Beginning Farmers Are at a Crossroads. Here’s How the Next Farm Bill Can Help.
From supporting education to providing funding opportunities, the massive legislative package can ensure a more just, inclusive farm landscape.
December 14, 2023 | Source: Civil Eats | by Max Sano
April Prusia’s 78-acre heritage hog operation in the Driftless region of Wisconsin has benefited from two forms of financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In 2013, around the time she was getting the operation off the ground, Prusia secured a cost-share loan through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) that helped her install a system to divert water from the roof of the barn away from the barnyard. In addition to the environmental benefit of “keeping clean water clean,” she said the new system helped the barnyard stay drier. “It’s had a positive side effect, a healthier environment for the animals,” she said.
Around 2018, Prusia received a second federal loan, this time from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), specifically geared toward women and minority producers. With this money, she bought an additional 28 acres on which to grow hay for bedding and feed for the pigs. “It allowed me to triple the size of my operation and have healthier animals—they’re up on pasture [on the new land],” she said.
Additionally, converting the additional parcel from an annual to a perennial cropping site has increased the amount of carbon sequestration happening, and she hears more songbirds. Together, these two pots of funding—both made available through the farm bill—helped Prusia establish and expand her farm.