Michigan Ag Connection - USDA Funds Risk Management Education for Historically Underserved Producers

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USDA Funds Risk Management Education for Historically Underserved Producers
Michigan Ag Connection - 07/30/2021

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing nearly $1 million in funding for universities and nonprofits to develop risk management training and educational tools aimed to assist historically underserved farmers and ranchers. USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) is funding nine projects to help producers effectively manage long-term risks and challenges.

The projects offer a broad range of risk management training, including education on Federal crop insurance, wildfire preparedness, financial management, record keeping and risk analysis, among other topics. When determining which entities received funding, RMA considered organizations with a proven track record of success using USDA funds to serve socially disadvantaged producers, urban communities, and women producers, among others.

"Programs developed by these organizations help ensure that farmers know what USDA resources are available to them and how to plan for adverse weather, natural disasters, or volatile markets," said RMA Acting Administrator Richard Flournoy. "These training opportunities build invaluable skill sets in communities across the country that have historically lacked access to education and resources."

Projects include:

- Training to increase financial management of local food and urban farming operations in Michigan (Michigan State University)

- Educational information about risk management and crop insurance which is respectful and appropriate for Native producers (Intertribal Agriculture Council with the University of Arkansas' Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative)

- Wildfire preparedness and response and recovery strategies for California farmers (Farmer Campus with Rhizobia, LL.C.)

- Workshops on practices to mitigate financial and environmental risk for Georgia growers (Seven Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Area Council with Team Agriculture Georgia)

- Training on recordkeeping and financial management for underserved producers in Maryland and Washington (University of Maryland; Washington State University)

- Training on recordkeeping and financial management provided bilingually in Texas and Connecticut (University of Texas Rio Grande; University of Connecticut)

- Training on how to use insurance and non-insurance tools for small-scale specialty crops and livestock for producers in Florida (North-South Institute)

In previous years, RMA provided annual funding for risk management education projects, supporting more than $126 million worth of projects in historically underserved communities from 2002 to 2018. This year's investment marks a restart of this effort.

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