Deadline: 28-Jan-22
The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) has launched the 2022 Young Farmer Grant Program to help young and beginning farmers and ranchers start up and grow their businesses.
Young Farmer Grants are designed to provide a flexible financial boost to young farmers building long-term careers in agriculture. This fund can be used for anything that will further your goals as a farmer, even if that means just getting started. The goal of this fund is to provide financial assistance for any cost that currently limits your ability to start, run, or grow your operation in the way you’d like.
Grant funding may support completing a project, purchasing a new piece of equipment, covering operating costs such as seeds and compost, building new infrastructure, attending a farmer training program or conference, hiring additional farm labor, or covering personal finances that stand in the way of farm success, including but not limited to childcare, housing, or student loan payments. Funds, once awarded, may be used to match other grant opportunities.
Now in the third year of the program, they will once again be offering 50 grants to a new cohort of young farmers and ranchers in 2022. Forty-five awards will go to businesses already in operation, and five to projects starting in 2022. The grant program is available to support farmers and ranchers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, in addition to the 50 states and Washington D.C.
Funding Infromation
Grant recipients are required to spend the entirety of their $5,000 grant before their report is due in October 2022.
Eligibility Criteria
- This program seeks to support “livelihood farmers and rancher” or those seeking long term careers that financially support them through agriculture. At this time they are not able to offer funding to farmers who are not currently, or are not working, toward making an income farming through long-term careers in agriculture.
- Applicant must be the operation owner or plan to start their own operation in 2022.
- For non-profit farms without “owners” applicant must be the lead farmer/farm manager.
- Farmer part-owners of cooperative or collective farms are qualified to apply. Please choose just one owner to represent the operation in the application.
- Young farmers and ranchers who are at least 18 and not over 40 years of age as of May 1, 2022.
- Applicant must use farm practices that protect natural resources for future generations.
- Applicant must be farming or ranching in one of the 50 U.S. states, D.C., in Puerto Rico, or in the Virgin Islands.
- There are no preferences for what applicants produce on their operations or for current scale of farm.
- They strongly encourage farmers of color, Indigenous farmers, and farmers who are facing significant structural barriers to accessing other funding opportunities and success in agriculture to apply.
- Staff and Board members of the National Young Farmers Coalition are not eligible to apply.
- Recipients of the 2020 and 2021 Young Farmer Grants are not eligible to apply.
Rules and Requirements
- Grant recipients will be required to submit two reports:
- A progress report between in the summer of 2022 detailing progress toward goals and any potential changes to original plan
- A final brief written report in October 2022 detailing how the funds were used.
- Applicants must submit a photo with their application. If the applicant is selected, their name and photo will be included in a public announcement of grant recipients on youngfarmers.org and on the Chipotle and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation websites.
- The National Young Farmers Coalition, Chipotle, and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation will work with some grant recipients to share their stories nationally through their communications channels. Grant recipients have the option to opt out of this coverage.
- Please note that this grant is taxable income.
For more information, visit https://www.youngfarmers.org/youngfarmergrants/