Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** consistent with national trends,…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** consistent with national trends, the average age of NM farmers in 2022 was 59.8. Addressing this issue, reunity has partnered with youthworks (YW) and the santa FE community college (sfcc) sustainable technologies program since 2019 to train bipoc youth (ages 18-25) in regenerative, biodiverse, high desert agriculture. In addition, the seasonal farm crew are typically farmers with less than ten years experience. In our work with these groups, we know there are many who would pursue a career in farming if they had a degree of certainty they could make a living. After several years of informal collaboration, we are poised to begin the intentional planning necessary to create a holistic, supportive and impactful SOW & grow: training for new land stewards program, providing the education, infrastructure and resources to pursue a career in farming. The objectives are: 1) develop a well-rounded program curriculum that compliments and connects to reunity's existing programs and resources, as well as those throughout the state, contributing to an economically and environmentally resilient regional food system, and 2) determine the best organizational and operational approach to the program. The curriculum developed for this program addresses bfrdp priorities 1-7, 9 and 13-15. IT will immediately address priority 8: curriculum development.100% of the federal funds requested are allocated to the community-based organization reunity resources. Youthworks and sfcc have separate funding for the internship program that allows them to participate in the grant activities.reunity resources does not hold any existing or prior bfrdp funding.