The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) has only been around for a few years, but it has already become an effective national voice for young farmers. It played a role in developing young farmer programs that were included in the 14 Farm Bill and it has written publications on helping young farmers get access to land. NYFC’s vision: “a country where young people who are willing to work, get trained and take a little risk can support themselves and their families in farming.”
Brittany Dooling leading the discussion at Flying Plow Farm
Thus far, there are 26 NYFC chapters in 25 states. Brittany Dooling arranged a formational meeting for a new chapter at Flying Plow Farm in Rising Sun Maryland on March 7th. Flying Plow Farm was a perfect venue. It is owned by a young family that purchased the farm in 2013 after success on a smaller leased farm in another county. They grow vegetables and livestock to supply their growing CSA. Last Saturday, the snow was still piled high against the high tunnels, but snow was melting and Spring was in the air.
Roughly thirty attendees crowded into one of the farm’s high tunnels and Brittany began with a review of answers to some of the
Two responses to the question.
icebreaker questions posted earlier, such as why did attendees farm and what are the challenges? After identifying and discussing a number of common reasons why they farm and challenges to success, Brittany asked what the attendees hoped an NYFC chapter could accomplish. As I expected, one of their goals would be advocacy to remove barriers for young farmer success. However, a more common interest in forming a chapter was networking and social interaction. As one of the farmers put it, farming can involve a great deal of solitary work and sometimes they need a social outlet with others who share common interests. Currently, there is not a statewide group that uniquely fulfills all of those needs.
It was a good beginning for a future NYFC chapter. If you are interested, contact Brittany at: shherbs@gmail.com