Source: NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, 9/17/18

Editor’s Note: The 2014 Farm Bill expires on September 30th. If the next farm bill is not finalized before that date, numerous “tiny but mighty” farm bill programs that support family farmers and food-producing communities will effectively shut down in terms of new funding and grant opportunities for fiscal year 2019. These workhorse programs, which have small price tags but big impacts, touch nearly every part of the American food and farm sectors. This is the fourth post of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s “What’s at Stake?” series, which highlights soon-to-expire farm bill programs and details what their absence could mean for farmers and communities nationwide. 

In recent years, farmers selling into traditional commodity markets have experienced a sustained drop in prices and a depressed farm economy. A handful of farm bill programs, however, have helped open up new opportunities for farmers to expand their businesses, create jobs, and serve their communities, despite the broader rural economic downturn. These programs include the Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG) Program and the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP), which provide technical assistance and start up capital to farmers, ranchers, and rural entrepreneurs seeking to build and expand rural businesses.

These programs have a proven track record of success, and fill an important gap left by private sector lenders and investors. They also represent the farm bill’s only direct investment in rural business creation — the 2014 Farm Bill provided $63 million for VAPG and $15 million for RMAP in mandatory funding for the five year farm bill cycle.

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