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What is a “Limited-Resource” Producer?
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By raising high quality
organic fruits and vegetables, Virginia mountain farmers have
realized new profits and a rewarding way of life after tobacco
production.
Photo courtesy of Appalachian Sustainable Development. |
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Educators face unique challenges working with producers who lack
economic resources, formal education and/ or access to government
resources. Those landowners, sometimes referred to as “limited
resource producers,” can be found across the nation, from new
immigrants to generations of the rural poor. Extension and education
programs addressing such producers usually need different, innovative
approaches.
“There is a reality of ‘limited resource’ out there
that defines an audience without educational base, without capital
and without a voice in their community that could really profit
from extension educational programs to improve their well-being,”
said O’Sullivan, who jointly drafted a guide of successful
educational strategies with a team of university specialists.
O’Sullivan and others at the 1890s historically black university
develop programs to benefit North Carolina’s under-served producers.
Like many other extension educators, the NC A&T group is grappling
with the best way to meet their mandate to help them.
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| Limited resource farmers,
as described by the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural
Resources Conservation Service, have one or more of the following
characteristics: |
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Gross farm sales average $40,000 or less in each
of the last three years, and there is no non-farm income. |
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Total household net income, farm and non-farm,
is 75 percent or less of the non-metropolitan median income
level for the state or county. |
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Lack of access to capital, labor, or equipment. |
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Farm or ranch size is significantly smaller than
average size. |
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Social, cultural, customs or language barriers,
minimal awareness of USDA programs, limited management skills,
the level of formal education is below the county average or
undereducated, and are less likely to take business risks and
adopt new technology. |
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NRCS note: The fifth category
... (is) being bypassed by the institutions that were set up
to serve them. This is because agencies and institutions have
not changed along with the technological and societal changes
that have occurred during the past half-century. |
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What Do Farmers Want?
The goals of many small farmers remain modest, according to a 2001
report, “Developing Programs from the Grassroots,” which
rated the needs of limited-resource farmers through focus groups.
Most of the 119 participants, sponsored by the Rural
Coalition, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.,
expressed a desire to earn a good living from the land. However,
many feel that past and current discrimination toward them may hamper
them from achieving that goal.
“Educators must be prepared for the mistrust and lack of credibility
toward USDA that many producers feel, based on their past and sometimes
current experiences,” said Lorette Picciano, Rural Coalition
executive director. “This is a key reason why minority farmers
have lost land and have small holdings. In the study, we found that
over 30 percent of the farmers who had applied for USDA loans were
denied.”
To reach their goals, the focus group participants expressed a
need for equal access to government programs and credit for both
short-term operating funds and long-term improvements. A big step
forward for producers on Maryland and Delaware’s Eastern Shore
was achieving a better understanding of credit and loan programs.
“When assistance programs are offered, progressive farmers
respond first,” said Dean Purnell of Delaware State University,
who runs a small farm program funded by USDA’s 2501 program
for “socially-disadvantaged” producers. “Last comes
the limited-resource farmers, partly because of social and psychological
issues. Tradition carries a lot of weight, so many of these farmers
are hesitant to change.”
Moreover, the focus group farmers said they need access to accurate
information from service providers genuinely interested in their
livelihoods.
“It is clear that they will need assistance to stay on the
land and reach these goals,” the “Grassroots” report
states. “They have shown that programs must be more responsive
to local needs, easily accessible and use locally relevant communication
channels.”
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