Supporting a Central Texas Sustainable Farm Incubator Collaborative

Commodities

Practices

In Travis County, Texas, <0.5% of all food consumed is locally grown. Farmshare Austin (FSA) and Austin Community College - Elgin (ACC) are changing that by educating, training and mentoring aspiring and working farmers in sustainable, organic and regenerative practices.

FSA and ACC, in partnership with three other farms (collectively Central Texas Sustainable Farm Incubator Collaborative, the Incubator Collaborative), are developing an incubator program for Texas farmers. A farm incubator provides affordable access to land, infrastructure and training for the purpose of honing skills and launching farm businesses. Incubator programs are vital to the survival of new farms in Central Texas. Travis County loses 16.8 acres of farmland every day, contributing to prohibitively expensive costs for purchasing or leasing viable farmland. 

This project will require additional training for the organizations involved. At the 2024 National FIELD School, the Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator will learn from established incubator programs, supporting the development of an effective program. Lessons learned at the FIELD School will be shared with other Texas farm educators, farm service providers and experienced farmers who want to mentor new farmers.

FSA and ACC’s attendance at the FIELD School will support the development of a stronger incubator program, and the outreach following the FIELD School will share information about the possibility of a future Central Texas farm incubator and build a stronger and more effective community of local mentor farmers. Ultimately, the future incubator will create and support more local farmers producing more sustainably grown food for consumers.

The goals of this project are to increase the number of successful new sustainable farmers in Central Texas by developing a farm incubator program modeled after the best practices of established farm incubator programs around the country and to improve the mentorship skills of experienced farmers in our community.

The objectives of this grant project are:

Objective 1: Expand knowledge and understanding of successful farm incubators for Incubator Collaborative mentor farmers based on the knowledge and information gained from attending the 2024 NIFTI & AgALN National FIELD School.

Objective 2: Increase the farm mentorship skills of Incubator Collaborative mentor farmers, farm service providers and other farmers interested in mentoring new farmers, with particular focus on skills in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Objective 3: Provide a clear pathway for the Central Texas Sustainable Farm Incubator project via development of a strategic plan in cooperation with the Incubator Collaborative.

The target audience for outreach about this project is the members of the Central Texas Incubator Collaborative, as well as other local mentor farmers, trainers and farm service providers. Community partners, students and other local sustainable farmers will also have the opportunity to offer critical feedback on the development of the future incubator program. The outreach audience will gain knowledge about how farm incubators work, why they are beneficial, and what can help a farm incubator succeed, and will collaboratively envision what a Central Texas sustainable farm incubator program could look like, including how it might support local sustainable farmers past the initial incubation stage. The outreach audience, specifically other mentor farmers, will also increase their knowledge about how to better support the local farming community in their mentor capacity.

This training and outreach is essential to the development of the Central Texas Sustainable Farm Incubator project. This program will increase equity in the Central Texas sustainable agriculture community by reducing the barriers faced by new and beginning farmers as they start their farm businesses. It will also increase the amount of sustainable, organic farming taking place in the region as it will be primarily operated by FSA, a certified organic farm, and all participants will learn USDA organic standards compliance.