May 27, 2021
Dear Secretary Vilsack, As you know, the coronavirus pandemic has had substantial impacts on farm andfood businesses across the nation, from farms and ranches to food hubs and processing facilities.
May 24, 2021
The Honorable Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Secretary Vilsack,
As you know, the coronavirus pandemic has had substantial impacts on farm andfood businesses across the nation, from farms and ranches to food hubs and processing facilities. Some saw their markets disappear overnight, requiring that they rapidly pivot to reach new customers, while others saw demand skyrocket beyond their capacity.The pandemic has underscored the need to better equip these businesses–especially those serving local and regional markets–to capitalize on new opportunities, create jobs, and achieve a more resilient food system.
Given this critical need, we are writing to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to set aside $300 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, to dramatically scale up one-on-one business technical assistance for small and midsized farm and food businesses. This type of investment into our future has a proven track record of improving regional supply chain resiliency. It will also translate into new wealth and opportunities, particularly for communities that the Biden administration has identified as underserved, including socially disadvantaged populations and low-income rural areas.
Farmers and ranchers are entrepreneurs as much as they are agricultural producers. This past year has demonstrated that improved business skills and financial literacy are essential to enabling these businesses to survive unforeseen market disruptions. For example, many small and midsized operations did not have the adequate financial recordkeeping needed to access coronavirus relief.
Providing customized support in the form of one-to-one technical assistance–for financial coaching, business planning, market development, succession planning, and accessing land and capital–will create new jobs and expand profitability for both the current and next generation. One state program that provides tailored support and training found that two years of business planning support generated a 62 percent increase in net income, as well as added jobs at a rate three times that of the sector on average. This is just one example of what can be achieved nationally.
Through the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress provided an additional $3.6 billion in funding to improve supply chain resiliency and help producers as well as small and midsized processors respond to the pandemic. Dedicating a portion of these funds to one-on-one business technical assistance is critical to meeting these goals. Currently, support for this assistance is being provided on a piecemeal basis across the country by public and NGO service providers who rely on inconsistent government and philanthropic funding sources. While the recent supplemental funding for USDA’s Local AgricultureMarket Program (LAMP) and Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO) represent critical investments in small and midsized farm and food businesses, these programs have a wide range of uses and are not specifically designed to support in-depth and sustained business technical assistance. In fact, a dedicated investment into business technical assistance will help ensure the impact and longevity of these LAMP and FOTO investments. As such, we urge USDA to dedicate $300 million for business technical assistance, delivered in the form of multi-year grants to public and NGO agricultural service providers with a history of providing this type of assistance and a track record of increasing business skills, profitability, and access to land and capital.
Thank you for your consideration of our request. We are grateful for the work you and the Department have done to support farms, ranches, and other food businesses as thepandemic continues.
Sincerely,
ACDS, LLC
Agricultural Viability Alliance
Alden Services
American Farmland Trust
Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture
Black Family Land Trust, Inc.
C2C-Farm and Ranch Business Education
The Carrot Project
Center for an Agricultural Economy
Chester County Economic Development Council
City Gardens
Coastal Enterprises, Inc (CEI)
Columbia Farmers Market
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)
Compeer Financial
Connecticut Farm Bureau Association
Connecticut Farmland Trust
Connecticut Food System Alliance
The Conservation Fund
Conservation Law Foundation
The Cooper Group, LLC
Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell Cooperative Extension CAAHP
The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
Eastern Market Partnership
Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
Fair Food Network
Farm Commons
Farm Credit East
Food and Beverage Law Clinic, Elisabeth Haub School of Law atPace University
The Food Group
Foodshed Capital
Franklin County Community Development Corporation
Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming
GoFarm Hawaii
The Good Acre
The Greater Cumberland Committee (TGCC)
Green Village Initiative
Grounded Earth Farm
Grow Food dba Viva Farms
GrowNYC
Harris-Pero & Botelho, PLLC
Harvard Law School, Food Law and Policy Clinic
Hawaii Cattlemen's Council
Healthy Harvest of North Iowa
Holistic Management International
Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp.
Illinois Environmental Council
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Initiative for Rural Innovation & Stewardship
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Intervale Center
Izaak Walton League, Illinois Division
The John Merck Fund
Jubilee Justice
Kane CountyDevelopment & Community Services Department
Kane County Farmland Protection Program
Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development
Kitchen Table Consultants
The Kohala Center
The Land Connection
Land For Good
Maine Farmland Trust
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Mālama Kaua’i
Massachusetts Food System Collaborative
Michigan Young Farmer Coalition
Middlesex County Farm Bureau, Inc
Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service
Mill City Farmers Market
MinnesotaFarmers’ Market Association
Morse Marketing Connections, LLC
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
National Young Farmers Coalition
NE/Millerton Climate Smart Task Force
The New Connecticut Farmer Alliance
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
NH Community Loan Fund
NOFA/Mass
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY)
Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance
NW Indiana Food Council
OahuResource Conservation and Development Council
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network
Oregon State University Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems
Oregon Tilth
Organic Growers School
Ottawa County
Pasa Sustainable Agriculture
PCO
Piedmont Environmental Council
Potlikker Capital
Ralph K Morris Foundation
Renewing the Countryside
RIDEM/Division of Agriculture/Forestry
Rogue Farm Corps
Small Business Development Center, Clackamas Community College
South HeroLand Trust
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
Sprout MN
Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota
Sustainable Iowa Land Trust
Thurston Economic Development Council
UNH Cooperative Extension
UNH Sustainability Institute (backboneorganization of Food Solutions New England)
The Valleys Planning Council, Inc.
Vangard Family Farm
Vermont Housing and Conservation Board
Vermont Land Trust
Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
Vital Communities
West Michigan Food Processing Association
World Farmers