Located in Marine on St. Croix Minnesota, Big River Farms is a program of The Food Group that offers organic and sustainable agriculture education for underserved farmers—and in particular farmers of color.  In the recent past, farmers served by Big River Farms have requested more robust one-on-one assistance with crop production, business and financial planning, and other areas.  At the same time, Big River Farms has been repeatedly approached by small organizations for assistance with building their own capacity to provide technical assistance to underserved farmers.

Through this project, Big River Farms seeks to strengthen our capacity and that of our project partners to provide technical assistance in agricultural production and access to USDA programs and services.  Funding through this grant will help ensure that underserved Minnesota farmers access the culturally appropriate resources they need to build thriving farm businesses.  At Big River Farms, staff capacity will be added, and peer mentoring relationships will be developed to strengthen technical assistance efforts.  At the same time, Big River Farms will help partner agencies build capacity for technical assistance through consultation and mentorship, assistance with farmer education curriculum planning, and education around practical skills such as seed ordering, record keeping, and organic certification.  Finally, the annual Emerging Farmers Conference hosted by Big River Farms will offer opportunities for attendees to receive technical assistance from highly specialized experts, such as farm tax preparers, accountants, and organic certifiers.    

Project partners for this request include: The Village Agricultural Cooperative, Somali American Farmers Institute, and Sudanese Farming Group.