Living Roots Issue 3 Winter 2024 RAFI

RAFI’S MAGAZINE FOR FARMERS AND FARMER ADVOCATES

WINTER 2024

FARMING ON

SUNSHINE

©

Green Acres, Greener Power

C1 RAFI COVER_WINTER 24 indd.indd 34

11/27/23 10:03 PM

ways to support RAFI Give a one-time donation.

Your generous gift will help create a more just food system.

Pledge a monthly donation.

You’ll sustain RAFI’s ability to help farmers and their communities.

Join RAFI’s Policy Action Network.

©

Help us help farmers and their communities for years to come.

C2 RAFI TOC_WINTER 24 indd.indd 2

11/27/23 10:0 PM

contents

livingroots WINTER 2024

RAFI’S MAGAZINE FOR FARMERS AND FARMER ADVOCATES

22

Brock Phillips of Carolina Solar Services inspects sheep for parasites before releasing them to graze on a solar farm.

3 Learning at the Georgia Mini Conference.

departments 3

Farmer’s Connection

24 Q & A 26 Field and Feast

features 8

Plowing Through Paperwork

RAFI and Farmers Unearth USDA Opportunities

13 Building Power

For This Farm Bill and the Next

16 Stories from the Soil JOE PELLEGRINO

The Art of the All-Season Harvest

28 Rural Reflections

20 Drones, Robots, and the Next Generation in Ag

22 Farming on Sunshine

Green Acres, Greener Power

Front Cover: Stella the Donkey of Carolina Solar Services grazes on a solar farm owned by Durham’s Carolina Solar Energy in a union of animal agriculture and solar farming known as agrovoltaics.

Back Cover: John Campbell of Dinner Bell Farm harvests radishes to prepare for a CSA delivery. PHOTOS BY JOE PELLEGRINO

RAFI P.O. Box 640 Pittsboro, NC 27312 Phone: 919.542.1396 Farmer Hotline: 866.586.6746 livingroots@rafiusa.org rafiusa.org

RA F I U SA .O RG

C2 RAFI TOC_WINTER 24 indd.indd 3

1

11/27/23 10:0 PM

livingroots™ MAGA ZIN E

Executive Editor Edna Rodriguez Managing Editor Beth Andrachick Hauptle Editorial Team Margaret Krome-Lukens Lisa Misch Joe Pellegrino Justine Post Mary Saunders Bulan Contributors Margaret Krome-Lukens Jaimie McGirt Lisa Misch Justine Post Mary Saunders Bulan Angel Woodrum Proofreaders Matthew Adkins Paul Baerman Mo Murrie Designer

Dear Friends, Welcome to the third issue of Living Roots, our magazine for farmers and those who advocate for farmers. We have been heartened by all of your responses to our reader survey. Thank you for taking the time to let us know what you like about the magazine and for your suggestions on other topics of interest to you.

We’ve been on our toes all year preparing and waiting for Farm Bill action, and as of print time we anticipate that the 2023 Farm Bill will be passed sometime in 2024.

We have spent countless hours talking with many small- to mid-scale farmers about their needs, determining what kind of legislation will improve things, and even helping to draft some of it. Bills we’ve been paying particular attention to are focused on fair credit for farmers, stronger meat economies, and fair competition.

Despard Design

© Rural Advancement Foundation

International - USA (RAFI) Email: livingroots@rafiusa.org Web: rafiusa.org Union Label

2

Warm regards,

Edna Rodriguez Executive Director

HILLARY GRAVES/CHATHAM MAGAZINE

RAFI is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and as such, donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. EIN #56-1704863. RAFI believes in transparency, ethical accounting, and donor stewardship. RAFI has earned the 2022 Platinum GuideStar Exchange Seal and the sixth consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Enjoy the holiday season and best wishes for a prosperous and healthy 2024!

P.S. If you do not wish to receive this magazine by mail, please write to livingroots@rafiusa.org and we will take you off the list.

If you would like to add others to the list, please send their name and address to the email listed.

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

2-7 RAFI_FAR CON_ WINTER 24.indd 2

11/27/23

:3 PM

farmer’s

connection news/resources/events

Resource Rodeo

RAFI STAFF PHOTO

at Georgia FOCN Mini Conference

(Above) Farmer Jamila Norman (Farmer J. from the Magnolia Network series Homegrown Village) shares stories about how she grows in hoop houses and succession-planted raised beds. Her farm was one stop on the Georgia Mini Conference farm tour.

IN YEARS PAST, RAFI held “resource rodeo” events where farmers received help to complete disaster recovery applications and other types of programmatic paperwork, improving their chances of receiving resources. More recently, RAFI’s direct service staff members have provided such technical assistance one-on-one.

Yet when Georgia quail farmer and Farmers of Color Network (FOCN) member Lorenzo Hill reached out to RAFI in late spring, he wasn’t calling for himself but for farmer friends in and around Gwinnett County, GA, hoping for an event like the resource rodeos of old. Six weeks later, RAFI held its first regional mini conference for FOCN members. The two-day event included urban farm tours, locally catered dining, and a full-day resource rodeo with local partners and farmer-serving organizations.

Nearly 50 farmers met at Metro Atlanta Urban Farm to begin a farm bus tour led by Eugene Cooke of Grow Where You Are, the local coordinator whose booming “Good people!” and insightful commentary endeared him to the crowd.

The first stop was Patchwork City Farms, where the group admired Jamila Norman’s productive hoop houses filled with cucumbers and tomatoes. After exploring her succession-planted raised beds, it was on to Gratitude Botanical, where farmer Chris Lemons demonstrated keyhole gardening, a resilient CO NTI N UE D ON PAG E 4 composting and production technique developed in

R A F IUSA .O RG

2-7 RAFI_FAR CON_ WINTER 24.indd 3

3

11/27/23

:3 PM

farmer’s connection

the mountainous southern African nation of Lesotho. Tour participants sampled chaga tea and basil lemonade, and took home rooted elderberry cuttings and passion flowers. Finally, at Outdoor Fresh, the group passed through an arbor abundant with long beans and cherry tomatoes, and was greeted by music, an adorable goat, and their host, Lelo Jones. Jones is optimizing a small space hemmed in by tall buildings, using verticality and companion planting. The simple, inexpensive, and elegant design of steel hog panels and t-posts had many in the group thinking about how to increase verticality at their own operations.

A Resource Rodeo was held the next day at Eastlake Commons, hosted by farmer-in-residence Stephanie Simmons and featuring a number of nonprofit and government sector partners that serve farmers in Georgia. Representatives hailed from Atlanta USDA FSA, North Georgia NRCS, Foodwell Alliance, Georgia Organics, Southern SARE, Southwest Georgia Project, Working Farms Fund, Cooling Water Community Farms, and City of Atlanta: AgLanta Grown. Morning workshops included topics such as NRCS and FSA eligibility and applications, market access, and climate-resilient agriculture. At the ensuing resource rodeo, farmers received one-on-one support with NRCS applications and FSA eligibility forms.

RAFI would like to thank everyone who participated, especially Eugene Cooke, Stephanie Simmons, Bobby Wilson, Noreen Whitehead, Brennan Washington, and Lorenzo Hill for their help in organizing and promoting the event.

4

Stories That Nourish

Faith Leaders Tackle Food Justice NAVIGATING THE INTERSECTION of food justice and faith through relentlessly honest storytelling is the ambitious aim of the School for Food Justice, Faith and Storytelling (SFJFS), a project of RAFI’s Come to the Table program that recently expanded to serve beyond North Carolina. In it, faith leaders and food justice advocates investigate root causes of hunger, uncover and challenge the dominant narratives around hunger, and equip leaders to transform such conversations in their communities.

The eight-session training program takes place over two months, with weekly sessions exploring topics such as the state of farming in the U.S., food justice as it relates to theology, and how faith communities can advocate and act for change.

Why storytelling? Stories, and the simplified and archetypal narratives they get shaped into, can empower or disempower. The cohort pays special attention to story as a means to distill truth about food and as a tool to dig deeper into the power of narrative.

Visit RAFI’s website to find insights from each session this fall or contact cttt@rafiusa.org for more information.

Mark Yaconelli, New York Times bestselling author of Between the Listening and Telling, speaks at a Come to the Table event to a group of faith leaders about the power of storytelling.

RAFI STAFF PHOTO

CO N T IN U ED FROM PAGE 3

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

2-7 RAFI_FAR CON_ WINTER 24.indd 4

11/27/23

:3 PM

SCAN here for links to to download the guidebook, find out when your state’s NRCS ranking deadline occurs and, how to get help transitioning to organic.

NRCS Ranking Deadlines

JOEFF DAVIS

Guidebook Highlights Racial Land Loss in the US RAFI’s Come to the Table team is excited to announce the release of its newest guidebook, The Land Cries Out: A Guide to Racial Land Loss in the U.S. The guidebook was developed as a tool to help readers understand the depth and breadth of the ways in which land ownership, access to land, and the benefits of self-determination and sovereignty that come with it have been withheld, stolen, and mitigated. Learn about the race-based policies, laws, and violence that have been directed at communities of color, leading to massive land loss.

The guidebook also examines the ways in which faith communities can respond theologically and practically.

If you’re interested in Come to the Table facilitating an immersive and interactive experience featuring guided facilitation of racial land lossfocused content with your faith community, nonprofit, or other interested organization, email Jarred White at jarred@ rafiusa.org.

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDEBOOK SEE QR CODE ABOVE

NRCS states that producers may apply to the agency for cost-share financial assistance at any time. However, it is important to know that your state NRCS sets “ranking dates” (also called “batching dates”) at least once per year to review applications received in a set span of time. In the Southeast U.S. and U.S. Caribbean, the first ranking date is often early in the fiscal year — sometimes as early as mid-October or as late as March.

Applications received prior to your state’s ranking date and applications unfunded from the prior fiscal year are compared against one another and scored. The highest-ranking applications that meet a minimum score receive contract offers. If there are more applications than there is funding available (which is often the case), the lower scoring applications are rolled over for consideration when the next batch of funding is available. Next availability might not be until the following fiscal year, when funding resets. This undocumented deadline can come as a surprise to some producers, and if you don’t apply in time, it can significantly delay your financial and operating plans.

That’s why it’s important to contact NRCS with your interest and/or apply before your state’s EQIP, CSP, or other NRCS program ranking date,

treating it as a deadline. Read RAFI’s application guide via the QR code (above) for stepby-step assistance. If you have experienced difficulty in the past or if the process does not seem clear, please don’t hesitate to request RAFI’s free, one-on-one assistance. Contact: Jaimie McGirt at jaimie@rafiusa.org.

FIND YOUR STATE’S RANKING DEADLINE

SEE QR CODE

ABOVE

Farming to the Beat: Notes from Farm Aid When Farm Aid — Willie Nelson’s annual benefit concert — rocked Indianapolis this September, RAFI was there. Since its 1985 inception, the Farm Aid music festival’s performer lineup has read like a who’s who of musicians committed to a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture.

The 2023 event underscored a longstanding RAFI and Farm Aid partnership in mat-

Transitioning to Organic?

Have you seriously considered transitioning your farm to organic practices and becoming certified organic — yet found the process daunting? Are you interested in incorporating more organic practices into your operation?

The USDA’s Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) is investing up to $100 million over five years to provide technical assistance and wrap-around support for transitioning and existing organic farmers — support designed to help farmers overcome technical, cultural, and financial shifts during and following organic certification. RAFI’s partnership with TOPP is fairly recent, so look out for more information on how to get involved.

LEARN MORE SEE QR CODE ABOVE

RAFI’s Mary Bulan leads a broom-making workshop at the Skills Tent at Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Village. Other workshops included natural dyeing, weaving, and seed saving.

ters of advocacy and direct service to farmers. Preconcert events included a Thursday farm tour and Friday farmer forum where RAFI employees Benny Bunting, Mary Bulan, and Liz Richardson gathered alongside farmers and farm advocates from across the U.S.

R A F I U SA .ORG

5

farmer’s connection

FARMERS! Scan the QR code above to locate the USDA office in your county.

At the Georgia Farmers of Color Network Mini Conference USDA staff members (right) share insights and information with area farmers.

Cultivating Influence Opportunities for Leadership

FSA COUNTY COMMITTEE Every USDA FSA office has a committee made up of three to 11 members. The Committees make program determinations, ensure equitable administration of the local office, and conduct hearings and reviews. Members must be producers who own or operate a farm, participate in an FSA program themselves, and reside in the county or multi-county jurisdiction in which they’ll be serving. Contact your local USDA Service Center to ask when the next nomination cycle will be.

6

SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMISSION Every state has conservation districts (varying in number and governance structure) dedicated to protecting soil and water resources. In North Carolina, for example, each district includes a board of five supervisors, three of whom are elected as nonpartisan candidates. To learn how to get involved, start by doing an internet search of “soil and water conservation districts” in your state.

NRCS LOCAL WORKING GROUP This advisory body supports locally led conservation efforts by bringing program leaders and farmers together to determine priorities in their county or region. Responsibilities may include identifying priority resource

concerns or recommending program application, eligibility, or payment rate criteria. Meetings are open to the public. Contact your local USDA Service Center’s NRCS Soil Supervisor to ask when the next NRCS Working Group meeting will be held. Request to be on the agent’s email list.

NONPROFIT BOARD MEMBER Every nonprofit has a volunteer board of directors charged with setting the mission, overseeing operations, and ensuring the sustainability of the organization. Is there an agricultural or environmental nonprofit you’d like to support? Contact the organization’s leadership to learn about serving on its board.

RAFI STAFF PHOTO

FARMER VOICES CAN have a direct impact on the outcome of programs, policies, and funding availability. Here are some ways farmers can engage.

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

2-7 RAFI_FAR CON_ WINTER 24.indd 6

11/27/23

:3 PM

2023 Farmer Grants

New Programs Reach More Farmers IN ADDITION TO RAFI’S Farmers of Color Net-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GRANTEES

work (FOCN) Infrastructure grants, which awarded $107,236 to 11 grantees across six states this year, RAFI’s FOCN has announced the recipients of two new grant programs: Farmers of Color Network Beginning Farmer Stipends ($73,510 to 15 farmers) and Caribbean Infrastructure Grants ($81,700 to 19 grantees). All told, RAFI granted 47 farmers a total of $ $262,446. .

BEGINNING FARMER STIPENDS In 2023, RAFI launched a new FOCN grant program for farmers with less than three years of operational experience. The Beginning Farmer Stipend provides $3,000-$5,000 to help pay for a wide range of farm start-up and operating expenses including infrastructure, equipment, tools, and supplies. In its first year, from a competitive pool of 180 applicants, 15 beginning farmers from seven states received stipends.

Funding was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Liberating Investment in Food and Farm Ecosystem fund. Applications for the next round will open in early 2024.

GRANTS FOR FARMERS IN US CARIBBEAN Farmers in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico face serious challenges including geographic isolation, climate crisis, disaster vulnerability, and lack of investment. This year RAFI provided a dedicated pool of funds for Caribbean Infrastructure Grants — to which farmers in the territories responded enthusiastically. Their 200+ applications reflected the strengths, creativity, struggles, and spirited determination of farmers on the islands.

Relying on reviews from a panel of farmers and agricultural experts familiar with the U.S. Caribbean, RAFI awarded up to $4,300 each to 19 projects covering hydroponics, livestock fencing, refrigeration for urban farms, and more. In October, RAFI team members visited eight of the grantees in Puerto Rico to strengthen long-term relationships, hear their unique stories, and offer technical assistance.

(Top) Shaisa Soto Ruiz, Utuado, PR; (second row, left) Marie McGruder, Sawyerville, AL; (second row, right) Dilora González Morales, Florida, PR; (third row) Shelby Johnson, Candler, NC; (fourth row) Edgar Ruiz, Vieques, PR.

R A F IUSA .O RG

2-7 RAFI_FAR CON_ WINTER 24.indd 7

7

11/27/23

:3 PM

©

8

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 8

11/27/23 10:27 PM

PLOWING THROUGH PAPERWORK

RAFI and Farmers Unearth USDA Opportunities

BY LISA MISCH • PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE PELLEGRINO

D

espite the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s diversity of programs, resources, and services — and its substantial budget, staff, and infrastructure — farmers too often feel overwhelmed by all the paperwork required to apply for funding, cost-share, and loans.

This disconnect is especially relevant to those who have been historically underserved by USDA, such as people of color and small-scale, diversified farmers.

For these and other groups, RAFI’s commitment to education and assistance has taken shape in large part through its longstanding Farm Advocacy program, which assists farmers experiencing financial crises. We’ve helped hundreds over the years access USDA programs and loans that allow them to keep farming.

Yet COVID-19 showed that more support for farmers was needed. New payment programs such as the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) and Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) grants popped up to help farms survive — though once

Dinner Bell Farm. (Opposite page) Benito Estefes and Luis Escobar use an auger to hollow out ground during an NRCS cost-shared fence building project In September, 2023. (Left) John Campbell harvests radishes to prepare for a CSA delivery.

R A F IUSA .O RG

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 9

9

11/27/23 10:27 PM

RAFI’s Agricultural Conservation and Market Access Manager Jaimie McGirt, (right), assists Stephanie Campbell of Dinner Bell Farm with NRCS paperwork.

(Opposite page) Goats on Dinner Bell Farm are used to graze and fertilize pasture.

MacArthur Epps

MacArthur (Mac) Epps grows hay and vegetables in Hinds County, Mississippi. He also serves as the CEO of Mississippi Move, a nonprofit coalition that advocates for students and people under 25. Epps connected with RAFI’s Otis Wright in 2022 to discuss applying for an FSA Ownership Loan to expand his hay production business through the purchase of additional farmland and equipment. Wright helped Epps develop a business plan, complete the FSA loan paperwork, and joined Epps’ meetings with his loan officer. “Otis was very hands-on, and he made it simple,” Epps reports. “He taught me a lot and connected me with the folks I needed.”

John and Stephanie Campbell

Having relocated from Florida to Snow Camp, NC in 2015 to be closer to their daughter, John and Stephanie Campbell found themselves increasingly drawn to diversified small-scale farming. Soon after beginning their farm, they received NRCS assistance for a high tunnel.

But they were unaware of the multitude of other NRCS practices they might qualify for.

The Campbells realized that by bundling, they could address their challenges, achieving both short-term infrastructure solutions and conservation goals. McGirt helped them complete application materials and contact NRCS, even accompanying them for NRCS’s first farm visit to begin developing a conservation plan. This plan is what would eventually compete for financial assistance.

Stephanie Campbell reports, “It’s a confusing process, and having someone who could explain what technical terms meant, understand best practices, and consider our farm’s needs in relation to what NRCS offers really helped us.” Having received pre-approval for EQIP financial assistance in summer 2023, the Campbells got cost-share assistance for a well, livestock pipeline and waters, heavy use protection areas, and polywire fencing. Stephanie says, “This is going to be a game changer for our farm. What NRCS is providing isn’t anywhere near the total it will cost us, but it makes a big difference.” ©

In a conversation about rotational grazing and silvopasture with RAFI’s Jaimie McGirt, the Campbells described various infrastructure needs such as a farm well, fencing suitable for rotational grazing, a more efficient livestock watering system, and new forage species to support

livestock expansion. They knew they could apply to NRCS for a well, but McGirt recommended applying for a “bundle” of individual NRCS practices to make livestock watering more efficient and water-conserving.

Because the Campbells also sought technical expertise on rotational grazing and silvopasture, McGirt recommended they also apply for NRCS practices to assist with these needs.

10

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 10

11/27/23 10:27 PM

LEARN MORE about USDA programs by viewing RAFI webinar recordings and trainings.

again, the same underserved groups had lower application rates. Someone needed to cut through the jargon and acronyms to explain clearly how things worked, who might be eligible, and how to apply. Too many farmers didn’t even know that the programs existed.

So in 2021 we launched Resources for Resilient Farms (RfRF) to provide both plain-language education and training as well as attentive, one-on-one technical assistance. By walking applicants through the forms, not only did we see more successful submitted applications, but some of those same farmers became experts themselves, generously helping others apply.

And while RAFI provides support to all farmers, RfRF partners closely with our Farmers of Color Network, particularly when it comes to engaging with USDA’s FSA (on loan programs and farm numbers) and Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS (on conservation cost-share programs like EQIP and CSP).

Substantial roadblocks are common. These programs can often require a clear understanding, extensive paperwork, access to farm and financial records, site visits with USDA staff, and other procedural steps. RfRF staff members and consultants keep farmers from getting tripped up or discouraged. We aim to “level the playing field” and make sure that USDA program participation and dollars as distributed actually reflect the diversity of U.S. farmers and farm operations. RAFI collaborates with consultants and contractors in the Southeast U.S., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico to provide regionspecific assistance, tailored to the agricultural production in each locale.

Increasing the number of underserved farmers who can access USDA programs is only half the equation.

The other half is exploring how USDA programs could be improved in design or implementation. While RAFI’s connections with local, state, and national USDA staff allow us to call the government’s attention to a specific farmer case issue and find a quick resolution, we’re also often able to identify patterns across cases and advocate for broader change. For example, this year we submitted a public comment on limitations of an NRCS conservation practice that had kept a number of NC farmers from being able to implement silvopasture management practices.

By having positive, open lines of communication with USDA agencies, our technical assistance work can inform policy suggestions to make programs work better for all farmers.

WEBINARS TO WATCH RAFI has hosted many webinars that provide a deep dive into NRCS and FSA programs. Check out some of our favorites at RAFI’s Online Trainings and Webinar Library. See QR code above.

INTRODUCTION TO NRCS An overview of NRCS’s EQIP and CSP programs. Recording available in English and Spanish.

SOIL CONSERVATION ON CROPLAND Learn from an NRCS soil specialist and an NC farmer how you might enhance your farm or ranch with NRCS assistance.

NAVIGATING FSA LOAN APPLICATIONS Insights on how farmers can approach the FSA loan application process, how to complete application forms, and best practices for working with your FSA loan officer.

STORIES ON NAVIGATING THE USDA LOAN PROCESS Three farmer panelists discuss their experience navigating the USDA loan process, sharing best practices and advice.

R A F IUSA .O RG

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 11

11

11/27/23 10:27 PM

Benito Estefes and Luis Escobar connect wooden posts during a fence building project at Dinner Bell Farm.

RAFI TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDERS Jaimie McGirt, jaimie@rafiusa.org Ask me about NRCS programs and application processes.

Otis Wright, otis@rafiusa.org Ask me about FSA loan options, preparing loan applications, or registering for an FSA farm number.

Carolina Alzate Gouzy, carolina@rafiusa.org Pregúntame sobre: programas del NRCS y sobre los procesos para aplicar a ellos.

Trusted Navigators

Jaimie McGirt, Agricultural Conservation and Market Access Manager, and Otis Wright, Farmer Resources Coordinator, are members of RAFI’s RfRF team who bring their expertise in NRCS conservation and FSA loan programs to help farmers across the Southeast U.S. “Historically,” says Wright, “there has been so much distrust and even fear among farmers about going to ‘the Government’ for assistance. These feelings have been passed down through generations. But you know, everyone at some point needs a guide, a friend. As trusted navigators our job is to assist and advocate for these folks. I’m glad I’ve been blessed to play this role for the people who make the world go round.”

McGirt nods. “Mostly I listen to understand their farm conservation and infrastructure goals, consider how NRCS might be a fit now or in the future, and set our course forward. It’s very customized, as it needs to be.

“Farmers’ interest in NRCS support — especially financial assistance via EQIP and CSP programs — sometimes outsizes a local agency’s capacity to deliver all the services that NRCS says they offer. This is in part due to short staffing, misinformation, new field staff still training and learning, and the sheer number of conservation practices and technical specifications that farmers expect them to know. RAFI’s approach is to provide accurate and transparent information and to provide as much one-on-one assistance for farmers as possible.

Being able to visit a producer in this navigator capacity has proven valuable. Every time I’m able to visit the farm, especially when it’s with the producer and NRCS at the same time, it’s like a communication bridge forms,” McGirt explains.

12

Wright jumps in. “FSA can be a very complicated service provider. A lot of its language isn’t user friendly and — let me say it — sometimes the agent isn’t so friendly either. The navigator can act as a mediator between the farmer and the agent and help build the relationships that FSA aims to have.

For example, a navigator can help a farmer decipher the difference between discrimination and program constraints.

Sometimes a farmer thinks an agent is being mean or unfair, but the agent may simply be citing rules to help the farmer avoid getting into a financial bind with the government. The navigator can clear up this confusion.”

Wright goes on, “I’ve been an advocate for farmers for over 14 years now. I feel like this is my calling. I feel like I’m doing my service to the men and women whose shoulders I stand on as a farmer myself.”

McGirt chimes in, “When I started working with RAFI, I spent months researching every detail of the NCRS program.

I called colleagues, spoke to field staff, national economists, and conservation specialists. I wanted to do the legwork that farmers don’t always have time or energy for, then simplify everything to help them through the application process. I had to master every detail, understand every riff.”

She laughs. “I love this project.”

AS MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, LISA MISCH ensures that RAFI’s on-the-ground work leads toward a thriving, sustainable, and equitable food system. Lisa also chairs RAFI’s Direct Service team. Prior to joining RAFI, Lisa served as the AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer at the College of Menominee Nation in Keshena, WI, and worked on small farms in the Midwest and internationally.

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 12

11/27/23 10:27 PM

Building Power

For This Farm Bill and the Next

BY RAFI STAFF

BETH HAUPTLE

Dayna M. Rivera, of the Cooperativa Organica, Madre Tierra, PR; Karen Lawrence of Southwest Georgia Project; and RAFI’s Carolina Alzate Gouzy prepare for congressional visits in Washington, D.C.

T

he politics of agriculture in the United States have long been captured by powerful corporate interests. Worse, decades of broken promises from the federal government have made many farmers, particularly farmers of color, feel that the government is the last place to turn to for solutions.

RAFI’s doing something about it. Aware that crucial issues — such as water rights and access — are typically not addressed at all in the Farm Bill, and that the endemic underfunding of BIPOC-led agricultural organizations has resulted in a lack of organizational capacity for engaging in policy advocacy, our Climate and Equity Policy Project aims to build policy advocacy capacity among historically marginalized farmers and ranchers, and the BIPOC-led grassroots organizations that support them.

R A F IUSA .O RG

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 13

13

11/27/23 10:27 PM

“We want change; it has to come from the bottom up. It’s not going to be perfect, it’s not going to be easy, and it’s not going to happen overnight.”

ALASKA

MASSACHUSETTS

Salmonberry Tribal Associates

Springfield Food Policy Council/40 Acres Farms

CALIFORNIA Agroecology Commons

MISSOURI

Punjabi American Growers Group

Operation Grow Black Growers

The Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive

NEW MEXICO

GEORGIA

La Semilla Food Center

Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education, Inc.

NEW YORK

West Georgia Farmers Cooperative

Farm School NYC

ILLINOIS KENTUCKY

Toxic Free North Carolina

Kentucky Black Farmers

LOUISIANA

14

Soul Fire Farm

NORTH CAROLINA

Black Soil Kentucky

Given the reality that historically marginalized farmers and ranchers are disproportionately endangered by climate change — situated in more vulnerable places or with fewer resources in the face of climate disasters — it’s even more vital that their voices help shape agricultural policy.

Our goal is to jump-start a sustained movement committed to food system policy change in the 2023 Farm Bill and beyond. Funded by the Waverley Street Foundation, and in partnership with Regenerative Agriculture Foundation and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, RAFI’s Climate and Equity Policy Project provides new financial backing and technical assistance for BIPOC farmer-led organizations to advocate effectively on their own behalf.

The project’s vision is broader than traditional policy work.

As RAFI’s Executive Director Edna Rodriguez points out, many organizations might overlook the potential their work with farmers holds to influence federal policy. “Storytelling, for instance, is more than just expression: it’s essential advocacy. When farmers hone and share their narratives, they’re empowered personally and collectively to ensure that policies reflect their lived experiences.”

Over the past year, 27 organizations from across the country, including the U.S. Caribbean islands, have received grants through this project to build their policy advocacy capacity.

They have hit the ground running.

One such organization, Farm School NYC (FSNYC), trains

Black Urban Growers

Urban Growers Collective Agfirst Community Cooperative

CLIMATE AND EQUITY POLICY PROJECT GRANTEES

Agri-Cultura Network

Peace Garden Project Sprouts and Spice Foundation

PUERTO RICO Agri-Cultura Network

Sprout NOLA

Cooperativa Orgánica Madre Tierra

MAINE

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust / Food for the Spirit

MARYLAND Black Yield Institute

Virgin Islands Good Food

VIRGINIA Africulture

New York City residents in urban agriculture with a focus on justice to build self-reliant communities and inspire positive local action around climate and equity. Jazz Kerr, communications manager, says, “There’s climate disaster happening all around us. It’s not that the funds aren’t there for BIPOC growers; it’s that they’re not accessible. [We want a Farm Bill with] more input and investment in our communities — communities with solutions that would benefit everyone.”

Grant funds allowed FSNYC to revamp its advocacy course and hire its first Farmer Advocate, Jocelyn Germany, who has already hosted a Farm Bill 101 session. FSNYC will continue to address immediate issues in its community and be ready for the next farm bill. Germany says, “We want change; it has to come from the bottom up. It’s not going to be perfect, it’s not going to be easy, and it’s not going to happen overnight — but I’m excited that the wheels are turning. I’m excited for the hope that is happening.”

Another grant recipient, Sprout NOLA, is based in New Orleans — a place where farmers feel impacts from both climate change and the historical legacy of slavery and systemic racism. “We had such extreme heat and drought [this summer] that we had wildfires in Louisiana for the first time, and that’s definitely a climate impact that is new for us,” says Devin Wright, Sprout NOLA’s research and policy manager.

“Farmers are doing the best they can to adapt and be resilient, but they’re struggling. Environmental extraction and racism

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 14

11/27/23 10:27 PM

RAFI STAFF PHOTOS

are two things that come into play very deeply within our state as far as losing agricultural lands.”

Sprout NOLA was already involved in policy work, having conducted statewide Farm Bill listening sessions. The Climate and Equity Policy Project grant allowed them to build on that existing work, preparing six agricultural producers to engage in four days of intensive advocacy with federal elected officials. “The grant provided a real launching point for us,” says Wright. “To be able to have adequate funding to dream bigger and take a project to the next step was unbelievable. We got to do the best version and the biggest version of what was possible for us. The funding allowed us to do an extremely high-level, highly supportive fly-in.

In a matter of a couple of days the farmers became experts at translating their story into something that policy makers cared about and would listen to.”

Another grant recipient, Virgin Islands Good Food (VIGF), is working to develop a thriving and just food system across the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Climate chaos and an over-dependence on food imports have combined to create great fragility in the islands, one subject to the whims of multinational corporations and increasingly unpredictable and dangerous weather.

VIGF Executive Director, Sommer Sibilly-Brown, whose organization provides technical resources, creates marketplaces, promotes agro-sustainable practices, and advocates locally and federally, describes the USVI and other U.S. territories as “invisible in the national story,” with issues going unaddressed in part due to the lack of representation. The USVI’s congressional delegate does not have a vote in D.C. VIGF joined other grantees for the Washington, D.C. flyin during the Farmers for Climate Action Rally for Resilience last March, bringing with them farmers from St. Thomas and St. Croix to network and connect with other farmers and organizations. The time in D.C. provided an opportunity to meet with their elected representative and also to join other groups as they met with their representatives to share the common goals that need to be addressed in the Farm Bill.

Sibilly-Brown noted that VIGF’s D.C. visit alongside farmers from Puerto Rico highlighted the similarity of problems that farmers from both territories face. “It took us being in D.C., sitting at a table,” Sibilly-Brown says. “It shifted our focus of where the work should be happening, to focusing on the people, the farmers, who should be the Farm Bill’s primary beneficiaries. This fly-in intentionally centered small farmers as the primary voice — honoring the wisdom of the people who grow food and feed communities. That was beautiful and we need more of that.”

As of press time, Congress continues to work on the 2023

(Above) Cerenica Smith and Leroy Conish, members of Sprout NOLA, visit with the office of Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA).

(Below) Before meeting with Rep. Alma Adams’ (D-NC) office: RAFI’s Policy Director Margaret Krome-Lukens, Executive Director Edna Rodriguez, and from VI Good Food: Sommer Sibilly-Brown, Executive Director, Shelli Brin, and Jade Algarin.

Farm Bill, a giant piece of legislation that spans multiple years and encompasses a huge swath of government programs and hundreds of billions of dollars in funding. For the Farm Bill to be written and implemented in a way that reflects the urgency of the climate crisis and the needs of those who have been historically underserved, it will take a sustained, coordinated, and well-funded movement led by BIPOC farmers to build capacity, solidarity, and relationships.

Through the Climate and Equity Policy Project, RAFI and its grantees are building power for both the present and the future.

R A F IUSA .O RG

8-15 RAFI_RESOURCES_climate_ WINTER 24.indd 15

15

11/27/23 10:27 PM

16

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

16-17 RAFI_SEASON_ WINTER 24 r1.indd 16

11/27/23

: 0 PM

STORIES from the

SOIL

The Art of the All-Season Harvest

PHOTOS COURTESY CAMERON TERRY AND TRACY LAFLEUR

T

hough many people think of farming and farmers markets as summer activities, plenty of farmers feed their communities through fall and winter thanks to season-extending strategies including high tunnels, row cover, storage crops, and more.

Cameron Terry started farming in a container garden in his Denver, Colorado backyard in 2012. Terry says the garden got “so out of hand I decided to make a business out of it.” Six years ago that business became Garden Variety Harvests, LLC, now based in Roanoke, Virginia, where Terry cultivates about half an acre of diversified vegetables using organic practices and minimal tillage.

Tracy Lafleur, who started Sugar Hill Produce in 2016 in Cedar Grove, North Carolina, grows diversified vegetables yearlong using organic practices. Sugar Hill is known for having carrots at market 12 months out of the year and for employing and educating aspiring farm owners.

Terry reports that although a poorly timed freeze can hamper production at any time, in his neck of the woods there’s a lot that can be grown outside protected by row cover through the winter, including spinach, kale, collards, and Asian greens like mizuna.

by Angel Woodrum Cameron Terry leads a farm tour during OkraFest at Lick Run Farm in Roanoke, VA.

R A F IUSA .O RG

16-17 RAFI_SEASON_ WINTER 24 r1.indd 17

17

12/ /23 12:37 PM

“We plant crops like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and carrots heavily through August so we can provide great fresh produce through Thanksgiving,” he says. Terry also makes valueadded products to help sustain them through the slow-harvesting months. He pickles surplus crops, for instance — especially okra, spicy dill cucumbers, and radishes, as production allows.

Terry goes on to explain that in his two unheated 35’ x 20’ high tunnels, he gives first priority to lettuce, both because it’s the product that sells the best and because it’s less cold tolerant than other salad greens. “We focus on leafy greens that can be cut multiple times throughout the winter so that we don’t have to plant very much during the cold months,” he says. “Demand for salad and leafy greens skyrockets in the winter because consumers miss what they took for granted all summer. If you can do the hard part of germinating seeds on time, moving row cover over and over, opening vents and keeping stuff watered, the sales can come very easily.”

At the end of summer, Terry plants high tunnels with lettuce, cabbage, spinach, scallions, broccoli, fennel, napa, and kale. Outside he starts elephant garlic at the end of summer or beginning of fall. Other outdoor plantings that yield well into 18

winter include radishes, turnips, spicy greens, and carrots.

A little farther south, Tracy Lafleur of Sugar Hill Produce insists that winter doesn’t start until January. “The field work and harvesting are pretty much the same in summer and fall,” she says, “though we may continue to harvest carrots through mid-February.

“So fall and winter don’t really slow down for us. I think about both warm and cool seasons as horrifyingly busy. In spring and summer we’re constantly planting. In winter we stop planting for a couple months, and although there’s not a lot of weeding, we’re cleaning up our fall crops. We keep the same number of employees in the cool and warm seasons,” she says.

Lafleur’s farm is known for year-round carrots. “Carrots are very versatile, and customers love ‘em. We plant in August so we start harvesting in October or November, and keep on harvesting a little at a time. We don’t cover them unless it gets down to 20 degrees, so we can store them in the field, so to speak, and optimize our cooler space,” Tracy shares.

“We start harvesting in bulk one or two days a week in December, when the vegetables are as big as they’re going to get. We top them in the field, take them back to the wash

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

16-17 RAFI_SEASON_ WINTER 24 r1.indd 18

11/27/23

: 0 PM

(Opposite page) Row covers allow farmers to extend the growing season by protecting crops from frost and can assist with some pest management including deer. (Above left) Tracy LaFleur with her carrots at Sugar Hill Produce, located in Cedar Grove, NC. (Above right) Planting into plastic mulch and covering pathways with landscape fabric allows for weed suppression in rows of fall brassicas. The white plastic on the beds keeps the soil cooler than black plastic and is less likely to scorch the seedlings upon transplanting in the heat of August.

station, then let them air dry before bagging in crates. This way we’ve been able to store carrots successfully for three or four months — and we see a nice bump in sales at the end of the season when other farmers have run out.”

In general, Lafleur takes a three-pronged approach to having produce year-round. First, she prepares ahead of time.

Fall brassica production, for example, is hard in the Southeast, so her farm starts seeding brassicas in the greenhouse in mid-July. For fall and winter cabbages, she grows only good storage varieties which, despite taking longer to mature, are far less susceptible to disease and insects that run rampant in the summer. Her cabbages take 90-100 days to mature, and since she aims to have them ready by the end of October, she has to start them in July and transplant them in August, although this creates a bottleneck with fall production.

Second, she uses the right tool for the job. “We have a water-wheel transplanter,” explains Lafleur, “so our plugs get watered immediately. Before we got that, we would have to use a hose and water them by hand.”

Finally, she grows summer crops that can be stored and sold throughout the cooler season — sweet potatoes,

for example. Grown and harvested in the summer and cured for about four weeks, they can be enjoyed all winter. But storage capacity — and timing — is tricky. The potatoes have to have the right amount of cooler space at the right temperature at the right time. Thus Sugar Hill Produce has three walk-in coolers, one dedicated to sweet potatoes, which they initially cure inside at 85°F before turning on the cool bot for cold storage at 55°F. Both Sugar Hill and Garden Variety benefit, of course, from the relatively mild winters of the Southeast U.S. But their strategic thinking, advance planning, and solid marketing can serve as an example for farms everywhere.

ANGEL WOODRUM, RAFI’s Market Access Coordinator, connects and assists farmers markets and farmers who are looking to expand their market opportunities. Angel moved to NC in 2015 to complete her Master of Divinity with a concentration in Food & Ecology at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Since graduating, Angel has worked on various small-scale vegetable farms and currently co-owns a small market garden with her partner.

R A F IUSA .O RG

16-17 RAFI_SEASON_ WINTER 24 r1.indd 19

19

12/ /23 12:3 PM

DRONES, ROBOTS, AND THE NEXT GENERATION IN AG

©

BY MARY SAUNDERS BULAN

20

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

20-21 RAFI_DRONES_ WINTER 24.indd 20

12/ /23 12:17 PM

PHOTOS COURTESY BREYON PIERCE

F

rom the stone hoe to the moldboard plow, 12-row combine, no-till drill, and thermal-sensing irrigation, agriculture has long been an arena for technological innovation.

Twenty-four years into a new millennium, we wonder: what tools and technologies will drive farming in the future? And more importantly, who will tomorrow’s farmers be?

These questions have animated Breyon Pierce’s work as a farmer and educator for a decade. A sixth-generation Black farmer from Surry County, Virginia, Pierce farms commodities with his dad on more than 1,000 acres and runs a value-added peanut farm business of his own. He teaches agriculture at a local high school where he introduces young minds to the applied science of farming, including aquaponic and hydroponic systems, small engines and robots, and agricultural drones. He is the recipient of a 2023 RAFI Farmers of Color Network Infrastructure grant.

“I understand the challenges to walk the whole field,” Pierce explains, “and get a birds-eye view.” Thus he monitors his own fields by drone, which enables him to diagnose crop stress, for example, a week before it’s visible on the ground.

Such forewarnings allow earlier and more effective interventions in pest management and input application. Pierce shares his own drone footage in a class exercise to determine lime requirements.

It doesn’t hurt that flying drones gets students excited about farming. Eager to pilot one, Pierce’s charges take training and safety seriously. Students enjoy flying sessions at the football field and apply class credits towards their Part 107 unmanned aircraft certification. Their license, supported by the school’s targeted focus on workforce development, can of course be used for more than just agriculture.

Pierce himself has been captivated by agricultural technology since childhood. Growing up on the farm, he used to “wonder if robots would ever pull weeds for us.” Now 35, he can point to robotic flame weeders that recognize and destroy weeds as they pass down the rows. Eat your heart out, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Beyond the wow factor of remote-controlled farming robots, Pierce feels called to engage the next generation of farmers, to “prepare students to help us provide for the future.” The challenges of global climate change combined with an aging farming population indicate, he says, that agriculture will be increasingly remote controlled — a world of autonomous tractors and drones.

In addition to labor-saving technologies, “understanding the fundamentals, how Mother Nature works,” is a key part of teaching prospective farmers to adapt and innovate. Although living on the Chesapeake Bay gives him ready access to fresh-

(Opposite page) Breyon Pierce of Poppa Breeze Peanuts and Produce stands ready to fly his drone in Dendron, Virginia. (Above left) Pierce cares for a young cow. (Above right) Pierce helps his high school agriculture class learn to fly drones.

caught fish, Pierce makes the point that this may not always be so. He wants students to be prepared to raise fish inside aquaponics systems, under artificial lights in warehouses.

They tackle such issues in his Biological Applications in Agriculture class. We need to see, and foresee, “societal trends and economic crises,” he explains. “And we need to keep farmers attentive and knowledgeable about how to produce.”

Furthermore, only with a sea-change in attitudes toward farmers can society continue to thrive, according to Pierce.

“I want people to give a little more respect to our farmers. If someone is a farmer, you may think they aren’t educated, but we are a jack-of-all-trades. We go out here and raise crops, raise food, raise animals for people we don’t even know. We don’t get the financial security or respect we need. Have compassion. Our land is being taken away for solar panels, for industry. Without land, where will food come from?”

He reflects on his own place in a family legacy devoted to the land. “Being a sixth-generation farmer is a humbling experience. I’ve been chosen by the good Lord to be a good steward.”

MARY SAUNDERS BULAN, RAFI’s Farmer Services Director, runs a

small herb, flower, and vegetable farm in Western North Carolina with her partner. Prior to joining RAFI, Mary was a college professor teaching agriculture courses, mentoring research, and managing campus farming programs. With a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA in International Relations from Brown University, Mary has served on the faculty at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, and Unity College in Unity, ME. R A F IUSA .O RG

20-21 RAFI_DRONES_ WINTER 24.indd 21

21

11/27/23

: 0 PM

Farming on Sunshine

A

griculture is the ultimate renewable energy system. Plants make the sugar, fiber, and proteins we use out of abundant sunlight, free rainwater, and thin air.

Why then does farming use so much fossil fuel?

The agriculture sector contributes over 10% of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Many farmers face high energy bills and fuel costs for heating, cooling, lighting, irrigation, and machinery. With that in mind — given the unreliable power grid in many rural areas and the lack of resilience in our energy systems — agrovoltaics, the dual production of solar energy and agricultural goods on the same farmland, may be the wave of the future.

In RAFI’s granting programs, we see frequent requests for investment in renewable energy projects, particularly solar power. Observant farmers see the sunshine that feeds 22

their crops as a potential alternative source of electricity and a path to clean energy independence.

Marie McGruder of McGruder Farms in Northwest Alabama used her RAFI 2023 Beginning Farmer Stipend to purchase and install a 7.2 kW solar generator that powers her farm’s well, originally dug by her great-grandfather over 100 years ago. McGruder says, “The system is located in our high tunnel and we now have fans moving the air within the tunnel and cooling down our indoor plantings. My greatgrandfather’s well has consistent and permanent power and the overhead irrigation system is working wonderfully. We now have the power necessary to expand our infrastructure on the farm.” She plans to ramp up the modular system to 19kW over the next year to power her entire operation.

Farmers seeking funds for on-farm renewable energy got some good news recently from the Biden Administration.

JOE PELLEGRINO

Green Acres, Greener Power • by Mary Saunders Bulan

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

22-23 RAFI_SOLAR_ WINTER 24.indd 22

11/27/23

: 0 PM

Brock Phillips’ flock of 250 breeding ewes and four guardian donkeys graze utility-scale solar installations.

LEARN MORE about REAP, legal issues with agrovoltaics, and land use by solar versus other redevelopment projects by scanning the QR code.

The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) received $2 billion in funding with the Inflation Reduction Act, a giant increase in funds compared to previous years.

Major updates include a higher percentage of costs covered, and quarterly rather than annual competitive application windows to reduce lag time. REAP also adjusted scoring criteria to increase the weight of environmental benefits and prioritize locations in distressed or disadvantaged communities.

Through a REAP grant, agricultural producers — an individual or entity receiving 50% or more of gross income from agricultural sales — can be eligible for a 50% cost share on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The program also offers up to 75% guaranteed loan assistance.

Noah Poulos of Wild East Farm in Old Fort, NC recently received a 40% REAP cost-share grant for a robust solar system that will power the full operation including a well pump, workshop, walk-in coolers, barn outlets, and heat lamps. It will also charge his electric riding mower and other battery-powered equipment, and has 600 amphrs of battery storage for off-grid capability. While he didn’t hire a grant writer, Poulos reports getting application assistance from staff at Appalachian Voices, a local nonprofit. He also was in frequent contact with Bill Tew, the USDA State Energy Coordinator for NC. Poulos says, “Don’t be intimidated by the process, just follow the step-by-step.”

Interested farmers should contact their state energy coordinators, found on the REAP website. The next quarterly application window closes March 31, 2024.

“solar farming” as part of their income stream?

We reached out to Brock Phillips, Director of Livestock Services at Carolina Solar Services. Brock manages a flock of some 250 breeding ewes and four guardian donkeys to graze utility-scale solar installations. The sheep provide landscaping services, preventing grass and weeds from overgrowing the panels and blocking sunlight. Phillips says farmers who want to raise sheep but have only limited acreage can provide the grazing service to solar farm landowners and expand the forage availability for their flock. Sheep may then be sold in specialty markets. Phillips notes an “interesting connection between growth of solar in NC and demand for lamb meat as demographics shift.”

In particular, he sees population growth in Latinx and Muslim communities as an opportunity to provide locally produced lamb to customers.

Phillips doesn’t see a land productivity tradeoff of agrovoltaics.

“Most of this was land that people didn’t like to farm anyway,” he says. The NC Sustainable Energy Association and the NC Department of Agriculture undertook a study and released a report, “North Carolina Solar Land Use and Agriculture,” that puts land use by solar in context with land use for other forms of redevelopment. Solar was shown to be only about 0.3%, plus it requires a comparatively small amount of infrastructure. “At the end of the solar farm’s lease, it’s easier to turn a solar farm back to farmland than for a residential community to become a farm again. For the farmers who lease a plot to the utility, it’s an extra income stream on marginal acres. I see what we’re doing as farmland preservation,” Phillips reflects.

While the financial opportunities are real, it’s important for any landowner to understand the full implications and terms of contracting with a solar utility. Such a lease is a “generational decision,” and legal issues surrounding developer due diligence are not uncommon. According to NC State Extension guidance, “all negotiations must take place prior to signing the first document,” so landowners should be thoroughly informed and prepared as they entertain a solar farm opportunity.

We may be “farming on sunshine,” but we’re still living on earth.

Agricultural producers can be eligible for a 50% cost share on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

Farming with solar panels

While most farmers agree that on-farm power generation is a good thing, some also note that “solar farms” are increasingly cropping up on agricultural land. (See Breyon Pierce’s comment in “Drones, Robots, and the Next Generation in Ag,” page 21.) These large-scale development projects are owned not by farmers but by utility companies — often with 15- or 25-year leases with extensions that can last 50 years, potentially reducing the farms’ flexibility in the future.

We were curious about the apparent tradeoff between growing food and transitioning to clean energy at the utility scale. What are considerations for farmers interested in

R A F IUSA .O RG

22-23 RAFI_SOLAR_ WINTER 24.indd 23

23

12/ /23 12:03 PM

Q&A

Aggregate, Collaborate, Profit RAFI’s Agricultural Conservation and Market Access Manager Jaimie McGirt frequently works with the Eastern North Carolina Farmer Collaborative. She recently talked with Berry Hines, Sr., founder and coordinator of the collaborative, about the initiative’s beginnings, purpose, and unique attributes. Hines, a veteran, Native American, and grandson of a sharecropper, learned farming and beekeeping from his grandparents.

The Eastern NC Farmer Collaborative (ENC) — a nonprofit collective of 12 small-scale farmers — has established a model that’s successful for both its members and market end-buyers.

The collaborative educates its members and other small-scale and/or beginning farmers on production strategies, assists with projects on each other’s farms, and aggregates and markets its products collectively — a multi-faceted strategy that helps keep “the small farmer” more sustainable.

Some ENC Collaborative members are small-scale commodity crop and

small herd and flock producers, while others are beginning, diversified, and niche crop producers. One of the newest members runs a regenerative cattle grazing farm. A few are certified beekeepers and others are training to begin and manage honey-producing hives.

Collaborative members learn from each other, sharing their experience and skills.

The collaborative’s efforts to build capacity for beginning farmers and help small-scale farmers diversify their production go hand in hand with its work to develop reliable markets for members’ products. Although the agricultural

products from participating farmers retain individual farm logos, collaborative members benefit by purchasing packaging materials in bulk, sharing cold storage space, identifying potential markets, and transporting products from multiple farms to marketplaces in one vehicle.

Jamie McGirt (JM): When did the collaborative get started? And what did it look like?

Berry Hines (BH): We didn’t have a name for it in the beginning but it’s been about four years now. I found a lot of farmers growing produce that was going to waste with nowhere to sell it or, you know, they’d pull up to service stations and sell it on the roadside. I started gathering members’ products and marketing them together. We began with Feast Down East [an NC nonprofit and food hub devoted to supporting farm businesses, distributing local produce, and increasing consumer access to nutritious,

COURTESY EASTERN NC COLLABORATIVE

Members of the Eastern NC Collaborative.

24

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

24-25 RAFI Q & A_WINTER 24.indd 24

11/27/23

: 1 PM

My big question for farmers is always, ‘What are your major hindrances?’ and the answer is always ‘transportation and packaging.’ seasonal food; see story in Living Roots 2], Communities in Partnership [which hosts the East Durham Farmers’ Market], and then at the farmers market in Raleigh and other small markets. At the beginning it was just conventional crops like collards, potatoes, and tomatoes.

JM: What does the Eastern NC Collaborative do now?

BH: We spread the footprint of farm products without all of us being on the road. Not all of us know how to advertise, not all have the budgets for that.

Marketing together, the farmers’ sales started to increase.

My big question for farmers is always, ‘What are your major hindrances?’ and the answer is always ‘Transportation and packaging.’ They need to be farming, not standing at the market all day.

Also, cold space is at a premium.

Take collards. Having a cold space for them gives me 14 days to sell with them being fresh.

JM: Why is aggregation important for the small farmer?

BH: The collaborative is for farmers who don’t want to compete with each other. Several of us grow collards, for example, but we’re all able to sell the collards to Feast Down East because we offer them at around the same price.

Some members sell in local community markets or roadside stands. But they don’t have the foot traffic. The majority of the produce comes through the col-

laborative. Eight farms collectively sold $47,000 of produce with Feast Down East alone! How much goes to each farmer is based on their input.

Some of the farmers have other outlets or sell at their own markets, but the excess that’s high quality goes through the collaborative. With the food hubs, if it’s not a quality item, they’ll stop ordering from you. So [the members] are selling at their own markets — but they figure out what markets are best for their income. Sometimes someone will say to us, “I can pay you more than what Feast Down East does,” but we get so many intangible benefits from marketing with them.

JM: Why do you focus on working with underserved farmers?

BH: I’m one myself: Native and veteran. I’ll work with anyone east of I-95 where ‘the majority is the minority.’ One thing farmers know about me is that I’m about the small farmer. They need more attention. When one farmer started with me, he didn’t know what his USDA farm number was or have a logo. A lot of farmers don’t participate in federal programs or extension programs. My being one of them and showing them what we’ve done with the resources warms them to programs like USDA and Extension. We can’t make somebody do something. But we go with them [to agency offices] in a non-adversarial role and find solutions.

I like to get with the farmer and figure out what makes sense.

JM: Any advice to our readers about aggregation?

BH: If you were to set up a collaborative in your area, these are the most important things: transportation, packaging. Don’t go into it with a competitive mindset. Farmers should grow what they’re good at. Be very aware of your surroundings and notice how foods are being used and begin to ask questions.

Adapt. When I was in Wendell, where I sell food boxes, some of my numbers were going down. Walking around, I noticed how pet friendly it was. I added a soup bone to the food boxes and my box count went up and up!

JM: Can you tell me about the connection between reaching new markets and producers needing to increase capacity to grow?

BH: If I can’t market, I can’t produce.

We have to grow niche crops that are in high demand.

This doesn’t mean you stop growing conventional ones — grow what you grow best. But look around your town. If you live near a university, there’s a very diverse group there and they want home cooking and bok choy and chorizo sausage. We talk about these things together and decide what to grow.

Squash for example — we don’t need to flood the market with it. But we do need to have it when the big farmers don’t.

Jaimie McGirt, RAFI’s Agricultural Conservation and Market Access Manager, has a decade of experience bolstering rural food economies in economically distressed and ecologically sensitive regions.

For RAFI she helps farmers identify business and stewardship priorities, create action plans, and find resources.

R A F IUSA .O RG

24-25 RAFI Q & A_WINTER 24.indd 25

25

11/27/23

: 1 PM

Field and Feast

Budding Bookworms

Books That Make Little Sprouts Think Big • by Justine Post LEVAR BURTON, FORMER HOST of PBS’ Reading Rainbow, said, “If

you’re a reader for life, you’re a learner for life. And if you are a learner for life then you are the definition of what I would consider to be a dangerous individual, which is somebody who doesn’t take someone else’s word for it.”

To help your children become more “dangerous,” a few RAFI staff parents have pulled together their favorite books for little ones touching on ecology, food, and environmental science. These mini-reviews reflect both adults’ and children’s feedback.

In Our Garden

by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Melissa Crowton Penguin Young Readers Group, 2022 A student who has moved to the U.S. from overseas, motivated by her longing for home, starts a rooftop garden with her classmates. The students and their accompanying adults find a way to bring life, food, and a deeper sense of belonging to their school.

“They made a garden in the sky!”

26

Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard

by Katheen Weidner Zoehfeld, illustrated by Priscilla Lamont Alfred A. Knopf, 2012

Even the smallest backyard garden tells a big story about intricate relationships and interdependence. This book reveals how substantial our food system is, and how everything is connected.

We are Water Protectors

by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade Roaring Book Press, 2020

This story highlights the critical threat that industrialization poses to our entire ecosystem, which depends on water to survive. We are called to protect the water not just for our future, but for creatures that cannot speak for themselves.

“I love water… all of it.”

”This is connected to that, and that and that and that!”

LIVIN G ROOTS WINTER 2024

26-27 RAFI BOOKS_ WINTER 24 .indd 26

11/27/23 10:30 PM

its early thriving years, to a time of rest, and back to a place of growth.

It’s a simple, beautiful narrative that emphasizes a time and a place for all things.

“The truck broke down and then grew back to life.”

Watercress

by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin Holiday House, 2021 A meager brassica plant proves to hold great significance for one particular family. We’re reminded over and again that food connects us to the generations who have come before.

A Seed is Sleepy

by Diana Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long Chronicle Books LLC, 2017

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal Chronicle Books LLC, 2015

This beautifully illustrated book reveals all the intricacies, secrets, and abilities that seeds contain. Readers will recognize that all plants — fruits, vegetables, grains, and everything in between — are incredibly resilient, and that such resilience starts at the very beginning.

“The seeds drink the water and eat the soil!”

What lies underneath the soil is just as important, if not more important, than what lies on top. Taking readers through each season, this book shows just how active things are underground. Whether it’s worms fueling the soil or birds picking at pests, all of it is active and integral to thriving plants.

Sofia Valdez, Future Prez

by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts Abrams, 2019

An abandoned lot heaped with trash causes problems for Sofia’s family. Determined to make things right for her abuelo, Sofia makes her way through the labyrinth of local government to create a safer, more beautiful place for her community.

The Old Truck

written and illustrated by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Norton Young Readers, 2020 The farm, like an old truck, has a life cycle of its own. This is a story about the journey of a farm: from

“The garden is like a museum for wasps.”

JUSTINE POST, Director of the Come to the Table program, has worked at the intersection of social justice, food ministries, and local agriculture since 2016. Justine holds a Master of Social Work from UNC Chapel Hill and a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School.

R A F IUSA .O RG

26-27 RAFI BOOKS_ WINTER 24 .indd 27

27

11/27/23 10:30 PM

I F R S

ENJOYING OUR PHOTOGRAPHY? Many of you have commented on how much you’re enjoying the photography in Living Roots. We are fortunate that our communications coordinator, Joe Pellegrino, comes to us with years of experience as a photojournalist.

Note: Farmers may use RAFI photos of their farm for marketing and social media needs. Pictured: a flock of sheep on Eliza MacLean’s Cane Creek Farm in Saxapahaw, NC.

28

JOE PELLEGRINO

rural reflections

LIVIN G ROOTS FALL 2023

28 RAFI RurReflections WINTER 24.indd 28

11/27/23 10:32 PM

JOE PELLEGRINO

INTERESTED IN OBTAINING FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT REGENERATIVE, CLIMATESMART PRACTICES?

Steve McCalla, Rocky Ridge Farm, harvests turnips with his family.

RAFI, A Greener World (AGW), and Soil Health Institute (SHI) are recruiting farmers for a three-year project funded through USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. This project provides a pathway for farmers to transition towards regenerative practices, improve farm operations, gain access to new markets, and join the growing network of farmers committed to environmental conservation.

PROGRAM BENEFITS $1,250 stipend to support the planning for a climate-smart regenerative farm and emissions reduction plan design.

Opportunity to become Certified Regenerative (up to a $2,050 value) by A Greener World.

Steps: Plan, implement, audit, and validate.

Assistance accessing new climate-smart markets and premiums along with customized marketing and labeling support from AGW.

All farm sizes are eligible — however, farms of 15+ acres are best suited to have the optimum experience.

Farmers with full management and control of their farms ensure a necessary holistic approach to the entire farm operation.

Farmers who seek to achieve clear traceability of their products will benefit.

Focus is on the Southeast U.S. however, any interested U.S. farmer may apply.

Farmers can be involved in livestock production, cropping, or both.

ELIGIBLE COMMODITIES

©

Incentive payments average $10,000 based on examination of emissions reductions and implementation of specific climate-smart agriculture and forestry practices.

ELIGIBILITY/BEST FIT

USDA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROVIDER, EMPLOYER, AND LENDER

28 RAFI RurReflections WINTER 24.indd 29

LIVESTOCK Dairy cows, Beef cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Swine

ROW CROPS Corn, Soybeans, SPECIALTY CROPS Barley, Oats, Rye, Peas, Pumpkins, Triticale, Cotton, Squash, Kale, Green Peanuts, Sunflowers, Beans, Beets, Potatoes, Kidney Carrots, and rangeAG A Z I N E Beans, 29 Alfalfa, R AFIa.ORG/M of Fruits Clover, Rice, & Wheat

11/27/23 10:32 PM

Non-Profit Org. US Postage

PAID

Permit 4678 St. Louis MO

RAFI-USA PO Box 640 Pittsboro, NC 27312

RAFI STAFF OUT AND ABOUT JAN 6-8

Roanoke, VA Virginia Association for Biological Farming Conference

JAN 18-20

College Park, MD Future Harvest’s 25th Annual Conference

FEB 24

Asheville, NC ASAP Business of Farming Conference

C1 RAFI COVER_WINTER 24 indd.indd 35

MAR 6

Raleigh, NC Organic Livestock and Commodiy Conference

MAR 8-10

Mars Hill, NC Organic Growers School Conference

MAR 12-15

Tuskegee, AL Tuskegee Annual Farmer Conference

11/27/23 10:03 PM