{"id":159830,"date":"2022-05-26T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T18:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=159830"},"modified":"2022-05-27T15:19:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-28T01:19:16","slug":"grant-kickstarts-next-gen-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/05\/26\/grant-kickstarts-next-gen-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"$1<abbr>M<\/abbr> grant will kickstart Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s next generation of farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_99821\"  width=\"676\" height=\"676\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vmPJ1dNV2HE?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"$1M Grant CTAHR GoFarm\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>The future of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s agriculture, which is vital to the state\u2019s local food supply and economic health, hinges on the next generation of farmers. To support beginning and small farmers, American AgCredit and CoBank increased their investment in the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa, <a href=\"https:\/\/cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu\/\">College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources<\/a> (<abbr>CTAHR<\/abbr>) farmer training program, <a href=\"https:\/\/gofarmhawaii.org\/\">GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/a>. The $1 million gift establishes a matching grant program that will help GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> graduates grow their agricultural businesses, which enhances food security, provides local fresh food and supports economic growth in the islands.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-grant-1-million-gofarm-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"person with a hat holding a bunch of vegetables\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-159832\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-grant-1-million-gofarm-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-grant-1-million-gofarm-93x130.jpg 93w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-grant-1-million-gofarm.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Agricultural production in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> is concentrated on smaller farms, and more than a third of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s farmers have less than 10 years of experience,&rdquo; said <abbr>CTAHR<\/abbr> Dean <strong>Nicholas Comerford<\/strong>. &ldquo;Supporting these young, beginning and small farmers is important to help alleviate <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s reliance on imported food, which restricts access to fresh food and makes our island state especially vulnerable to disruptions in food supply. This grant enables our GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> graduates to build farming businesses that benefit all of us here in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Today, GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> stands as one of the largest and most successful farmer development programs in the nation, graduating 480 participants since its inception in 2013. The program provides young, beginning and small farmers with business technical assistance, educational opportunities and access to a suite of resources designed to remove barriers to farming and agribusinesses.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The new grant directly supports GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> program graduates, who are now local farmers,&rdquo; said GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Director <strong>Janel Yamamoto<\/strong>. &ldquo;It equips these farmers with the knowledge, experience and confidence to build and grow their farm&#8212;and contribute to <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s food security and economic growth.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"person with a hat holding vegetable plants\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-159833\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant-93x130.jpg 93w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The grant, which must be personally matched by the farmer, provides up to $25,000 per applicant, which may be used to finance a land purchase, operating expenses or equipment. The farmer match may consist of cash, a bank loan or a combination of both.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We focus on support for young, beginning and small farmers and ranchers as a critical part of our cooperative\u2019s mission,&rdquo; said Fred Dixon, regional banking executive for American AgCredit\u2019s coastal region. &ldquo;In our experience, to be successful these farmers need capital to get started, and they need resources like business training and support. We\u2019re pleased to partner with GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to provide the foundation that young, beginning and small farmers need&#8212;in terms of capital and skills&#8212;to kickstart their future, and agriculture in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;CoBank is delighted to expand on our partnership with American AgCredit and GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to support a new generation of agriculture in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>,&rdquo; said Brenda Frank, executive vice president of CoBank\u2019s Farm Credit Banking Group. &ldquo;The GoFarm <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> program creates opportunities for entry and strong pathways toward success for young, beginning and small producers, which in turn strengthens local agriculture and food access throughout the state.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This grant rounds out American AgCredit and CoBank\u2019s $3 million commitment to invest in food security in the islands and support young, beginning and small farmers new to the agriculture space.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Related <em><abbr>UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/01\/31\/2m-gift-develop-local-farmers\/\">$2<abbr>M<\/abbr> gift to develop local farmers, food supply<\/a>, January 31, 2021<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&ldquo;It is truly inspiring to see partners such as American AgCredit and CoBank step in with their generous donations to address critical issues like <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s food security and local economy,&rdquo; said <strong>Tim Dolan<\/strong>, <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Foundation <abbr title=\"Chief Executive Officer\">CEO<\/abbr> and <abbr>UH<\/abbr> vice president of advancement. &ldquo;We are grateful for their investment in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s next generation of farmers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This effort is an example of <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s goal of <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/manoa-2025-strategic-plan.pdf#page=28\">Building a Sustainable and Resilient Campus Environment: Within the Global Sustainability and Climate Resilience Movement<\/a> (<span class=\"small-text\"><abbr>PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), one of four goals identified in the <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/manoa-2025-strategic-plan.pdf\">2015&#8211;25 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/a> (<span class=\"small-text\"><abbr>PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant-1-million.jpg\" alt=\"person in a green shirt tending to garden of crops\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-159834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant-1-million.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant-1-million-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/manoa-ctahr-gofarm-grant-1-million-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This grant rounds out American AgCredit and CoBank\u2019s $3 million commitment to invest in food security in the islands and support beginning farmers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,12],"tags":[222,212,811,1314,1468,73,319,9,56],"class_list":["post-159830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","category-video","tag-agriculture","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-gofarm-hawaii","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-manoa-sustainable-and-resilient-campus-environment","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-foundation","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159830"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159862,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159830\/revisions\/159862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}