Over 180 organizations from across the country have officially endorsed the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2013, and are encouraging their elected members in Congress to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation. Full text of the letter is included below (click here to add your organization to this list).
Dear Members of Congress:
We the undersigned organizations enthusiastically endorse the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2013 that will soon be introduced in the House and Senate. This comprehensive and forward-thinking initiative would help a new generation of farmers and ranchers enter agriculture, and we strongly support its inclusion, in its entirety, in the upcoming farm bill.
The bill recognizes the urgent need to address the aging of American agriculture and at the same time to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the rising interest in farming among an increasingly diverse set of new farmers. In doing so, the bill addresses the credit, conservation, research, and training needs of beginning farmers and ranchers. It would improve existing credit programs so they are accessible for young and beginning farmers, reauthorize important conservation programs that foster new life-long stewards of the land, and invest in research and training to encourage innovative strategies for land transfer and farm entry. The bill also invests farm bill dollars in beginning farmer development grants with a new priority on military veterans, in an innovative individual development account pilot program, and in value added producer grants that will increase market opportunities and profitability for new farmers.
We urge you to support this innovative and much-needed initiative to tackle a pressing concern that too often in the past has been talked about but not acted upon. We look forward to working with you to ensure this initiative is enacted into law as part of the new farm bill.
Sincerely,
National
CCOF
Center for Rural Affairs
The Cornucopia Institute
Demeter Association
Fair Food Network
Farmer-Veteran Coalition
Food Animal Concerns Trust
Institute for Social and Economic Development
Izaak Walton League of America
National Association of Counties
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National Center for Appropriate Technology
National Farmers Union
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
National Young Farmers’ Coalition
Organic Farming Research Foundation
Organic Valley
Pesticide Action Network
Rural Advancement Foundation International – USA
Slow Food USA
United Farmers USA
Arkansas
National Center for Appropriate Technology
California
California Farmers Union
California FarmLink
CCOF
Center for Land-Based Learning
Farm to Table Food Services
Farmer-Veteran Coalition
National Center for Appropriate Technology
Organic Farming Research Foundation
Pesticide Action Network
Connecticut
New England Farmers Union
Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Delaware
Northeast Pasture Consortium
District of Columbia
Institute for Social and Economic Development
National Association of Counties
National Farmers Union
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Florida
Slow Food First Coast
Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers
Georgia
Community of Farmers
Georgia Organics
Truly Living Well
Illinois
Angelic Organics Learning Center
Evanston Food Council
Farm Business Development Center
Food Animal Concerns Trust
Food Works
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Liberty Prairie Foundation
The Land Connection
Iowa
Food Democracy Now!
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Iowa Environmental Council
Iowa Farmers Union
Leopold Group, S.E. Iowa chapter, Iowa Sierra Club
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National Center for Appropriate Technology
National Farmers Organization
Pioneer Hi-bred, Johnston, IA
Practical Farmers of Iowa
Women, Food and Agriculture Network
Kansas
Kansas Rural Center
Louisiana
Southern Mutual Help Association, Inc.
Southern Research and Development
Maine
Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
Cultivating Community
Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society
New England Farmers Union
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship
Maryland
Izaak Walton League of America
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Montgomery Countryside Alliance
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Massachusetts
Berkshire Grown
Boston Area Gleaners
Equity Trust, Inc.
Lutheran Social Services of New England
New England Farmers Union
New England Small Farm Institute
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Sustainable Business Network
The Lost Arts Collaborative/Captain Pollard’s Flintlock Farm
Michigan
Beginning Farmers LLC
Fair Food Network
Food System Economic Partnership
Lansing Urban Farm Project
Michigan Coalition of Black Farmers
Michigan Food and Farming Systems
Michigan Land Use Institute
Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance
Michigan Yarn Company
Michigan Young Farmer Coalition
Mulberry Hill
Northwest Michigan Council of Governments
Northwest Michigan Food and Farming Network
Washtenaw County Public Health
Minnesota
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Association
Land Stewardship Project
Minnesota Catholic Conference
Minnesota COACT
Minnesota Farmers Union
Minnesota Food Association
Minnesota National Farmers Organization
Renewing the Countryside
Round River Farm
Shalom Seed Sanctuary
Mississippi
Rainbow Natural Grocery Cooperative
Missouri
Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph
Missouri Farmers Union
Montana
Alternative Energy Resources Organization
National Center for Appropriate Technology
Nebraska
Center for Rural Affairs
Nebraska Farmers Union
Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society
Slow Food Nebraska
New Hampshire
Land For Good
New England Farmers Union
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire (NOFA-NH)
Sundhill Farm
New Jersey
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey
Northeast Pasture Consortium
New Mexico
New Mexico Acequia Association
Taos County Economic Development Corp
New York
Center for Bioregional Living
Farm Catskills
Farm School NYC
Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute
Gabriel’s Harvest
Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming
Just Food
National Young Farmers’ Coalition
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG)
Root ‘n Roost Farm
Slow Food USA
North Carolina
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
Eastern Carolina Organics
Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA
Ohio
Innovative Farmers of Ohio
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
Ohio Environmental Council
Oklahoma
The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative
Norman Sustainability Network
Oklahoma Farm and Food Alliance
Okmulgee County Farmers and Ranchers
Sustainable Stillwater
Sustainable Tahlequah
Oregon
Adelante Mujeres
Central Oregon Food Policy Council
Central Oregon Locavore
Demeter Association
Ecotrust
Eugene School Garden Project of Lane County
Friends of Family Farmers
Gorge Grown Food Network
Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides
Nuestra Communidad Sana
Oregon Farmers Markets Association
Oregon Rural Action
Oregon Tilth
Portland Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (PACSAC)
Portland Permaculture Guild
Rogue Farm Corps
Rogue Valley Farm to School
Rural Organizing Project
Thrive
Pennsylvania
Community Action Development Commission
Eden Hall Farm
Fay-Penn Economic Development Council
Fayette and Greene Chapter, Buy Fresh Buy Local
Matthews Family Farm
National Center for Appropriate Technology
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture
Pennypack Farm and Education Center
Rhode Island
Farm Fresh Rhode Island
New England Farmers Union
Northeast Pasture Consortium
South Carolina
United Farmers USA
South Dakota
Dakota Rural Action
South Dakota Farmers Union
Texas
National Center for Appropriate Technology
Sustainable Food Center
Texas Mexico Border Coalition CBO
Tennessee
Arugula’s Star of Neal Family Farms. L.P.
Community Food Advocates
GrowMemphis
Nashville Grown
Tennessee Alliance for Progress
Tennessee Obesity Task Force/Vanderbilt Institute for Obesity and Metabolism
Vermont
Fresh Start Community Farm
New England Farmers Union
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
Virginia
Appalachian Sustainable Development
Virginia Association for Biological Farming
Washington
Community to Community
Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network
West Virginia
Northeast Pasture Consortium
Wisconsin
Abundant Garden Life
Family Farm Defenders
Farley Center
GrassWorks, Inc.
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service
Oneida Falling Leaves 4-H
Organic Valley
The Cornucopia Institute
The CSA Coalition
Click here to add your organization to this list.