“Keeping Farmers Growing With USDA” farmers outreach project expands knowledge, technical  assistance, best practices and resources for local as well as regional food production to include,  not just staple foods, such as grains, but also fish, animals, forestry products, horticulture, and  value-added products. Secondly, we are creating a supply chain for agricultural products, from  agricultural research, through production, processing, marketing, to consumption through  business planning and marketing workshops. The project goal is increase the number of new  and beginning farmers as well as provide a safety net encouraging farmers to move away from  production for production sake to responding to market signals of quality, quantity, timeliness,  and price. The project will reach 40,000 community members via mailings, social media and  website advertisements. We will host twenty-four (24) community events, twelve (12) training  conferences with farm tours for farmers in Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and  Virginia all at no cost to the participants.