Expanding Land Availability, Infrastructure and Education for Farmers at Providence Farm Collective

Commodities

Practices

Providence Farm Collective is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization with a mission of cultivating farmer-led and community-rooted agriculture and food systems to actualize the rights of people. PFC was created to meet the growing demand for farmland among communities of Buffalo. With nearly 90% of households enduring food insecurity, the community need in our region runs deep. This project directly addresses these community needs for farmland, equipment, training and fresh food.

The Expanding EA project has three primary objectives: decreasing farmer needs for equipment and training to help build their farming skills and independence; providing educational support to farmers to increase their production and market access; and building staff capacity to train and support farmers.

Funding for this project will build PFC's capacity to train and support our 200+ farmers, including walking with farmers on their journey to independent farm operation. The project allows PFC to deliver critical training and support services to our farmers. Through this project, PFC will develop standard procedures for safe training of staff and farmers on all appropriate equipment; conduct at least 10 workshops and 20 individual trainings annually on essential farm skills and equipment; create a whole farm soil health management plan, field preparation and amendment plan, and irrigation management plan; and train five staff members on farm equipment and operations. This project will expand PFC's ability to help farmers and engage partners as demand for our services grows.

Objective #1: Increase farmer access to equipment and equipment training to help build their farming skills and independence.

With funds for the Expanding Equitable Access program, PFC will hire an Equipment and Facilities Manager and Equipment and Facilities Mentor to expand farmer access to equipment and to train farmers in the use of equipment necessary to independent farm operation. To ensure that PFC best meets the needs of our diverse farmer communities, the Manager is representative of these communities.

PFC actively mentors, trains and cultivates farm community members to take leadership positions within the organization. The staff leading this project have already been identified and recruited on the farm by PFC leadership, and include Murjan Issa as Equipment and Facilities Manager and Jeff Herrmann as Equipment and Facilities Mentor.

Hard skills required of an equipment and facilities manager take a long time to learn and are often specific to the equipment available at a farm. Providing on-the-job training over an extended period of time is the best option for PFC to hire and build capacity from within the communities we serve. The Mentor will work directly with the Manager to build skills, create and enact standard operating procedures, and develop a network of support.

During the first six months of the project, the Equipment and Facilities Mentor will create procedures for safe training of staff and farmers on all appropriate equipment. Once procedures are created, the Mentor will train and oversee the Manager on teaching safe operation of equipment to farmers and staff. Farmers will receive small group training and 1:1 technical assistance on small motorized and walk behind equipment. Farm staff will receive training on safe operation of small motorized equipment, irrigation pumps, walk behind equipment, skidsteer, 4-wheel tractor, tractor implements, utility vehicles, truck and delivery vehicle, and trailers.

This project is designed to meet immediate needs of PFC farmers. Three farmers own walk-behind tractors and two more are in the process of purchasing them, and often come to PFC staff with questions on their equipment. In order to help farmers build maintenance skills, the Manager and Mentor will provide training on basic maintenance and winterization using farmers' personal equipment. These skills are critical to farmers' success as they grow their businesses towards independent farm ownership.

The Mentor and Manager team will develop a network of support for equipment and facilities for times when professional services are required. These contacts will become part of the support network that PFC is building to assist farmers with the transition to independent farm operation. To further facilitate farmer independence, the Mentor will train farmers in communication and organizational skills for hiring out specialized work such as tractor repair.

At the close of the project, the Manager will have worked with the Mentor to develop the necessary skills to work on their own (without the Mentor), and farmers and staff will have developed skills for safe use of equipment essential to independent farm operation.

Objective #2: Provide educational support and training to farmers to increase their production and market access.

This project will include hiring a Farm Manager for improvement of farm operations and systems, leading to improved soils, yields, and profitability for PFC farmers. Project funding will allow the Farm Manager and Equipment Team to conduct at least 10 workshops as well as 20 individual trainings annually for farmers on topics including equipment maintenance; safe operation of equipment in tool library; communications for hiring out repair; workshops on tractors and implements; training on reduced tillage field preparation; organic amendment application; biodegradable mulch application for improved soil health and weed control; and training on mechanical cultivation.

The Farm Manager will run a motorized tool library for farmers, including push lawn mowers, weed wackers, Mantis cultivators, Grillo walk behind tractor and implements, Tilmor walk behind cultivator. These tools are in heavy demand by farmers, who otherwise only have hand tools to manage their plots. Farmers who complete operation and safety training on these items are able to check out the tools for use on their farm. Motorized tools reduce the number of work hours farmers need to spend maintaining their plots and also build essential skills for farmers who are seeking to launch their farm outside of PFC.

Objective #3: Build staff capacity to train and support farmers.

The Farm Manager will focus on building capacity by improving farm operations to directly increase farmer productivity and success. The Manager will be responsible for creation of a whole farm soil health plan, field preparation and amendment plan and tracking document, and irrigation management plan for PFC. The Manager will train farmers in skills and techniques essential to successful independent farm operation. Improving farm operations and soil health management results in increased yield, healthier crops, reduction in weeds, and a decrease in labor requirements for farmers.

The Equitable Access project will allow PFC to train at least 5 staff on safe operation of equipment; train 3 diverse, multilingual staff members to better serve farmers on equipment support; and complete extensive training of one Equipment and Facilities Manager to increase capacity to perform job duties, including training of farmers and staff.

Timeline:
Summer 2025: Hire and onboard Equipment and Facilities Mentor and Manager, Farm Manager. Farmer training launches - 10 workshops and 20 trainings in 2025. Farm Manager maintains tool library.
Fall 2025: Equipment and Facilities team creates procedures for equipment training. Farm Manager creates plans for soil health management, field preparation, irrigation management.
Winter 2025: Evaluation of trainings and systems to make revisions for 2026. Farmer interviews assess skills farmers have learned this season.
Spring 2026: Equipment and Facilities team trains farmers and staff on equipment; Farm Manager trains farmers on systems. Five staff trained and evaluated.
Summer/Fall 2026: Farmer training continues - 10 workshops and 20 trainings in 2026. Farm Manager maintains tool library.
Winter 2026: Evaluation of trainings and systems to make revisions for 2027. Farmer interviews assess skills farmers have learned this season.
Spring 2027: Farmer training continues. Equipment and Facilities mentorship complete. PFC provides final report to NESARE.