiation, labeling and certification, and marketing but farmers need the tools and skills to tap into emerging and future trends in markets.
As a way to help foster market-based solutions to farm income problems, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition was instrumental in creating the Value-Added Producer Grants Program (VAPG) in 2000. Through the VAPG program, the USDA Rural Business Cooperative Service makes grants to producers and producer-controlled entities to develop value-added businesses and thereby enhance farm income, farm and rural employment opportunities, community economic development, consumer food choices, and natural resource problems. Grants can be used for a number of different activities, ranging from writing business plans to establishing a working capital fund.
Read the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s summary of past VAPG projects.
Actions Taken by NSAC:
NSAC submitted written recommendations to USDA about implementing the new VAPG reauthorized in the 2008 Farm Bill; August 2008.