Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** LA semilla food center will advance…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** LA semilla food center will advance a regional practice of climate smart agriculture solutions while removing individual and systemic obstacles for socially-disadvantaged and colonia farmers of the chihuahuan desert ecoregion and providing them with opportunities to prosper. Anchored by LA semilla community farm and building on a growing network of small farmers through education, mentoring, and technical assistance, this project will create regionally distributed training opportunities and a community of practice that will impact beginning farmers and ranchers in category 5. Local farmers face multiple challenges, including an aging workforce, increasing climate change impact, and economic barriers. Contending with these challenges, LA semilla, in collaboration with a diverse agroecological network of small-scale farmers, will: (1) expand and strengthen a burgeoning network of agroecological beginning farmers via a distributed multi-tier farmer-to-farmer training model rooted in desert-adapted and climate smart farming and production methods, targeted for varying audiences; (2) boost the participation, support, and contributions of a next generation of farmers within a regional food system by offering mentorship and paid apprenticeships at small-scale farms; and (3) increase production-based technical support at regional beginning farmer sites by providing mobile equipment shares, consultations, and other relevant resources to lessen burdens associated with production, materials, and personnel costs. These efforts will meet strategic goals 1 and 2 of the FY 2022-2026 USDA strategic plan and address objectives 1.1, 1.2, and 2.2. The project addresses the following bfrdp priorities: basic crop farming practices; mentoring, apprenticeships, and internships; and climate smart agriculture solutions.