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USDA partners with Michigan State University to centralize new farmer resources

USDA and Michigan State University Extension are launching new resources for beginning farmers.

Michigan State University Extension Educator Jon LaPorte tells Brownfield, “We’ve been focusing on centralizing all of our resources.”

“USDA wanted to take that idea kind of to the next level and said, let’s build on what you’ve got at MSU,” he explains. “We work in a lot of different areas for beginning farmers, it’s trying to create that central place for everybody can go to.”

The Beginning Farmer Resource & Decision-Making Guide incorporates USDA programs and funding options along with how-to production education.

LaPorte says the guide has specific resources from Michigan but also supports the needs of beginning farmers everywhere.

“There’s some information on marketing, land access, taxes, farm labor, a whole lot of great information in there to help people really from start to finish in terms of their farming ambitions,” he shares.

LaPorte says land access, securing funding, and knowledge gaps have been top issues farmers shared as part of survey research in the project.

Brownfield interviewed LaPorte during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, and Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids.