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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Minnesota: National Leader in Helping New Farmers in the Field

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Wednesday, December 5, 2012   

ROCHESTER, Minn. - How to help new farmers and ranchers get a start and succeed in agriculture will be the focus for the next few days as experts from around the nation converge on Rochester.

Amy Bacigalupo, director of the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings Program, says getting into the field comes with many hurdles, including the rising cost of land.

"One of the ones that we're going to be highlighting is what kinds of things need to be done in order for us to help beginning farmers have affordable access to land. That's a huge and significant barrier that's really stalling several beginning farmers in their tracks right now."

Despite the obstacles, she says interest in farming has grown significantly over the years, thanks to a couple of new trends.

"Over the last 10 years, we've seen a tremendous growth in the demand for locally produced, organic, sustainably raised foods. People see the value of knowing their farmer, knowing where their food comes from and supporting their local economy. That's the kind of opportunity that beginning farmers are being drawn to being a part of."

Bacigalupo says the program has proved to be money well spent, but it could see cuts under the new Farm Bill, currently stalled in Congress.

"This program, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program, is an example of a good public investment that's already having a meaningful impact - a positive impact on rural communities, on the land and for the future of our food and farming system."

The Land Stewardship Project has helped beginning farmers and ranchers for 16 years and 70 percent of the hundreds who have gone through the program now are farming successfully.

The annual project directors' meeting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program begins today and runs through Friday. More information is online at landstewardshipproject.org.


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