Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: For the 2012 season, there were 10 farms in the BRF program, representing about 28 farmers in training. They represent communities of Hmong, Guatemala, Burma (Karen), Somali, Iranian, and mixed-racial. They all completed 12 classroom workshops, 8 In-Field workshops, and 3 field trips to other farms. Each farm produced on one-fourth to three acres. A total of 13 acres was in organic vegetable cultivation. All the farms sold to the BRF CSA; some more than others. However, they all had their own other direct markets. Some farms have 4 or more diverse markets set up - wholesale distributors, farmers markets, CSAs, restaurants, coops, schools and more. Farmers in the BRF Program earned gross revenues of between $3,000 to over $10,000 per acre. MFA hired a temporary 'marketing coordinator' to assist in brokering market relationships with farmers and buyers. BRF continues to host one Hmong-American farm that its own greenhouse at the Big River Farms and is producing transplants for sale as well. This is the only immigrant producer-own certified organic source of transplants in MN. MFA provided about 6,000 pounds of fresh produce to local food shelves through Emergency Food Shelf Network. MFA also brings farmers to other workshops and conferences. Five farmers went to the MOSES National Organic Conference in Feb 2012.The 7th Annual Immigrant and Minority Farming Conference, February 2012, had farmers representing 14 ethnicities coming from 6 different states. The Minnesota Food Association, the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota, and the USDA-Farm Service Agency co-organized and conducted the 7th Annual Conference with the help of a large planning committee of volunteers. Farmer participation reached about 170 immigrant farmers, plus an additional 70 agency and organization representatives. This is the largest gathering of immigrant farmers in the Midwest, and continues to grow in popularity for immigrant growers. The farmers come from the communities of Hmong, Laotian, Cambodia, Karen (Burma), Bhutanese, Somali, Oromo, Latino, African-American and others. The workshops focus on marketing, distribution, access to land, organic certification, costs of production and connecting farmers to resources. This conference is a major venue for USDA Agencies in MN to reach minority and immigrant farmers. The Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in MN has assisted 20 Hmong farm families access 60 acres of land for farTrainings conducted include: Greenhouse/Hoophouse production; Soils and cover cropping; Putting fields to sleep for winter; End-of-Year All Farmers Meeting; introduction to Organic Farming and certification; CSA operations and marketing; Farm Business planning; Wholesale marketing; Seed starting at Home; Crop planning and plot mapping; Farmers Markets; Record Keeping; Food safety practices; Irrigation systems; Weeding techniques and management; Post-harvest Handling; Plant diseases and organic approaches; Tractor Basics; Seed Saving ming. They also helped 10 families begin selling at farmers markets. PARTICIPANTS: The Executive Director of MFA, Glen Hill, serves as the lead Project Director for this grant, oversees all operations, monitors the finances, allocates funds and acts as fiscal agent for AAHWM for this project. The Executive Director, Ly Vang, of the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women serves as a Co-Project Director, and provides support and contacts for community outreach to immigrant communities. She also builds connections with farmers and the USDA agencies in MN. MFA's Training Coordinator, Katie Kubovcik, is the direct contact with the farmers. Her role has been to conduct training, organize the training schedule, classes, teachers, and farmers. She recruits new farmers, provides outreach and technical assistance in all areas of production, marketing and organic certification and works with Farmers one-on-one on daily problem solving. At AAHWM, Mee Vang, is the Training Coordinator. She works primarily in the field assisting the farmers in their daily needs and helping them to find land on which to farm. MFA Director of Programs coordinates the Immigrant Farming Conference, and trains farmers with record-keeping, business aspects and access to markets. Farm Manager, Aaron Blyth, provides the on-site daily technical assistance, conducts many of the training courses both in field and in classroom and assists farmers in production management. Office Manager, Pao Moua, at AAHWM provides the clerical support to program staff and the Director. USDA Farm Service Agency, St. Paul, MN and MFA collaborate to connect immigrant farmers to USDA programs and in co-organizing the annual farmer conference. USDA NRCS and MFA are currently implementing an EQIP conservation plan. Minnesota Department of Agriculture presents each year at the annual immigrant farming conference, and supports MFA through the annual Specialty Crop Block Grant program. University of Minnesota provide trainers for MFA's training sessions. World Relief and Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM) and MFA are working together to support Karen immigrants in our training program. Land Stewardship Project and MFA share training sessions. The National Immigrant Farming Initiative and MFA work to link farmers to national issues affecting immigrant farmers. Markets: MFA sells to River Market Coop, Common Roots Cafe, Butter Bakery, Whole Foods, Lucia's Restaurant, Sen Ya Sen Lek Restaurant, Emergency Food Shelf Network, Stillwater Residence (assisted living), Coop Partners Warehouse and others. TARGET AUDIENCES: The program primarily serves communities of immigrants, particularly Latino, Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Burmese, Karen, Kenyan, and Bhutanese and African-American farmers and others from East Africa and Southeast Asia. All the farmers in our program are considered "low income" by IRS standards and are "socially disadvantaged" by USDA standards. The farmers all come from the 7 county Twin Cities Metro Area (primarily Ramsey and Hennepin Counties) and the St Croix River Valley of MN and Wisconsin. In addition to the 30 farmers in the full program, MFA worked with an additional 45 "food farmers" in the program who are primarily Hmong elders who produce mostly for themselves and community. We reached an additional 20 farmers through our classroom and field training classes that are open to the public and have between 2 - 5 farmers from outside the program at each session. We reached another 170 immigrant farmers through the Annual Minority and Immigrant Farmers Conference in February 2012. Vince Xiong is a Hmong-American farmer in his third year in the Big River Farms Training Program of Minnesota Food Association. Vince's endeavour into the organic vegetable farming world is based on his values and traditions, and how to make a positive impact on the Hmong American community. "We have always grown food for ourselves as part of securing ethnic food that is not found in mainstream local grocery stores. Farming commercially is a recent endeavor for me and my family. We grow mostly traditional crops for market and a variety of our own crops for home use. My interest is to learn how to farm with a better system that embraced the ideas of healthy living which includes the health of the individual, the community, and the Earth. My ultimate goal is to secure a 40 - 100-acres farm, lease it to Hmong American farmers, and work alongside them, sharing the knowledge I have gained from the program. Part of this goal would also include taking my sales experiences to provide education and support with marketing and sales for Hmong farmers beyond the farmers' market stall. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The only project modification is that the Director and the Training Coordinator both participated in the BRF Training Program in 2012 in order to learn organic production first-hand.
Impacts
MFA is the only land-based organization in MN operating a training and incubator program specifically focused on working directly with socially-disadvantaged immigrant farmers and training farmers in organic production and official organic certification. That immigrant farmers in the MFA's Big River Farms are the first certified organic immigrant farmers in MN is special and farmers join our program just for this. They are now teaching other farmers as well. This will not only improve the environment, public and individual farmer's and consumer's health, but also works towards improving the role and status of immigrants - farmers and their larger communities - in the larger society. It raises the public respect of immigrants and recognition of the immigrant farmer's contribution to agriculture and food as well as in official statistics (NASS) for immigrant producers. We know that farmers are earning significantly high gross revenues per acre, up to $10,000, but their expenses are high and they put in a lot of time as well. Verifiable impacts are yields per acre, number of markets and sales and organic practices and certification. The impact is even larger since the Immigrant Farming Conference reached over 170 immigrant farmers in 2011 and keeps growing. Through our market relationship brokering, we have helped 5 farms develop and gain access to their own direct wholesale and intermediate markets like restaurants, schools and wholesale distributors. MFA implemented an external evaluation project in November 2011, to find and interview as many of the past participants as possible going back to 2005. This report will be done in April 2013.
Publications
- 7th Annual Immigrant and Minority Farmers Conference Report. April 2012
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: For the 2011 season, there were 10 farms in the BRF program, representing about 30 farmers in training. They represent communities of Hmong, Mexico, Bhutan, Kenya, Cambodia, Burma (Karen) and mixed-racial. They all completed 12 classroom workshops and 8 In-Field workshops through September. Each farm produced on one-fourth to three acres. A total of 12 acres is in organic vegetable cultivation. All the farms sold to the BRF CSA, but five first-year farmers only sold some. However, they all have established their own other direct markets. Some farms have 4 or more diverse markets set up - wholesale distributors, farmers markets, CSAs, restaurants, coops, schools and more. Farmers in the BRF Program earned gross revenues of between $3,000 to over $10,000 per acre and continue to increase their yields and efficiencies. MFA has been successful in brokering market relationships by handing over markets to our experienced farmers. BRF continues to host on Hmong-American farm that its own greenhouse at the Big River Farms and is producing transplants for sale as well. This is the only immigrant producer-own certified organic source of transplants in MN. MFA provided about 6,000 pounds of fresh produce to local food shelves through Emergency Food Shelf Network. MFA also brings farmers to other workshops and conferences. Four farmers went to the MOSES National Organic Conference in Feb 2011 The 6th Annual Immigrant and Minority Farming Conference was held in February 2011. The Minnesota Food Association, the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota, and the USDA-Farm Service Agency co-organized and conducted the 5th Annual Conference with the help of a large planning committee of volunteers. Farmer participation reached about 170 immigrant farmers, plus an additional 70 agency and organization representatives. This is the largest gathering of immigrant farmers in the Midwest, and continues to grow in popularity for immigrant growers. The farmers come from the communities of Hmong, Laotian, Cambodia, Karen (Burma), Bhutanese, Somali, Oromo, Latino, African-American and others. The workshops focus on marketing, distribution, access to land, organic certification, costs of production and more. This conference is a major venue for USDA Agencies in MN to reach minority and immigrant farmers. The Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in MN has assisted 40 Hmong farm families access 80 acres of land for farming. They also helped 15 families begin selling at farmers markets. Trainings conducted include: Greenhouse/Hoophouse production,Soils and cover cropping; End-of-Year All Farmers Meeting; introduction to Organic Farming and certification; CSA operations and marketing; Farm Business planning; Wholesale marketing; Seed starting at Home; Crop planning, plot mapping; farmers Markets; Record Keeping; Irrigation systems; Weeding techniques and management; Post-harvest Handling and Food Safety; Plant diseases and organic approaches; Tractor Basics,Seed Saving Basics; The results are disseminated through training classes, events on the farm, public speaking, word of mouth and the annual conference. PARTICIPANTS: The Executive Director of MFA, Glen Hill, serves as the lead Project Director for this grant, oversees all operations, monitors the finances, allocates funds and acts as fiscal agent for AAHWM for this project. The Executive Director, Ly Vang, of the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women serves as a Co-Project Director, provides support and contacts for community outreach to immigrant communities. She also builds connections with USDA agencies in MN with the farmers. MFA's Training Coordinator, Katie Kubovcik, is the direct contact with the farmers. Her role has been to conduct training, organize the training schedule, classes, teachers, and farmers. She recruits new farmers, provides outreach and technical assistance in all areas of production, marketing and organic certification and works with Farmers one-on-one on daily problem solving. At AAHWM, Mee Vang, is the Training Coordinator. She works primarily in the field assisting the farmers in their daily needs and helping them to find land on which to farm. MFA Director of Programs coordinates the Immigrant Farming Conference, and trains farmers with record-keeping, business aspects and access to markets. Farm Manager, Aaron Blyth, provides the on-site daily technical assistance, conducts many of the training courses both in field and in classroom and assists farmers in production management. Office Manager, Pao Moua, at AAHWM provides the clerical support to program staff and answers inquiries. USDA Farm Service Agency, St. Paul, MN and MFA collaborate to connect immigrant farmers to USDA programs and in co-organizing the annual farmer conference. USDA NRCS and MFA will implement and EQIP conservation plan. NRCS also works on the annual immigrant farmer conference. Minnesota Department of Agriculture presents each year at the annual immigrant farming conference, and supports MFA through the annual Specialty Crop Block Grant program. University of Minnesota provide trainers for MFA's training sessions. World Relief and Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM) and MFA are working together to support Karen immigrants in our training program. Land Stewardship Project and MFA share training sessions and conduct the St Croix Valley Buy Fresh Buy Local Campaign and annual buyer/grower workshops. National Immigrant Farming Initiative and MFA work to link farmers to national issues affecting immigrant farmers. MFA's ED is on the board of NIFI and hosted the 2010 NIFI Board Meeting in June. Markets: MFA sells to River Market Coop, Common Roots Cafe, Butter Bakery, Whole Foods, Open Arms of MN, Emergency Food Shelf Network, Stillwater Residence (assisted living), Chipotle and others. TARGET AUDIENCES: The program primarily serves communities of immigrants, particularly Latino, Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Burmese, Karen, Kenyan, and Bhutanese and African-American farmers and others from East Africa and Southeast Asia. All the farmers in our program are considered "low income" by IRS standards and are "socially disadvantaged" by USDA standards. The farmers all come from the 7 county Twin Cities Metro Area and the St Croix River Valley of MN and Wisconsin. In addition to the 30 farmers in the full program, MFA worked with an additional 50 "food farmers" in the program who are primarily Hmong elders who produce mostly for themselves and community. We reached an additional 20 farmers through our classroom and field training classes that are open to the public and have between 2 - 5 farmers from outside the program at each session. We reached another 170 immigrant farmers through the Annual Minority and Immigrant Farmers Conference in February 2011. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No major modifications were made
Impacts
MFA is the only land-based organization in MN operating a training and incubator program specifically focused on working directly with socially-disadvantaged immigrant farmers and training farmers in organic production and official organic certification. The immigrant farmers in the MFA's Big River Farms are the first certified organic immigrant farmers in MN - a unique and significant milestone. The impacts are far-reaching. It will not only improve the environment, public and individual farmer's and consumer's health, but also works towards improving the role and status of immigrants - farmers and their larger communities - the greater society. It raises the public respect of immigrants and recognition of the immigrant farmer's contribution to agriculture and food as well as in official statistics (NASS) for immigrant producers. The organic certified immigrant producers are now assisting in outreach and extension with other immigrant farmers in the future. Verifiable impacts are yields per acre, number of markets and sales and organic practices and certification. The impact is even larger since the Immigrant Farming Conference reached over 170 immigrant farmers in 2011 and keeps growing. Through our market relationship brokering, we have helped 5 farms develop and gain access to their own direct wholesale and intermediate markets like restaurants, schools and wholesale distributors.
Publications
- 6th Annual Minority and Immigrant Farmers Conference Report. April 2011
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: For the 2010 season, there are 9 farms in the BRF program, representing about 25 farmers in training. They represent communities of Hmong, Mexico, Kenya, Cambodia, and Burma (Karen). They have all completed 10 classroom workshops and 10 In-Field workshops through September. Each farm is producing on one-fourth to three acres, and some farms have additional farm plots nearby. Five first-year farmers are not selling to BRF, but have established their own other direct markets. MFA helped two new Hmong farm family register at a new local farmers market. All the other farms have 4 or more diverse markets set up - wholesale distributors, farmers markets, CSAs, restaurants, coops, schools and more. Farmers in the BRF Program will earn gross revenues of between $3,000 to over $10,000 per acre and continue to increase their yields and efficiencies. MFA has been successful in brokering market relationships by handing over markets to our experienced farmers. The Cala Farms is a good example where they have now taken over the Chipotle, Marine General Store and Scandia Cafe accounts. One farm has started its own greenhouse at the Big River Farms and is producing transplants for sale as well. This is the only immigrant producer-own certified organic source of transplants in MN. Three other farms have set up their own small hoophouse for propagation and production at their homes. MFA provided about 6,000 pounds of fresh produce to local food shelves through Emergency Food Shelf Network. MFA also brings farmers to other workshops and conferences. In September 2009, the MFA Executive Director and 3 farmers went to the National Small Farm Conference in Illinois. In November 2009, MFA co-organized a Buyer/Grower Workshop, with LSP and River Market, with over 40 growers and 30 buyers. In February 2010, five MFA staff and eight farmers attended the MOSES National Organic Farming Conference in LaCrosse, WI. In September 2010, two MFA staff and one farmer attended the Cooperators Conference by the USDA Office of Outreach and Advocacy in St Louis, MO. Annual Immigrant and Minority Farming Conference: The Minnesota Food Association, the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota, and the USDA-Farm Service Agency co-organized and conducted the 5th Annual Conference in February 2010. Farmer participation doubled from the previous year and reached 166 immigrant farmers, plus an additional 70 agency and organization representatives. We expect 180 - 200 farmers at the 6th conference. This is the largest gathering of immigrant farmers in the Midwest, and continues to grow in popularity for immigrant growers. The farmers come from the communities of Hmong, Laotian, Cambodia, Karen (Burma), Bhutanese, Somali, Oromo, Latino, African-American and others. The workshops focus on marketing, distribution, access to land, organic certification, costs of production and more.This conference is a major venue for USDA Agencies in MN to reach minority and immigrant farmers. . The Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in MN has assisted 40 Hmong farm families access 80 acres of land for farming.They also helped 15 families begin selling at farmers markets. PARTICIPANTS: The Executive Director of MFA, Glen Hill, serves as the lead Project Director for this grant, oversees all operations,monitors the finances, allocates funds and acts as fiscal agent for AAHWM for this project. The Executive Director, Ly Vang, of the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women serves as a Co-Project Director,provides support and contacts for community outreach to immigrant communities. She also builds connections with USDA agencies in MN with the farmers. MFA's Training Coordinator from the beginning of this project through April 2010 was Jena Botte. She left in May and MFA hired Katie Kubovcik on April 1, 2010. Their role has been to conduct training, organize the training schedule, classes, teachers, and farmers. She recruits new farmers, provides outreach and technical assistance in all areas of production, marketing and organic certification. Works with Farmers one-on-one on daily problem solving. At AAHWM, Mee Vang, is the Training Coordinator. She works primarily in the field assisting the farmers in their daily needs and helping them to find land on which to farm. MFA Director of Programs coordinates the Immigrant Farming Conference, and trains farmers with record-keeping, business aspects and access to markets. Farm Manager, Aaron Blyth, provides the on-site daily technical assistance, conducts many of the training courses both in field and in classroom and assists farmers in production managemen. Office Manager, Pao Moua, at AAHWM provides the clerical support to program staff and answers inquiries. USDA Farm Service Agency, St. Paul, MN and MFA collaborate to connect immigrant farmers to USDA programs and in co-organizing the annual farmer conference. USDA NRCS and MFA will implement and EQIP conservation plan. NRCS also works on the annual immigrant farmer conference. Minnesota Department of Agriculture presents each year at the annual immigrant farming conference, and supports MFA through the annual Specialty Crop Block Grant program. University of Minnesota provide trainers for MFA's training sessions. AfroEco, MFA, Community Design Center of MN and The Minnesota Project conducted a community food assessment in two neighborhoods in Saint Paul, MN and are currently developing a follow-up program to address the needs. World Relief and Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM) and MFA are working together to support Karen immigrants in our training program. Land Stewardship Project and MFA share training sessions and conduct the St Croix Valley Buy Fresh Buy Local Campaign and annual buyer/grower workshops. National Immigrant Farming Initiative and MFA work to link farmers to national issues affecting immigrant farmers. MFA's ED is on the board of NIFI and hosted the 2010 NIFI Board Meeting in June. Markets: MFA sells to River Market Coop, Common Roots Cafe, Butter Bakery, Whole Foods, Open Arms of MN, Emergency Food Shelf Network, Stillwater Residence (assisted living), Chipotle and others. Professional development: MFA brought staff and farmers to the National Small Farms Conference (Sept 2009), Buyers/Growers Workshop (Nov 2009), National Organic Conference (Feb 2010), Cooperators Conference USDA OAO (Sept 2010) TARGET AUDIENCES: The program primarily serves communities of immigrants, particularly Latino, Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Burmese, Karen, Kenyan, and Bhutanese and African-American farmers and others from East Africa and Southeast Asia. All the farmers in our program are considered "low income" by IRS standards and are "socially disadvantaged" by USDA standards. The farmers all come from the 7 county Twin Cities Metro Area and the St Croix River Valley of MN and Wisconsin. In 2010, MFA is working directly with 9 "farms", representing about 30 farmers, together with an additional 50 "food farmers" in the program who are primarily Hmong elders who produce mostly for themselves and community. We reach an additional 20 - 40 farmers through our classroom and field training classes that are open to the public and have between 2 - 10 farmers from outside the program at each session. We reach another 160 - 200 immigrant farmers through the Annual Minority and Immigrant Farmers Conference in February 2011. Trainings conducted September - Nov 2009 Hoophouse production and season extension; 5th national Small Farm Conference; Soil testing procedures; Soils and cover cropping; Putting fields to sleep for winter; End-of-Year All Farmers Meeting;Hoop House Construction Workshop; Buyer/Grower Workshop; Cabbage crop pest control Jan - Sept 2010 BRF Orientation and introduction;Organic Farming and intro to certification; CSA operations and marketing; Farm Business planning; Wholesale marketing; Seed starting at Home; Crop planning and plot mapping; Immigrant Farming Conference in St Paul; MOSES National Organic Farming Conference, LaCrosse, WI; Marketing at Farmers Markets; Farm Business Planning II; Record Keeping; Orientation to Big River Farms and food safety practices; Irrigation systems; Soil Fertility; Weeding techniques and management; Post-harvest Handling and Food Safety; Plant diseases and organic approaches; Tractor Basics for Small Farms MFA Staff; Cover cropping and putting fields to rest; Seed Saving Basics; Season Extension and Hoophouse growing; Cooperators Conference USDA Office of Outreach and Advocacy in St Louis, MO PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: There are no major changes except that MFA and AAHWM did not co-hire a staff person as it was too problematic for the staff person to work between 2 programs. However, this has worked very well as we both have staff that are working well together. I think we had expected greater interaction between the two organizations and the farmers of the 2 organizations but it has been difficult to find time during the growing seasons to organize exchanges.
Impacts
MFA is the only organization in MN specifically focused on working directly with socially-disadvantaged immigrant farmers and training farmers in organic production and official organic certification. The immigrant farmers in the MFA's Big River Farms are the first certified organic immigrant farmers in MN - a unique and significant milestone. The impacts are far-reaching. It will not only improve the environment, public and individual farmer's and consumer's health, but also works towards improving the role and status of immigrants - farmers and their larger communities - the greater society. It raises the public respect of immigrants and recognition of the immigrant farmer's contribution to agriculture and food as well as in official statistics (NASS) for immigrant producers. The organic certified immigrant producers are now assisting in outreach and extension with other immigrant farmers in the future. Verifiable impacts are yields per acre, number of markets and sales and organic practices and certification.The impact is even larger since the Immigrant Farming Conference reached over 160 immigrant farmers in 2010 and keeps growing. Through our market relationship brokering, we have helped 5 farms develop and gain access to their own direct wholesale and intermediate markets like restaurants, schools and wholesale distributors.
Publications
- 5th Annual Minority and Immigrant Farmers Conference Report. April 2010 MFA Annual Report 2009. June 2010
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