Building Institutional Support to Increase Farm Viability of Indiana's Beginning Farmers

In Indiana, more than 23,000 farmers self-identified as being a beginning farmer, having less than 10 years experience producing food, feed, fuel and/or fiber. These farmers are found in rural and urban areas, can be young or old, and often use a myriad of production systems. Because beginning farmers come from diverse backgrounds and oftentimes farm in non-traditional ways, it has been challenging for them to find resources from national, state, and local organizations. Also, available resources are often non-existent since few farmers were entering the field prior to 10 years ago and most resources were developed to meet the needs of traditional corn and soybean growers. As such, many beginning farmers lack the necessary production and financial tools to be able to maintain viable farming businesses. The intended target audience for this project will be agriculture professionals from local, state and national organizations that are working to increase farm viability of Indiana beginning farmers. The outcomes from this project will be to develop a robust and dynamic cross agency program that will increase the capacity of beginning farmers to be successful. Specific outcomes are a beginning farmer certification program, improved farm viability metrics on participating beginning farms and increased networking among all stakeholders. Activities will include diversity, equity and inclusion workshops, a workbook with checklist to support organizations supporting beginning farmers, webpage updates, video content for the certification program, farm tours to participating beginning farms, out of state field trip, and regular meetings with local, state and national organizations.