Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the majority of farms in greater…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the majority of farms in greater augusta, GA are small family farms in need of better business practices to sustain and scale operations; 75% of beginning farmers in our program in 2023 could not solely live off their farm income. Living in low-income areas, these farmers lack AG- and business- specific resources. This project provides tiered agricultural and entrepreneurial services tailored to beginning farmers, with the goal of helping them improve and sustain farming operations. Agricultural activities include the homesteading conference, individual farm plots, farm training workshops, extension classes, farmer planning meetings, farmer forums, and mentorship. Entrepreneurship activities include business training/coaching in 3 formats (self-paced, small group, one-on-one) and general business workshop. The activities align to bfrdp project goals of basic livestock and crop farming practices; entrepreneurship training; curriculum development; and mentorship. Project objectives include increased AG- and business-related knowledge and skills; increased access to resources for growing; improved knowledge and skills for environmentally-sound AG practices. ALG expects farmers to achieve these outcomes, relative to their tier: create a growing plan; begin growing crops; create a business plan; implement environmentally-sound AG practices; increase farm revenue; improve farm operations. Partners/collaborators include addersons farm, csra veterans and families foundation, augusta metro chamber of commerce, gateway business services, natural resources conservation science. ALG is a community-based organization - 100% of federal funds requested will be allocated to a CBO. All farmers in our area qualify as veteran, socially disadvantaged, and/or limited resource - 100% of funds will be allocated to these populations.