New farm advocacy group to host USDA visit for beginning and market farmers on April 9 in Spanish, English and Hmong/Hmoob

MADISON — Go Farm Connect is a new agriculture advocacy organization partnering with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to facilitate a group visit to the USDA Service Center in Madison from 4-7 p.m. on April 9. The informal event will be held in the Driftless Conference Room, 5201 Fen Oak Drive. 

Representatives from UW Extension, Dane County Land Conservation District, and USDA will provide an introduction to farm loans, grants, insurance and disaster assistance specifically for those growing or thinking about growing vegetables or other specialty crops. Land ownership is not a requirement to participate in these programs. 

Refreshments and empanadas will be served. This event is free and language interpretation services are available in Spanish and Hmong/HMoob, and other languages upon request at pre-registration via gofarmconnect.org. 

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offer a wide variety of farm loans and programs such as crop insurance, infrastructure cost-share funding, and planning tools that benefit farmers and landowners. All farmers and growers, no matter how large or small their operations, are welcome to attend. 

Many farmers don’t know that they qualify for USDA services that can positively impact their farm business and offer peace of mind. For example, FSA offers low-interest loans to farmers which can be used for start-up costs, expansion, equipment purchases, building a storage facility, and more. NRCS has programs that help with conservation plans, cover crop plans, grazing plans, and much more, as well as cost-share assistance for infrastructure like high tunnels and livestock watering systems. 

The hosts for this event will be a team of partners from multiple organizations, including Yimmuaj Yang with Groundswell Conservancy, Nou Thao with Marbleseed, Chaing Rai with Fair Share CSA Coaltion, and Nicholas Leete and KO Thao with Rooted. They are all Connectors with Go Farm Connect, trained to help new and emerging farmers access helpful federal programs. They will follow up with attendees after the event to answer questions and help with accessing helpful programs. For more information, please contact Leete at 608-236-3478 nicholas@rootedwi.org; Thao at KO@rootedwi.org 608-338-6982 or Yang at yimmuaj@groundswellconservancy.org.

“This office visit will connect farmers with local, state, and federal government offices supporting agriculture, and familiarize them with the people who can give them agricultural advice and connect them with resources,” said Nicholas Leete, who works with Rooted on cooperative and small scale farm projects and serves as Chair of the Madison Food Policy Council. “The farmer support programs in the Fen Oak building are numerous but can be intimidating to navigate, and this event will help farmers get started on thinking about the programs that can apply to their operations and goals.”

“We have a crisis right now in the food system. The average age of the farmer in Wisconsin is 57… and their children are not interested in continuing to farm,” said Yimmuaj Yang, who is Groundswell Conservancy’s community director, where she helps make land available to a new generation of farmers. 

This USDA visit is part of an effort to connect new and market farmers, especially farmers of color, with federal farm programs and resources. 

“Farming is a great way to have food security and food choices. Since I was a young kid, my parents have made locally grown foods from their own garden a high percentage of our daily food intake and I’ve taken on that role as I grew older,” said KO Thao, who is a market manager with Rooted, and regularly repairs small engines and tools for market farmers. Thao was born in Laos and has lived in Madison since the 1980s, and worked for Madison area farmers since he was a child. “Also another plus to farming is that you can grow your most favorite foods and not have to go looking around for them in your local grocery store.”

Go Farm Connect (GFC) is a farmer-led initiative to build relationships between non-traditional, historically underserved specialty crop farmers and the agricultural support agencies that can help producers succeed.  Peer Connectors are trained to help farms of all sizes and specialties in Minnesota and Wisconsin access agricultural assistance programs. The three-year project is led by Renewing The Countryside in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, and Natural Resources Conservation Service. For more information, visit www.gofarmconnect.org.