Small Farms Conservancy Programs

Immediate Projects and goals
A.  A partnership with Small Farmer’s Journal, the award winning agrarian publication, to function as a centerpiece for communication and community building.
B.  Building a family of supporting farmers, retired farmers, and young people with farming interests.
C.  Establishing alliances with established and fledgling agrarian organizations.
D.  Building an advisory board and relevant subcommittees.
E.  Conservancy Capitalization (farmer outreach, grant writing, direct contact).

F.  Building state and/or regional chapters.

Proposed Programs

< farm technology information services expanding on the platform of the Small Farmer’s Journal and utilizing the internet, and traditional sources, to give all small farmers quick access to information on any farm or farming subject of value.

< farmland preservation work employing a true farming perspective to further the goal of saving farmland FOR farming.

< enhancement of local marketing through creative public relations, advertising and event promotions.

< establishment of an in-house volunteer agrarian think-tank available to work on a collaborative basis towards the address of specific small farm and marketing challenges.

< annual small farm awards and fellowships working to identify and honor those heroes in the ranks of small farms whose story has the best hope of changing public perceptions.

< a satellite research pilot project to design potential micro-loan programs providing easy access to limited resource farmers for short term, small loans.

< membership insurance offering to small farmers, for the first time, an opportunity to get health, life, liability and assorted other coverages with the distinct advantage of pooled rates. On top of the troubles with the health care industry in the U.S., farmers have even less access to affordable insurance than the general public. Using the Conservancy’s non-profit umbrella to gather thousands of farmers together into a pooled insurable aggregate would provide access to reduced cost insurance benefiting, by alleviation, the general public.

< utilizing the insurance pool model and form, any farmers would be eligible for  retirement program coordination utilizing 403B non-profit retirement investment accounts similar to 401Ks and built on the most conservative of investment counseling. Retirement stability would benefit the farming community and the public in general.

< apprenticeship clearinghouse wherein the Conservancy acts as a bridge between candidate apprentices and recipient farms utilizing application screening and individual grants to mitigate concerns with apprenticeship suitability, wage and liability issues.

< farm caretaking services offering opportunity for apprentices to graduate to internships and  build a pool of qualified individuals available when farmer members find a need to take a break.

< farmer’s legal assistance gathering together a team of lawyer volunteers to work on seminal cases which show the potential for making ground-breaking legal advances in the cause of small farms. And also allowing individual members access to a ‘help’ program for advice and counsel.

< endowment-funded grants wherein the Conservancy provides targeted assistance for group and institutional needs.

< estate planning providing professional consultation through a volunteer corp of folks keenly familiar with farm estate realities.

< legacy programs assisting farm folks who wish to see their efforts, assets and beliefs carried forward beyond their own times.

< cultural outreach and education for and to farmers and communities, possibly through a syndicated radio broadcast; a regular, consistent, attractive and intelligent presentation reinvigorating the society of farming.