Grants Assist Beginning Farmers with Equipment and Infrastructure Costs
A new grant program from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) created to help new farmers with the cost of purchasing needed equipment and infrastructure has awarded 97 grants totaling $856,833 across 45 Minnesota counties in its first year.
Demand for the Beginning Farmer Equipment and Infrastructure Grant far outstripped legislative funding for the grant, with 1,100 eligible applicants requesting $18.6 million from the grant program.
“Minnesota needs its next generation of farmers to thrive, and reducing the hurdles that prevent beginning farmers from becoming profitable is key to that effort,” MDA Assistant Commissioner Patrice Bailey said. “Besides securing land, getting the necessary farming equipment and infrastructure is a huge hurdle.”
Awardees were selected through a competitive process in which applications were evaluated by a review committee based on criteria shared in the Request for Proposals.
Individual awards of up to $20,000 are reimbursing a wide variety of equipment and infrastructure purchase costs for different types of farming, including:
- Fencing for 16 applicants
- Specialty crop equipment for 15 applicants
- Tractor purchases for 11 applicants, from small walk-behind tractors to larger row crop tractors
- Livestock chute systems for nine applicants, plus livestock equipment including feeding and watering systems for others
- Water access improvements and irrigation equipment for eight applicants
- New infrastructure projects such as high tunnels, equipment storage structures, and walk-in coolers
- Improvements for existing infrastructure such as barns and feed lots
- Various other needs, including a soybean head, GPS technology for tractors, bee hives, a grain transfer system, hay balers, and Christmas tree farm equipment
Qualified applicants were required to be:
- A beginning farmer
- A Minnesota resident
- Farming within the borders of the state of Minnesota
- In good standing with the state of Minnesota
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Media Contact
Larry Schumacher, MDA Communications
651-201-6629
Larry.Schumacher@state.mn.us
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