Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** farmer's legal action group, INC.…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** farmer's legal action group, INC. (flag) is a 501(c)(3) national nonprofit law center headquartered in ST. Paul, minnesota. Since its creation in 1986, flag's mission is to provide legal services and support to family farmers and their communities to help keep family famers on the land. To that end, flag proposes a five-year, $5 million cooperative agreement to provide materials and services to socially disadvantaged farmers based on the following concepts.advisory councilthroughout its history, the direction of flag's work has been guided by the legal needs and policy objectives of its client and partner organizations. To meet the needs of socially disadvantaged farmers (SDA) farmers over the next five years, flag will establish a legal advisory counctil for socially disadvantaged farmers -- comprised of SDA farmer-supportin organizations, leaders, and officials - to help flag rapidly respond to the current, urgent, and future needs of SDA farmers as they arise during theterm of this agreement.flag has partnered with such organizations for decades, and has been in frequent and regular communications and consultations with SDA farmer-supporting organizations for at least the last eighteen months during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and the related recovery and relief programs and efforts.educational materialsone of flag's key services across its program areas is the publishing of farmers' guides to federal programs and laws to help producers obtain assistance and benefits crucial to keeping family farms on the land. These guides have assisted tens of thousands of farmers and farm-support organizations and advocates for several decades. Under this agreement, flag would publish, distribute, and train farmers on matters and issues of timely and significant relevance to SDA farmers. Topics for, and the needs to be addressed in, the guides during the five years of this agreement would be guided by flag's consultations with its SDA legal advisorycommittee, USDA, and other SDA stakeholders, organizations, and leaders. Importantly, this agreement would provide the time and resources for such guides to be continually updated (which is an unmet need not supported by typical project funds).interactive trainings and workshops & internet-archived on-demand video resourcesthe guides and educational materials published under this agreement will be accompanied by an outreach campaign, including interactive webinars and in-person training and technical assistance (as conditions allow), with webinars/trainings and related materials archived online for on-demand access for farmers and farm organizations.flag will research and prepare a series of interactive webinars and related farmer-friendly educational materials on critical issues relating to and contained in the farmers' guides we develop under this cooperative agreement. Webinars - to be offered free of charge to participants - will be conducted in collaboration with flag partners with content targeted to their respective constituencies. Webinars will be approximately 60 minutes in length, and will be presented on a schedule aligned with the publication of materials in coordination with flag partners and other participating organizations (to be determined). Participating farmers/ranchers will have opportunities for interaction with flag attorneys during webinars, and participants will be given opportunities for one-on-one post-webinar follow-up with flag attorneys.flag will also plan to make in-person presentations (as conditions allow) at farm organization meetings and trainings throughout each year, focusing on organizations that represent SDA farmers, such as the intertribal agriculture council, the federation of southern cooperatives, rural coalition and its member organizations, rural advancement foundation international-USA, and other local, regional, and national organizational partners.recorded webinars and related materials will be broadly available on-demand through flag's website and in collaboration with partner organizations. The educational resources and materials flag develops as part of this project will be used by SDA and family farmers and ranchers and farm professionals who support their work, including farm advocates, FSA staff, extension agents, and nonprofit support organizations.technical assistanceflag will provide direct technical assistance to SDA farmers. Flag's attorneys will answer questions about USDA programs and help SDA farmers prepare for and negotiate the processing of applications for USDA programs, assist in resolutions of issues that may arise regarding implementation of and compliance with those programs.policy developmentflag will work with USDA officials to develop or modify regulatory and statutory initiatives or revisions to meet the needs of SDA farmers.