Webinar on USDA Resources for Beginning Farmers in New York State

SYRACUSE, N.Y., April 7, 2025 – A free webinar will be presented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Beginning Farmer team in New York State on USDA Resources for Beginning Farmers. The webinar will be Tuesday, April 22 at noon.

This hour-long webinar is free however pre-registration is required. Everyone who registers will receive a link to a recording of the webinar afterwards. Please register here:  https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/5471aa06-69f6-4925-bff6-211aefdaf312@ed5b36e7-01ee-4ebc-867e-e03cfa0d4697

According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, 28% of producers in New York were categorized as beginning farmers, which means they have 10 years or less of experience operating a farm.

To institutionalize support for beginning farmers and ranchers and to build upon prior agency work, the 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to create a national coordinator position in the agency and state-level teams for four of its agencies – Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency (RMA), and Rural Development (RD). 

Feel free to reach out to the Beginning Farmer Team for additional questions. The New York team consists of:

Lynnette Wright – FSA – Lynnette.wright@usda.gov

Christopher Deets – NRCS – Christopher.Deets@usda.gov

Bill Ferris – RMA – William.ferris@usda.gov

The webinar will cover a variety of USDA resources, including farm loans, risk management, disaster assistance, and conservation programs to support farmers, including beginning farmers and ranchers. Additionally, a number of these programs have provisions specifically for beginning farmers, including targeted funding for loans and conservation programs as well as waivers and exemptions. Learn more about USDA’s resources for beginning farmers at www.farmers.gov/beginning-farmers. 

If you need an accommodation to participate in one of these webinars, please contact Lynnette Wright at (315) 477-6309, or by e-mail at lynnette.wright@usda.gov, at least two days prior to the event.