External Resources

The Iowa Local Foods Purchasing Assistance Program will buy local food from Iowa’s producers for distribution to Iowans in under-resourced communities.

Entrepreneurs and agriculture start-ups promoting soil and resource conservation practice adoption are eligible for this high-level business coaching program. Participants are empowered to scale up, raise capital, and navigate common business challenges. The program is ideal for processors, input providers, aggregation and distribution services, and similar businesses.

The Savanna Institute invests in research, market development, and farmer education for perennial tree crops such as chestnuts and hazelnuts. Impact Investment Plans identify bottlenecks in scaling up Midwest markets for nut growers and help farmers and businesses understand how they can access opportunities available in the perennial crop markets.

Ecosystem markets, often called carbon markets, can incentivize the increased adoption of soil health systems. Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership compiled the publication “An Overview of Voluntary Carbon Markets for Illinois Farmers” to assist farmers and farm advisors in evaluating multiple opportunities for ecosystem service markets, including markets incentivizing carbon and water quality.

The International Fresh Produce Association is the largest and most diverse international association serving the entire fresh produce and floral supply chain and the only association to seamlessly integrate world-facing advocacy and industry-facing support. The organization’s Resources page provides information on business operations, consumer trends, marketing, supply chain management, and more.

The National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors (NAW) represents the wholesale-distribution industry, which employs more than 6 million workers throughout the U.S., accounting for 1/3 of the U.S. GDP. NAW provides an ecosystem of dedicated partners, solution providers, and sponsors who contribute business solutions such as freight services, insurance and benefits, marketing, and real estate services for wholesalers and distributors.

INFMCP’s Learning Circle brings together people who are interested in a common subject, such as starting a farmers market. The Learning Circle meets regularly via Zoom to learn from each other about a self-identified topic. The number of meetings, length and frequency of the meetings are determined by the group.

This mentorship program provides a safe, supportive, and structured environment for food systems leaders to engage with proven leaders and experts as thought partners and coaches. The resulting relationships are deep, long-lasting and intergenerational.

The global mapping used in our report, Foodscapes: Toward Food System Transition, resulted in more than 80 foodscape classes that showcase the diversity of food production systems around the world. Understanding the diversity that underpins our global food system is a first step toward changing it. It can provide useful insight that can be further developed, adapted and applied using local, place-based knowledge.

The Carbon Cycle Institute (CCI) engages agriculture as a solution to climate change. The organization provides high quality education and training opportunities for farmers, ranchers, farm planners, and more. CCI’s website provides information on policy, training programs, online informational sessions, and more.

SARE provides financial and educational resources for farmers, ranchers, researchers, Extension and other educators, and graduate students. Topics such as on-farm renewable energy, no-till and conservation tillage, high tunnels, pollinators, and local and regional food systems can be researched with SARE grants. The “Resources and Learning” page contains information on several topics related to sustainable agriculture, including farm business management, production systems, and sustainable communities.

“Practical Farmers offers cost-share and technical assistance for those who are seeding fall cover crops.
Participants must farm in eligible counties in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska or South Dakota.
Payment rates are $10 per acre on an unlimited number of acres. There are no requirements on the species or seeding method used.”

Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop resiliency, or develop wildlife habitat, we can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. We can help you identify natural resource problems in your operation and provide technical and financial assistance to solve those problems or attain higher stewardship levels in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.

NRCS works one-on-one with producers to develop a conservation plan that outlines conservation practices and activities to help solve on-farm resource issues. Producers implement practices and activities in their conservation plan that can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving their agricultural operations. EQIP helps producers make conservation work for them. Financial assistance for practices may be available through EQIP. Some producers may also qualify for advance payment.

“The Cedar River Regional Conservation Partnership Program is designed to help improve drinking
water quality, reduce flood risk downstream, and help improve wildlife habitat through conservation
management practices. Iowa farmers in the Cedar River Watershed may qualify for cost-share incentives to implement conservation practices.”

“The Truterra® carbon program can help eligible farmers offset some of the technical and financial costs
associated with the transition to conservation agronomy practices and potentially reward them for the
impact of their services. Potentially get paid $30/metric ton of carbon with a minimum of $2/acre as a result of making
eligible practice changes (adopting stip/no-till and/or adding cover crops).”

“The Truterra® financial assistance program can help support eligible farmers’ conversion to strip/no-till
and/or addition of cover crops on a single contiguous field of less than or equal to 160 acres by providing: financial assistance, expanded knowledge sharing, and data management. The financial assistance program is funded under USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities
(CFDA 10.937)”

“The Truterra® nitrogen management program rewards eligible farmers for providing the service
of improving nitrogen management practices on corn fields (with the goal of reducing emissions), independent of tillage and cover crop practice changes. Potentially earn $5/acre for reducing applied nitrogen on corn fields by at least 20 lbs./acre and/or by using an approved enhanced efficiency fertilizer.”

4R Plus involves using precise 4R nutrient management and conservation practices to provide nutrients when the crop needs them, to enhance soil health, and improve water quality. The goal is to achieve a more productive crop now and in the future.

Promotes coordination of NRCS conservation activities with partners who offer value-added contributions to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns. Through RCPP, NRCS seeks to co-invest with partners to implement projects that demonstrate innovative solutions to conservation challenges and provide measurable improvements and outcomes.

The S.T.A.R. (Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources) evaluation system assigns points for each cropping, tillage, nutrient application and soil conservation activity used on individual fields. The practices selected and the point values assigned are determined by a group of scientists and researchers, including some farmers who are involved in research. That “Science Advisory Committee” bases their analysis of recommended practices on the potential contribution to the goals of the NLRS. The total points are used in a scale to determine a rating of 1 to 5 Stars for each individual field.

The Partners for Conservation Program (PFC) is a program of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Land and Water Resources. Eligible conservation projects emphasize soil erosion control and water quality protection including cover crops, nutrient management, and water well sealing.

The Illinois Cover Crop Initiative (ICCI) provides a $10/ acre incentive for cover crops. If farmers deliver to certain ADM locations, they may be eligible for incentive payments for no-till and nutrient management as well.

The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) is an ecosystem service market outcomes-based payments through carbon and water quality credits for new conservation practice implementation

Wallace Center’s Farmer Conservation Leader Subaward Program is a competitive subaward program for the Mississippi River Region (HUCs 07 and 08), that aims to address the diverse needs of historically underserved farming communities, center networking and co-learning among subawardees, and resource underserved farmers as conservation leaders. This program will work with an advisory group to support eight to 20 organizations collaborating with underserved farmers on water quality, habitat, or forestry improvements, thus reducing phosphorus and nitrogen loss.

Eight Midwestern states cooperate in the production of this annually updated guide. It includes production information such as vegetable varieties, soils and fertility as well as recommendations for weed, insect and disease control for commercial growers.

Practical Farmers of Iowa is offering a cost-share program for specialty crop farmers seeking to make on-farm food safety improvements. Participants will spend at least $2,200 on improvements and receive a $2,000 reimbursement.

USDA offer loans directly through USDA and also guarantee loans through other lenders. Loans available directly through USDA range from $50,000 microloans to a maximum of $400,000 for operating loans and up to $600,000 for ownership loans.

Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) provides a risk management safety net for all commodities on the farm under one insurance policy and is available in all counties nationwide. This insurance plan is tailored for any farm with up to $17 million in insured revenue, including farms with specialty or organic commodities (both crops and livestock), or those marketing to local, regional, farm-identity preserved, specialty, or direct markets.

“Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) is launching a new Rural Development Grant Program to support rural development projects that will positively impact Farm Bureau members and other rural Illinoisans.
Aligning with IFB policy and local government priorities, the program hopes to elevate and provide additional focus on rural development. It will provide resources, tools and support to help local communities and counties overcome challenges inherent in rural development projects, such as lack of funding and volunteers, complicated grant applications and others.”

The Indiana SBDC Agribusiness Initiative offers Hoosier small businesses and entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector access to no-cost, confidential specialty business advising and training, including financing, crop yield projections, U.S. Department of Agriculture loan packaging, value-added product development and commodity exporting, among others.

“This resource catalog helps growers to learn about multiple sources for produce supplies, so you can shop smarter, learn about specific items that are working for many other Midwest farmers, read testimonials about certain products and companies from your peers.
The categories listed include production resources, technical assistance, grower education, and other services (like marketing and business management) for growers. “

Are you a direct market vegetable grower in the Midwest who wants to connect with peers throughout the region and work together to advance support for farmers? Or are you a member of a farmer supporting organization who would like to plug into our network to amplify the reach of your services?Working Groups are a way for you to engage with the network on a specific topic, working in small groups to identify and provide resources in a particular subject area to growers. See below for descriptions of each group, and reach out to the facilitator if you’re interested in becoming part of one.

Livestock grazing on intact, working grasslands can help secure clean water, enhance habitat, address climate change and sustain rural communities.

Sand County Foundation demonstrated the conservation and economic benefits of rotational grazing livestock on cover crops with four experienced graziers in Sauk County, Wisconsin.

The Wallace Center is committed to regional transformation of Midwest agriculture and, to achieve this, is evolving its long-standing work to support regenerative grazing in the region through the Pasture Project. This evolution focuses on supporting place-based work, in collaboration with local and state partners, to develop grass-fed beef, dairy, and small ruminant value chains in key geographies across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Basin.

Practical Farmers is offering grazing consultation calls with Livestock Viability Manager Margaret Chamas to farmers interested in taking their management to the next level – whether that’s grazing for the first time, going from monthly to weekly moves or setting up a super-intensive system with multiple paddock shifts a day.

The grazing cost-share supports aspiring or existing graziers who wish to adopt regenerative grazing practices that improve forage, soil and water quality. The cost-share also helps them expand their livestock enterprises through improved grazing management.

The Midwest Grazing Exchange is a free matchmaking service that aims to connect graziers seeking land to graze with landowners in six Midwestern states. It was created to help farmers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin find livestock or land to graze.

The Pasture Project works to advance regenerative grazing and grass-fed value chains in the Upper Midwest as a scalable, market-driven solution for building healthy soil, viable farms, and resilient communities.  We work with farmers, land managers, public agencies, and farm member-based organizations to build resources, provide technical assistance, and remove barriers for expanding use of regenerative practices, value-chains and end markets that yield win-win outcomes for farmers, communities, and the environment.

The project will develop and pilot a fully digital farmer-friendly registry system to issue and track producer-owned agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) certificates based on climate smart practices. Farmers can monetize the certificates through commodity markets, enabling corporate buyers to advance supply chain climate claims. The project will offer financial and technical support to producers to adopt practices and participate in the market through sales of the certificates.

This project will help dairy farmers in the Great Lakes Basin to create the necessary technical and business plans to create larger-herd, low-overhead dairy grazing operations. We will provide a range of services customized to each farm.

TNC is working with farmers, ranchers and other partners to meet the growing demand for food, while protecting lands and waters for people and nature.

The Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) works to prevent grazing and pasture land from being converted into cropland or used for urban development. In return for voluntarily limiting the future development of their land, farmers receive a rental payment.

The Farmable Wetlands Program (FWP) is designed to restore wetlands and wetland buffer zones that are farmed. FWP gives farmers and ranchers annual rental payments in return for restoring wetlands and establishing plant cover.

The Indiana Forage Council (IFC) is dedicated to research and education for profitable forage production and utilization. IFC was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1966 and is an affiliate member of the American Forage and Grassland Council.

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