Grant Programs and Financial Options for Farmers and Food Entrepreneurs: Marshfield
Are you looking for ways to develop your innovative agricultural business? Can farmers improve profit by capturing more from the consumer? Is expanding the farm the only opportunity to increase farm income to bring in family members? Join us for a workshop designed to help you identify whether grants or other financial options might be right for you. This workshop will discuss when grants make sense and cover ways to plan your project and strengthen your application.
Specific grant programs to be covered include:
- USDA’s Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program, which provides planning and working capital funds to farmers and farmer-based enterprises to develop and implement value-added ventures
- USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant program, which funds research, and education projects that advance sustainable agriculture
- USDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program, which funds endeavors that enhance the competitiveness of Wisconsin Specialty Crops
- Wisconsin’s Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin (BLBW) grant program, which funds projects that increase the demand for and supply of locally produced foods in Wisconsin
- Other programs, including Wisconsin’s Farmer-led Watershed grants
- In addition, the workshop will briefly cover USDA cost-share and loan programs for farmers.
Dates and Locations:
Tuesday, September 17th – Central WI – Marshfield, WI
To register, visit: http://bit.ly/Aggrants, call (715) 261 – 1230 x 2 or email heather.schlesser@wisc.edu. Early-bird registration closes Sept. 10th.
Thursday, September 26th – Southern WI – Dodgeville, WI
To register, call 608-930-9850 or email barry.hottmann@wisc.edu or gene.schriefer@wisc.edu. Early-bird registration closes Sept. 19th.
The $15 registration fee includes lunch and materials. A limited number of scholarships are available if the cost of registration is a barrier. For more information contact:
Diane Mayerfeld, UW-Extension
dbmayerfeld@wisc.edu or (608) 262-8188
The workshops are sponsored by UW-Extension, USDA, DATCP, and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute.