Access to Markets: Cooperatives Benefit Beginning Farmers

August 14, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Jake Stukenberg, NFU Intern Cooperatives can provide services and products that help young and beginning farmers start up their own operations. Whether you are a dairy farmer, a grain farmer, or even a consumer in need of some tools, there are a variety of cooperatives, both regionally and nationally, that can cater to your … Read More

Access to Markets: Cooperatives Support Rural Communities

August 7, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Jake Stukenberg, NFU Intern Cooperatives have proven to be one of the most beneficial business models, particularly in rural areas where certain services or products would be unavailable to residents. Businesses like credit unions, cooperatively owned grocery stores, and rural electric cooperatives, can provide not only services to a community, but job opportunities as … Read More

Access to Markets: Cooperative Business Structures

July 31, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Jake Stukenberg, NFU Intern Cooperatives can come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it is a local grocery store stocked with all local products made from area producers or a large company like CHS, Inc. that provides many services nationwide, a cooperative caters to a specific need  and improves access to goods or services … Read More

Access to Markets: Member-Owner Responsibility to a Cooperative

July 25, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Jake Stukenberg, NFU Intern The most definitive aspect of the cooperative business model is that the members or producers own the business. This allows producers to drive their cooperative into the direction that benefits the producers, not private interests of outside stakeholders. With this power of directive comes the greater responsibility to stay active, … Read More

Access to Markets: Financing a Cooperative Business

July 17, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Jake Stukenberg, NFU Intern No farmer can start a cooperative alone. Cooperatives are the product of collaboration among many individuals with a shared goal of providing a needed service within an area or community. Once a group of producers comes together and creates a business plan, community members, producers, and investors provide the funds … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Harmonized GAP FSMA Alignment

June 19, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Chelsea Matzen, FSMA Project Director On June 5, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., and U.S Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a joint effort to simplify produce safety requirements for farmers by aligning the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Harmonized Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Audit Program with the requirements of the Food and Drug … Read More

Access to Markets: Farmer’s Share of the Food Dollar

June 12, 2018Beginning Farmers

Historical Document Curated by Tom Giessel, NFU Honorary Historian It is abundantly clear to anyone who has seen National Farmers Union’s Farmer’s Share that farmers receive only a small portion of every dollar spent on food at the grocery store. Farmers Union has been sounding the alarm about this issue throughout its entire history, as … Read More

Access to Land: Colorado Land Link

June 6, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Jake Stukenberg, NFU Intern Nationwide, farmers are beginning to age out and retire from their service to produce. Are young people turning to farming to as the established generation steps back? According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, only 5.1 percent of the 2.1 million principal owner farmers are younger than 35. This is … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Rural Towns Support Family Farms

May 23, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Lisa Everhart Myers, Demeter Farm March was an unusual month at Demeter Farm. It was a month filled with farming convention visits, spring snow storms, and, the very best part, an Indiana Class 1A boys’ basketball championship for my alma mater, the Morristown High School Yellow Jackets. For those of you who don’t know … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Managing a Farm Crew

May 15, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Michelle McKenzie, Co-Manager of Bellair Farm Farming for a season is hard work. Leading a crew all the way through a season and knowing you will do it all again next year is even harder work! Keeping your crew’s trust and respect is the best way to get through it all successfully. I’ve been co-managing … Read More

Access to Efficiency: EQIP & the Farm Bill

May 8, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Nate Brownlee, Co-Owner and Operator of Nightfall Farm Here at Nightfall Farm, Liz and I are committed to farm in ways that conserve our natural resources, having rooted our business in the model of the triple bottom line—environmental, social, and financial. When I think back to the first season of our farm, I recall … Read More

Access to Efficiency: EQIP & the Farm Bill

May 8, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Nate Brownlee, Co-Owner and Operator of Nightfall Farm Here at Nightfall Farm, Liz and I are committed to farm in ways that conserve our natural resources, having rooted our business in the model of the triple bottom line—environmental, social, and financial. When I think back to the first season of our farm, I recall … Read More

Access to Markets: Indiana Cooperative Development Center

May 2, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Hannah Ruth Tabler, NFU Intern For beginning farmers, getting a start in the agriculture industry can be difficult. Without a supportive network and educational resources, aspiring growers can find themselves at a loss for where to start in an industry where connection is key. Thankfully, organizations like the Indiana Cooperative Development Center offer support … Read More

Access to Capital: FSA Loan Guidebook

April 24, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Hannah Ruth Tabler, NFU Intern Many beginning farmers, after earning enough experience to feel confident starting their own operation, cannot afford the high upfront costs associated with such an endeavor. At the same time, new producers often lack extensive credit history or adequate collateral for traditional loan providers. This makes it difficult to start … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Beginning Farmers and the House Farm Bill Proposal

April 17, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Hannah Packman, NFU Communications Coordinator Although farmers and ranchers with all levels of experience rely on farm bill programs for technical and financial assistance, they are of particular importance to beginning farmers. Beginning farmers, by definition, do not have access to many of the same resources more established producers do. Most obviously, newcomers do … Read More

Access to Markets: Ohio Employee Ownership Center

April 10, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Hannah Ruth Tabler, NFU Intern For beginning farmers, getting a foothold in the agriculture industry can be difficult. One of the foremost challenges facing beginning farmers today is a lack of access to appropriate markets. Many farmers, young and old, have turned to the cooperative business model to increase their profit and reap the … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Learning As You Go

March 27, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Nate Brownlee, Co-Owner and Operator of Nightfall Farm When you start a farm, there’s no definite starting point. Well before you ever have plants in the ground or animals to graze, you’re already deep into planning and dreaming. By the time we moved home from New England, we already knew (roughly) what we wanted … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Infantry on the Farm

March 20, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Sherri Dugger, Indiana Farmers Union Media and Outreach Director, Co-owner and Operator of Dugger Family Farm If you asked me whether you should become a farmer, on my worst days, I might tell you “no.” Or, first, I might ask several questions: Do you know what products you will sell? Do you have access … Read More

Access to Markets: Commodity Markets History and Fundamentals

March 13, 2018Beginning Farmers

Transcribed by Tom Giessel, NFU Historian, and Sheryl Giessel; Commentary by Tom Giessel, Sherly Giessel and Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy National Farmers Union’s mission is to advocate for the economic and social well-being and quality of life of family farmers, ranchers, fishermen and consumers and their communities. Very frequently in contemporary times, … Read More

Access to Efficiency: 5 Reasons to Join Farmers Union

February 20, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Sherri Dugger, Indiana Farmers Union’s Media and Outreach Director, Co-Owner and Operator of Dugger Family Farm I was an easy sell. When I first met Rob Davies, the marketing manager for Indiana Farmers Union, in late 2016 at a local coffee shop in Danville, Indiana, it took him about 15 minutes to sell me on … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Seed Treatment

February 14, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy Beginning farmers who grow grains know that the time between planting and emergence in the field can be perilous for their crops. Pathogens in the soil or on seeds can overtake or impair the growth of a seedling, damaging yields and – ultimately – profitability. … Read More

Access to Efficiency: Learning How to Farm

February 6, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Liz Brownlee, Co-Owner & Operator of Nightfall Farm My husband, Nate, knew one thing as a high schooler: he would never, ever work as a farmer. His high school summer job was on a grain farm near Franklin, Indiana, and while his bosses treated him well, the work was not, in his opinion, the … Read More

Access To Markets: Grain Futures

January 31, 2018Beginning Farmers

By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy Every farm and every farm family is unique. Beginning intergenerational farmers generally do not learn everything they need to be successful in a uniform or linear way. On different farms, the established generation may or may not be willing to share fieldwork responsibility, or be … Read More