Financial Aid for South Carolinan Crop Farmers: Local Grants, Loans, and Financial Programs

This is my resource guide on financial aid for SC crop farmers that I created for senior project. 

Overview of Organic Certification for Growers

The Cornell Small Farms Program Newsletter linked me to a publication by The National Young Farmers Coalition titled "Vegetable Grower's Guide to Organic Certification", which was a comprehensive and informative guide to the steps of becoming a certified organic grower.

Firstly I would like to inform readers that I am not necessarily pushing growers to become certified organic. Besides NOP (USDA's National Organic Program), there are other options for environmentally conscious farmers such as Certified Naturally Grown (naturallygrown.org), Certified Biodynamic (demeter-usa.org), and others.

Here are the basic rules for organic certification:
1. A minimum of 3 years without use of prohibited substances
2. Sufficient buffer zone between operation and conventional plots
3. Must maintain and build soil organic matter/ no erosion
4. Fertility management
5. No soil/ groundwater leaching, no water pollution
6. Raw manure must be applied at least 120 days before harvest for plants on ground an 90 days before harvest for plants not on the ground.
7. Organic seed must be used when available.
8. No use of treated seeds
9. Use of strictly organic transplants
10. Organic planting stock when available
11. Manual control of disease and pest prevention
12. Mechanical weed control
13. Use of approved substances only when mechanical prevention isn't working
14. No treated lumber in presence of growing medium
15. Must clean equipment before and after use
16. No GMO
17. No irradiation or sewer sludge
*all of these practices must be adequately documented for your certification application
*These rules are applicable to both the paper certification process as well as the on-site inspection process

Things to Have for Your Certifier
1. An Organic System Plan (contamination prevention plan, soil building program, etc)
2. At least 5 years of previous records (soil tests, field maps, seed and transplant orders, etc)
3. Crop rotation, planting, and harvesting schedules
4. Recorded pest and disease observations, treatments, etc
*Go to ams.usda.gov to find and choose a certifier

Read more at http://www.youngfarmers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/NYFC-Organic-Certification-Guide.pdf
 

New Tool to Test Organic Matter in Soil

Researchers from Ohio State University have developed a new tool that enables farmers to easily test the organic matter in their soil. The soil organic matter calculator is a spreadsheet- based tool that includes a user guide, a data manager, a calculator for the prediction of soil organic matter, and printed test results. 

The calculator is based on the following: crop rotation, yields, tillage type, tillage depth, erosion rate, manure applications and cover crops. With all of these factors, the calculator is able to predict annual soil organic matter dynamics and parameters for up to 50 years. 

Due to the increasing demand for crop residue from the biofuels industry, farmers are in business with this new calculator tool. The tool additionally predicts the revenue from residue sales and the amount of carbon emitted as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. 

While there are other similar tools already in existence, the calculator is easy and inexpensive. 
Islam (the Soil, Water, Bioenergy Resources Program Leader at Ohio State) and his co-workers are also working towards the addition of the following features to the calculator tool: liming and irrigation applications, nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics, soil compaction management, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil health. 

More information is available online at http://southcenters.osu.edu/soil-and-bioenergy. Select “SOM Soil Organic Matter Calculator” under the Extension menu. 

Link to article: http://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/new-tool-offers-growers-easy-option-measure-soil-organic-matter-content 

If you are especially interested, contact Islam at Ohio State University 

Rafiq Islam
740-289-2071, ext. 147
islam.27@osu.edu 

Conservation Grazing

Why would a conservation organization want to implement grazing practices? A few benefits include the enhancement of neighbor/community relations, revenue generation, and habitat management. In the US, there are currently 770 million acres of grazing land that are not considered parts of conservation efforts. However, with the rising concern for agricultural conservation, many efforts are planning to incorporate grazing practices into their strategies. Many conservation organizations are creating partnerships to compliment each others' work. For example, two organizations might create a partnership in which one organization concentrates on a grazing operation while the other concentrates on a cattle system to restore the ecosystem.
Other conservation methods, such as mow brush encroaching in a prairie, calls for lots of fuel and transportation. These methods don't seem like the most efficient in terms of cost or ecological purpose. Many farmers who use the alternative methods to grazing believe that habitat loss and species endangerment are two great risks of grazing methods. However, with an additional focus on biodiversity. Studies actually show that populations are benefited by grazing techniques. For example, in one study provided in this document, the Greater Prairie Chicken and the Bobwhite Quail species were actually shown to increase in population size during the presence of grazing methods and decrease after the methods were removed from the habitat.
*The studies on rotational grazing included in this document were conducted by the National Audubon Society.

Cornell's Study on the Economic Impacts of Food Hubs

The USDA Agriculture Marketing Survey and The National Institute for Food and Agriculture recently funded a Cornell project to conduct a comprehensive study on the economic effects of food hubs. I read about this study from an article titled Study: Food Hubs' Support for Local Economy is Mixed from The Cornell Chronicle.  
Cornell found that food hubs provide a wide variety of crops to their local population. In addition to ameliorating the diet of local consumers, food hubs also promote local farm aggregation and and distribution businesses. Food hubs have somewhat of a "multiplier" impact. For every dollar that is spent on a food hub, more money stays and is re-spent in the local economy.
Other businesses, however, do suffer. Research shows that businesses that sell substitute products suffer a 10% decrease in sales.
Lastly, Cornell's research also showed that middle- sized farms are the ones that benefit most from food hubs. This makes sense because these are the farms that have outgrown sales at a street stand market but are too small to be distributed by large corporations such as Walmart.
Customer survey results from Cornell's study revealed room for improvement in the food hub sector in terms of logistics; specifically a need for lower minimum order sizes and increased frequency of deliveries.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/01/study-food-hubs-support-local-economy-mixed

News for a Positive Change in Organic Crop Insurance

ATTRA linked me to an article called Organic Crop Insurance Is Growing in New Ways! It is great news that RMA (Risk Management Agency) is changing its policies for 2014 organic crop growers. 

As of 2014, the following changes will be implemented:

1. Organic crop farmers will no longer be changed an additional 5% subcharge on premiums for their insurance. Their premiums will instead be based off of production history. 

2. There are new crop insurance opportunities specific to the type of organic crop. 

3. There will be a "Contact Price" option, which will be available to organic farmers who receive a contract price for their crop. This allows farmers under certain circumstances to base their crop insurance price on what they are receiving from their market contract. 

http://blogs.usda.gov/2014/02/04/organic-crop-insurance-is-growing-in-new-ways/ 

South Carolina Living

The recent edition of South Carolina Living was full of good farming advice and farmer success stories. Its article on Walters farm expresses that young farmers bring fresh energy and ideas to SC agriculture. Steven Walters is a farmer in Dorchester County. He has learned many of his farming practices on his own through trial and error and has many innovative ideas. He is building a CSA program and a line of natural baby foods called “Ginger Baby.” He has been working with GrowFood Carolina and local restaurants, through which he has been marketing interesting varieties of crops, such as the Chioggia beet, which is striped like a candy cane. I remember Sara Clow, the director of GrowFood Carolina, told me that crop planning is one of the most difficult tasks of a farmer. You have to grow something that is very marketable. Growing interesting varieties such as the Chioggia beet is important in helping a farmer’s products stand out among others and sell. There are many upbeat success stories that new generation SC farmers have to tell. This edition also included a story on Eric McClam, who left a budding career in architecture to form City Roots, which is one of the only urban gardens in Columbia.

I also learned more about blueberry production through this edition. I learned that fertilization is “a double-edged sword” through a piece on building better blueberry bushes. You need good fertilization for blueberries to grow, but over-fertilization can also result in excessive flower growth and limited berry growth.  It is also effective to cut off one or two of the eldest stems in the center of the plant. This will yield more light for the plant’s growth. Make sure your plant doesn't grow too big- you must trim your stems, otherwise your plant will grow too big and your yields will decrease. It is recommended that you remove up to one third of your stems in a year. These stems are easy to spot- they are very tall and barren looking. 

chioggia beets...yummm