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USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION
EDUCATION
A Place to Grow Incubators offer low-risk option for beginning farmers to take root By Jodi Helmer
J
ENNY HAUF WAS NO stranger to getting her hands dirty. Before starting Muddy River Herbals in Canton, Mass., in 2015, she had worked on farms in Virginia, Oregon, Wisconsin and Massachusetts, sowing seeds, pulling weeds and harvesting fresh herbs. Although she was gaining valuable hands-on experience, Hauf knew that working as a farmhand was not the same as operating her own farm. “It takes so much skill to grow anything well and manage the land well, and I had a strong foundation in those things, but I had no idea how to run a business,” she said. Hauf applied for the Incubator Farm Training Program offered through the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project at Tufts University and spent the next two years participating in educational programming, growing medicinal herbs on leased land and gathering advice on how to start and run a successful farm.
CULTIVATING OPPORTUNITIES Incubator farms are designed to bring together beginning farmers and mentors for hands-on training, education and technical assistance. The U.S. is home to more than 200 incubator farms, according to the National Incubator Farm Training Initiative. Through the intensive programs, beginning farmers receive temporary and affordable access to small parcels of land and farm infrastructure including tractors, tools and walk-in coolers. The setup is designed to help farmers generate enough momentum (and revenue) to go out on their own. The latest data shows that 42 percent of beginning farmers who participated in incubator programs are now principal farm operators, and 37 percent of incubator graduates are working on farms. “People have become a lot more cognizant of where their food comes from and ... (that there are) different models for (the) raising of our food and taking care of the land and creating community … those ZOE JEKA
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Jenny Hauf participated in an incubator program before launching her Muddy River Herbals farm.
