American Rescue Plan To Provide Funding For Underserved Agriculture Needs

Sunday, November 28th, 2021 -- 10:55 AM

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is helping to ensure that underserved farmers, ranchers, and foresters have the tools, programs and support they need to succeed in agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA will provide approximately $75 million in American Rescue Plan funding to 20 organizations to provide technical assistance to connect underserved producers with USDA programs and services. Organizations were selected for their proven track records working with underserved producer communities, such as veterans, beginning farmers, limited resource producers, and producers living in high-poverty areas. These organizations will work with underserved producer communities on business and tax planning, financial assistance planning, market planning, farmer advocacy, and business curriculum development. The cooperative agreements announced are an initial step in deploying American Rescue Plan resources in response to demands for more immediate assistance on farm business planning, market development and access assistance, tax planning and land access assistance, to help underserved producers succeed.

This announcement is the latest in a series of announcements building momentum around USDA’s historic commitment to center equity in decision-making and policymaking and lower barriers to access USDA programming. To ensure the partnerships announced today and future partnerships funded via these American Rescue Plan funds are robust, all recipients will work with USDA in intensive training and collaboration activities.

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