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Beginning farmer interactive site unveiled

Beginning farmers now have a new online tool – an interactive website – for choosing USDA programs to help them get started.

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Krysta Harden says it’s part of the USDA’s goal of increasing farmer and rancher participation in its key programs. She says, “It’s really exciting for us to be able to offer this kind of information, literally at your fingertips for folks interested in agriculture.”

Harden says it’s a huge upgrade from the current web tool, “Our other website received more hits than any news, you know, free-standing section on our website. And, it was just a static reporting of what we do. It did not have these interactive tools, all this kind of tailored information.”

Harden says there’s no replacement for face to face meetings but many people wanted a place to start – and she says this is it. She says the new web tool unveiled today is for new farmers, young farmers, women in ag, veterans, and farms in transition.

USDA new and beginning farmer website