Local Food Friends Get FACT Grants
Livestock welfare nonprofit distributes $170K among 60 farms and ranches
Friends Get FACT Animal Welfare Grants
I tend to have an unusually small world, and it’s fun when friends from different parts of the local food community connect.
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), a leading livestock welfare nonprofit, announced yesterday that it has awarded more than $170,000 in total grants to 60 livestock farmers and ranchers across the country. Included in the list are two local farms with which I am very familiar.
Broadview Farm and Gardens in Marengo, Illinois, received a $3,000 Fund-a-Farmer Grant, which will be used to purchase fencing and mobile housing to expand their flock of pastured broiler chickens. Local Food Forum recently republished the CSA-focused article about Broadview and owners Tim and Delicia Brown that I’d written for the Buy Fresh Buy Local Directory.
Terra Vitae Farms in Woodstock, Illinois also received $3,000 for pasture improvement projects. Co-founder Mike Biver and I have been friends since his former job working with the school garden nonprofit now known as Big Green (formerly The Kitchen Community).
Other grant recipients in our region include: American Flock Farms, Rushville, Indiana ($1,700); Baseline Farm, Dexter, Michigan ($1,100); Enos Farms, Spring Green, Wisconsin ($3,000); K&L Organics, South Wayne, Wisconsin ($2,022); and North Sky Farm, Springfield, Illinois ($3,000).
The full list of grantees is included in the FACT press release below.
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Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) is a national nonprofit organization that works to ensure that all food-producing animals are raised in a humane and healthy manner. We recently awarded more than $170,000 in Fund-a-Farmer Grants to a diverse slate of 60 livestock farmers and ranchers. In solidarity with the movement to address racial inequity in agriculture, 45 percent of the grants were made to farmers who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color. Eighty percent of the grant recipients are first-generation farmers, and a majority are women-owned operations.
Since 2012, FACT has cumulatively awarded 521 grants totaling over $857,000 to farmers across 44 states, directly benefiting an estimated 735,000 animals.
Of the 60 total grants awarded this year, FACT awarded 19 grants to farmers who are seeking to attain or who already hold one of three animal welfare certifications (Certified Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) by A Greener World, Certified Humane, or Global Animal Partnership (GAP) Animal Welfare Certified), and 41 grants to farmers who wish to improve or expand access to pasture for their animals. As in past years, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is again generously underwriting the grants to farmers pursuing or holding one of the above animal welfare certifications.
“The ASPCA is honored to fund FACT’s annual grants for the fifth year in a row to support farmers transitioning to more humane and sustainable systems that improve animal welfare and meet the demand for greater transparency in the marketplace,” said Kara Shannon, Director of Farm Animal Welfare Policy at the ASPCA. “FACT grantees continue to illustrate the benefits higher-welfare farming has not just for animals, but for farm businesses, local communities and our environment.”
A recent 2022 survey of past grant recipients found that the grants have produced a wide range of long-term benefits. Overall, 98 percent of farmers reported that their FACT-funded projects improved animal welfare, 95 percent experienced a positive environmental impact, and 88 percent found that the grant improved their farm’s financial viability. Individual farmers report that their FACT-funded projects have increased biodiversity, improved soil fertility, enhanced livestock health and comfort, and reduced stress for both the farmer and their animals.
“After a decade of grantmaking, there is no doubt that our Fund-a-Farmer Grants are significantly benefiting farmer livelihood, animal welfare, and environmental health,” said Larissa McKenna, FACT’s Humane Farming Program Director. “We believe that partnering with - and investing in - humane farmers is one of the best ways to make a difference in the lives of food-producing animals.”
FACT is working to change the way that meat, poultry and dairy are produced, and these grants are a key to making these changes. The Boston-based direct-to-customer brand, ButcherBox, is also promoting these changes through their national humane meat delivery service. The company has supported FACT’s grants to farmers for the past three years.
“The change needed in our agriculture industry is multi-faceted – we need to increase the humane treatment of animals, environmental sustainability, and racial equity,” said Evadne Cokeh, ButcherBox’s Vice President of Social & Environmental Responsibility. “I’ve been impressed with FACT’s commitment to increasing racial equity through its Fund-a-Farmer grant program as they have made a concerted effort to ensure that Black, Indigenous, and farmers of color know about their grants and it’s been rewarding as a supporter of this program to see the racial diversity of their grantees grow.”
Wendy Johnson of Jóia Food Farm in Charles City, Iowa received a grant this year to purchase mobile handling equipment to sort and handle the farm’s growing flock of sheep. The farm’s sheep and lambs are Certified Animal Welfare Approved and Certified Grassfed by A Greener World.
“Thank you so much for providing Fund-a-Farmer grants to farmers! It is so helpful, especially when making capital purchases, to enhance the safety and respect of the animals. They give us so much, the least we can do is give them a safe, respectful and healthy life on farms,” Ms. Johnson said.
Tim and Delicia Brown of Broadview Farm and Gardens in Marengo, Illinois received a grant this year to purchase fencing and mobile housing to expand their flock of pastured broiler chickens.
“The project will benefit the birds by providing a high-quality forage tailored to their needs. It will also increase the health of the soil, by improving soil structure, and increasing the cycling of nutrients,” Mr. Brown said.
2022 Fund-a-Farmer Grants for farmers seeking or holding animal welfare certification:
American Flock Farms in Rushville, IN, $1,700
Ardent Acres Farm in Palisade, MN, $3,000
Bar-A Ranch in Normangee, TX, $2,965
BOTL Farm in Ashford, CT, $3,000
Callywood Farms in Westminster, SC, $2,975
Crow Fly Farms in Marion, NC, $3,000
Final Frontier Farm in Paris, KY, $3,000
Four Hills Farm in Versailles, KY, $3,000
Graze The Prairie in Latham, KS, $1,751
Halal-N-Tayyib Meat Shares in Macon, GA, $3000
Harris Cattle Company in New Orleans, LA, $3,000
High Desert Hogs in Sisters, OR, $3,000
Jóia Food Farm in Charles City, IA, $3,000
Rolling Pastures Ranch in Henagar, AL, $3,000
Serendipity Farms in Wolverine, MI, $2,996
Slow Farm in Cameron, NC, $3,000
Souder Station Farm in Winterport, ME, $3,000
Tucker's Black Angus Ranch in North Lawrence, NY, $3,000
Waterline Farm in Pryor, OK, $3,000
2022 Fund-a-Farmer Grants for pasture improvement projects:
7 Lazy A Ranch in Thatcher, AZ, $3,000
Alchemy Farms and Plants, LLC in Hampton Cove, AL, $3,000
Baseline Farm in Dexter, MI, $1,110
Bennett Family Farms in Adel, GA, $2,995
Black Ranch in Williams, AZ, $2,900
Broadview Farm and Gardens in Marengo, IL, $3,000
Bugtussle Farm in Gamaliel, KY, $3,000
Collins Farm LLC in Rome, NY, $3,000
Enos Farms in Spring Green, WI, $3,000
Eyrie Summit Farm in Hamptonville, NC, $3,000
Florida Best Nursery, Inc. in Inverness, FL, $2,388
Graylight Farm in East Chatham, NY, $3,000
Honor Bound Farm in Maxwell, NE, $1,094
Jones Farm in Cuba, AL, $3,000
K&L Organics in South Wayne, WI, $2,022
Lydia's Flock Icelandic and Shetland Sheep in Bellingham, WA, $3,000
Mayday Farm in Leeds, ME, $3,000
Medicine Creek Farm in Finlayson, MN, $1,750
Moxie Ridge Farm in Fort Edward, NY, $2,934
Muse 3 Farm LLC in Greensburg, LA, $3,000
North Sky Farm LLC in Springfield, IL, $3,000
Outlaw Acres Farm in Lake Junaluska, NC, $3,000
Plow and Stars Farm in Poolesville, MD, $3,000
Pork & Greens in Troy, NY, $3,000
Pumpkin Vine Family Farm, LLC in Somerville, ME, $3,000
Pure Pasture Farms in Springfield, TN, $2,967
Raven & Boar Farm in East Chatham, NY, $3,000
River Valley Country Club in Seattle, WA, $2,784
Roach Family Farm in Vevay, IN, $3,000
Rogue Artisan Foods in Jacksonville, OR, $3,000
Rx Grazing Services LLC in Lewis, CO, $3,000
Saudade Farms in Sherburne, NY, $3,000
Shat Acres Highland Cattle, LLC in Plainfield, VT, $2,820
Silver Shade Ranch in Eagle Bend, MN, $3,000
Southern Sunny Acres in Winona, TX, $3,000
Sparkplug Farm in Leeds, ME, $3,000
Terra Vitae Farms in Woodstock, IL, $3,000
The Nation's Farm in Covington, GA, $3,000
The Smiling Farm in Winston Salem, NC, $2,917
Willow-Wist Farm in Sequim, WA, $3000
Woven Stars Farm in Ghent, NY, $3,000
A summary of each of the funded projects is available on FACT’s website.
In addition to the grants, FACT also offers free webinars, conference scholarships, and a mentorship program for livestock and poultry farmers who wish to improve the welfare of their farm animals. Please contact Larissa McKenna, Humane Farming Program Director, at (773) 525-4952 or lmckenna@foodanimalconcerns.org with questions about any of FACT’s farmer services.
Sincerely,
Harry Rhodes
Executive Director, FACT