The Growing New Farmers(GNF) Project is a regional initiative to provide future generations of Northeast farmers with the support and expertise they need to succeed. GNF brings together service providers from across the Northeast who are committed to working with and advocating for new and beginning farmers from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia.

Many people want to get into or have begun farming in the Northeast. But traditional sources of information and learning don’t meet the needs of today’s new farmers, who may not come from farm families and who bring different sets of skills and needs to their farming career.

The challenge is to rebuild and strengthen a regional service network so that new farmers can access the technical, informational, natural, and capital resources they need to succeed. GNF is addressing these challenges on many fronts: by promoting new programs, generating new services and information, and creating a supportive, well-connected community of service providers and farmers to welcome, support, and meet the full range of needs of the Northeast’s new farmers.

The Growing New Farmers Project goals are:

• To foster partnerships, networking, and resource-sharing among an active, enduring network of service providers through the Growing New Farmers Service Providers Consortium.
• To help service providers serve their new farmer audience more effectively.
• To produce original research findings that advance understanding of the issues critical to the future success of new farmers.
• To educate policy makers and service providers regarding barriers faced by new farmers.
• To develop new programs, products, and tools to directly benefit new.

For More Information:

Visit the website at www.northeastnewfarmer.org.