Wisconsin Farmers Union & The Nature Conservancy are partnering to provide a stipend for underserved farmers in Wisconsin. Up to $2,000 may be received by any farm which may go towards efforts to improve the environmental and/or economic sustainability of your farm.
This application includes questions about your farm, demographic information, and how you'd like to use funding. You can receive up to $2,000 to make an improvement to your farm. This can help you buy equipment, cover costs of labor, and costs to attend events that can help you learn how to succeed in your goals for the change you're making to improve your farm’s sustainability.
Mission: The goal of these funds is to help farmers from diverse backgrounds implement practices that make their farms more sustainable both financially and environmentally.
The goal of this project is to provide resources to farmers who may have trouble reaching traditional farmer-funding opportunities. Any existing or new member of the Wisconsin Farmers Union farmer may apply. Complementary WFU memberships are available. All applicants will be considered, but the following characteristics will be given preference:
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Farmers who have been historically underserved by the USDA including BIPOC farmers, beginning farmers, LGBTQ+, veterans, and limited resource farmers
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Growers who farm unconventionally (including but not limited to, sustainable-ethic, organic, urban, regenerative, diversified, or direct-market etc).
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Producers who come from a non-farming background.
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Growers with a plan to connect the information they learn back to their community.
Review Process: A team of 5 reviewers will review applications for the Small Farmer Stipend and recommend whether they receive funding every quarter.
Applications will be collected by the WFU Conservation & Stewardship Department and reviewed for completeness and need for translation. After appropriate followup with the applicant or translator service, WFU will provide the complete set of applications to the review committee to rank in a quarterly meeting within 2 weeks of the quarterly due dates and determine which projects they recommend funding.
Within 30 days of the application deadlines WFU will notify applicants if they have been approved for funding.
Timeline: The review committee will review applications and notify recipients within 30 days of the due date closest to receipt of your application. If an application comes in with an urgent request that is deemed high priority, the review committee may review the application outside of this schedule to provide a recommendation of funding.
Application due dates:
November 1st, 2024
February 1st, 2025
May 1st, 2025
August 1st, 2025
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If you’re approved for funding:
WFU staff will follow up with all applicants to let them know if they are approved for funding. If approved, applicants will have to fill out some paperwork agreeing to share their story on this project and prove they performed the planned project. Funding can be provided before the project is completed or after, depending on applicant preference and project timeline.
If for some reason the project is not completed within two years, the applicant agrees to pay back any funds received for it from WFU.