Women in Agriculture (WAgN)

Learning and networking are centerstage at the upcoming New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference and Trade Show being held this December 15, 16, 17 at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH. This conference includes 27 educational sessions over 3 days, covering major vegetable, berry and tree fruit crops as well as various special topics. A Farmer to Farmer meeting after each morning and afternoon session will bring speakers and farmers together for informal, in-depth discussion on certain issues. For full conference details are available at the website.

There is also an extensive Trade Show with over 100 exhibitors. We hope that you will enjoy your time here, and meet with fellow growers, advisors, researchers, and industry representatives. We want you to leave with new ideas and new information that will have a positive impact on your farm.

This conference is special because it is put together with close collaboration between growers and Extension from across the region. The steering committee gathers the best speakers from within our region and across the country to tell you about the latest innovations and advances in the fruit and vegetable industry. Almost every session includes both farmers and research or extension personnel, so you are getting the “best of both worlds.”

Holistic Management International has been funded through the USDA's Beginning Farmer Grant to teach beginning women farmers the tools of whole farm planning. Groups are forming in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York.

Classes will begin in January 2010. Participants must agree to attend the 6 sessions that will take place over the winter of 2010 and 4 farm tours that will take place during the spring and fall of 2010. Sessions will be scheduled when the participants are selected but will likely be held on Saturday. There will be farm mentors also available.

If you are a woman farmer who has been farming less than 10 years, contact the coordinator for your state for an application. If you would like to participate as a farmer mentor, please also contact your state coordinator.

Applications must be submitted by November 25, 2009. Class is limited to 15 participants.

In Vermont contact: Mary Peabody, UVM Extension/VT WAgN, 802/223-2389, Mary.Peabody@uvm.edu

In New Hampshire contact: Kate Kerman, Small and, Beginner Farmers of New Hampshire
(603) 876-4562; leader@sbfnh.org

In Massachusetts contact: Kelly Coleman, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) & Massachusetts WAgN, 413/665-7100; kelly@buylocalfood.org

In New York contact: Phil Metzger, phil.metzger@ny.usda.gov, 607-334-3231 x4

In Maine, contact: Gail Chase, WAgN Maine, 207/568-7599; gchase@uninets.net

In Connecticut: Bill Duesing, Connecticut NOFA, 203/888-5146; www.ctnofa.org

Strolling of the Heifers Microloan Fund for New England Farmers
Deadline: November 27, 2009
The Strolling of the Heifers Microloan Fund for New England Farmers will be accepting applications through November 27, 2009 for loans of $10,000 or less. Applicants must live in one of the four counties of Western Massachusetts or in Vermont, and must prequalify. To learn more, visit The Carrot Project Farm Financing




Northeast SARE Farmer Grants
Deadline: December 8, 2009
The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program offers Farmer Grants for commercial farmers who have a new production or marketing idea that will likely boost profits, improve stewardship, and strengthen the farm community. To learn more, download an application and instruction booklet, please visit NESare Farmer Grants. The Northeast Region is comprised of Connecticut Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington, DC.




Community Capital Management Assistance Program (MAP) Grants
Deadline: Rolling until funds are fully disbursed
Thanks to a $99,000 USDA Rural Development Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG), Community Capital is pleased to launch its Management Assistance Program (MAP). Visit http://communitycapitalvt.org/images/Forms/map%20application.pdf 6Businesses located in one of the following eight Vermont counties can apply for up to $2,500 and formal or informal groups of businesses can apply for up to $5,000 to purchase consulting services that advance their individual or shared business goals. Eligible counties include: Addison, Caledonia, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange and Washington. There are match requirements, so read the application carefully to find out how you can meet those requirements. Applicants can expect a 2-week turn around time on their application provided it is complete when submitted. All decisions are made by staff.

Vermont Farm Women's Fund Grants
Deadline: October 25, 2009.
The Vermont Farm Women's Fund (VFWF) is offering its next round of grants to help women farmers improve their businesses or become more involved in agricultural policy development. The fund provides two kinds of awards: Farm Business Development awards provide support for education and travel related to helping recipients improve some aspect of their business. Leadership Development awards provide support to help women farmers develop skills, access and opportunities to provide leadership in agricultural policy development. Farmers can use awards to help research and develop new products; conduct feasibility studies; and to attend workshops, conferences and classes to learn new marketing, business management and value-added production skills and knowledge. Additionally, applicants for either award may request funds to help defray associated travel, childcare, and replacement labor. Grants are capped at $750. Average award size to date has been $608. Visit Vermont Farm Women's Fund for more information. Click on the "Upcoming Deadlines and Applications" link on the left to get to the online application form. Or, you can request an application package by calling 802-223-2389x15.

Southern SARE Invites Producer Proposals
Deadline: November 24, 2009
The call for proposals have been released for the 2010 Southern Region SARE Producer Grants. Proposals are due by November 15, 2009. Obtain the calls at: http://www.southernsare.uga.edu/callpage.htm3 Southern SARE producer grants are only open to farmers and/or ranchers or producer organizations. Any farmer/rancher or producer organization in the US Southern Region is eligible to apply for the grants which have maximums of $10,000 for individual producers and $15,000 for producer organizations to be used within two years. The Southern Region is comprised of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S.Virgin Islands.

The Farm to Plate (F2P) Initiative, approved at the end of the last legislative session, directs the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, working in collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture Council and other stakeholder groups, to develop a 10-year strategic plan to strengthen Vermont’s farm and food sector.

F2P will identify critical bottlenecks and priority investment areas that will help increase economic development activity to achieve a diversified and appropriately-scaled farm and food sector which serves both in-state and regional consumer markets to stimulate economic development in Vermont’s farm and food sector.

The strategic plan is due to be complete by June 30, 2010, so we need your feedback today! Please take a moment to fill out an online version of the F2P Survey.

The Farm to Plate Initiative will be seeking community input through a series of regional Local Food Summits in November. These plans are newly in the works and F2P staff are scurrying to contact regional food centers and other local groups to help host and arrange dates, locations, and logistics for these meetings. If you’d like to join the F2P mailing list and stay informed about progress, please send an email to heather@vsjf.org.

For more information, please visit the Farm to Plate website.

I recently had some time off which was wonderful because it provided time to recharge my well with the energy that I'll need to get through the next few busy months. But time off is not always a good thing for me because it gives me too much time to think about new ideas, new programs, new projects that would be fun to get started.

I find myself in a familiar pattern. Crazy, busy schedule leads me to shut down on new ideas and leaves me feeling drained. So I take time off, get rested, read some books, hear some new ideas, meet up with interesting people. Then I find myself taking on a lot of projects, starting new initiatives, and filling my schedule to capacity again. Which brings the wheel full-cycle. Since I recognize the pattern you might think that I'd do something about it but no, I choose to relive it over and over.

I finally figured out that there must be something in the pattern that I enjoy. And I've noticed that I'm not alone. Many of the farmers and business owners that I talk to seem to be on the same roller-coaster. In the past I've counseled these busy professionals to manage their priorities better, make informed decisions, and separate the urgent tasks from the important tasks and focus on the important. I still think all that advice makes sense and this year I'm going to dedicate myself to taking some of my own advice. But in the meantime it may be that we will all have to acknowledge that these race and rest patterns of activity are just another way of living in our ramped up world. So in these last days of the harvest season take care, rest when you can and look ahead to the next rest cycle.

Early last spring President Obama announced the formation of a White House Council on Women & Girls. The mission of the White House Council on Women and Girls is to ensure that every part of the federal government takes into account the needs of women and girls in the policies we draft, the programs we create, the legislation we support.

Be sure to bookmark the website http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cwg/ and check in on their work.

One thing I've been wondering about proposing to this new Council... Given the increasing numbers of women farmers why doesn't USDA open an office of women's affairs to help monitor the needs of women farmers and modify USDA programs to be more user-friendly to this group of deserving women.

What will you propose?