Farmers of color have faced a long history of discrimination and displacement in the U.S., along with structural barriers that have made it difficult to access resources and buy or lease farmland. It’s led to fewer and fewer people of color in the industry.
In Connecticut, individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of color, or BIPOC, account for less than 2% of local farmers.
A new state program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working to increase that number – by training farmers, and supporting their land access.
Last year, the USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program awarded $300 million to 50 projects across the country, and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture was among them. Now, a $2.5 million-dollar program is rolling out in the state.
There’s three major components: a farm business navigator at UConn Extension to offer free technical assistance to farmers, grant funding to aid in the purchase of agricultural land, and help with farm business planning from local organizations.
“The goal is that we bring people along the business development cycle,” said Bryan Hurlburt, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture. “So that by the time they get to purchasing a parcel, a farm, their farm, that they've got the technical skills; they've got the business mindset to be successful.”
The state Department of Agriculture will share information and take questions about the program in a virtual webinar on Tuesday, Dec. 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The department’s DEI working group commissioned a report with the Connecticut Land Conservation Council (CLCC), released in June 2024, with recommendations to guide the state agency and industry. A major theme was creating better pathways for historically disadvantaged farmers to own and access land.
“Secure land access is not only integral to the livelihoods of BIPOC farmers, but imperative in bolstering the resilience of Connecticut's agricultural industry,” said CLCC Senior Project Specialist Yaw O. Darko, who authored the report.
“Many of the farmers interviewed expressed the need for land sovereignty, which is the right to exercise autonomy, agency, and self-determination over land and its resources including what is grown on the land, how it is grown, and what is consumed,” the report said.
Program applications will open by next spring, Hurlburt said.
