Resources

70 results

Stories from the Soil

December 15, 2023
Though often seen as a summer pursuit, many farmers produce food year-round using high tunnels, row cover, storage crops, and careful planning. Two farmers from Virginia and North Carolina show how strategy and innovation make fall and winter farming possible.
Read >

Aggregate, Collaborate, Profit

December 15, 2023
Farming collaboratives can help beginning farmers gain a foothold in the market and help develop reliable markets for members' products. Berry Hines Sr., founder of the Eastern North Carolina Farmer Collaborative, talks lessons learned from small farm aggregation.
Read >

Farming on Sunshine

December 15, 2023
Agrivoltaics is the dual production of solar energy and agricultural goods on the same farmland. Harnessing the sun for energy alongside crops or livestock can be a path to financial opportunities and clean energy independence.
Read >

From Soil to Supper

September 15, 2023
Feast Down East is a nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, NC, offering farmer support, hunger relief programs, and a food hub distribution program. The organization partners with local farmers to purchase food which is distributed to the community via its mobile farmers market, food hub, and Emergency Food Relief Program. Learn more about the food hub in this Q&A with FTE Operations Manager, JT Crawford.
Read >

Keep It Covered

September 15, 2023
Cover crops build soil health by reducing compaction, improving water infiltration, preventing erosion, fixing nitrogen, adding organic matter, suppressing weeds, and feeding beneficial microbes. Learn more about cover crop benefits and planning.
Read >

United we Grow

September 15, 2023
Across generations, farming communities have relied on shared labor, trust, and reciprocity to survive — principles that live on today in agricultural cooperatives. RAFI profiles three active cooperatives that are navigating the highs and lows of joining forces on the farm. 
Read >
stack of paper

FSA Forms to Have on File and Why

February 22, 2023
USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides a wide range of programs and services for farmers, such as farm loans, disaster relief programs, and conservation programs. In this blog, we share the benefits of having an active FSA record and some tips for how to do so.
Read >

What is ECP and How to Apply

January 7, 2022
Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) provides emergency funding and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland/ conservation structures that are damaged by natural disasters and implement emergency water conservation measures in periods of severe drought.
Read >

What is ELAP and How to Apply

January 7, 2022
ELAP provides emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish. It covers losses due to adverse weather or other loss conditions including blizzards, disease, flood, water transport, and wildfires.
Read >