Valle Crucis farm sows

non-profit grant seeds
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

Maverick Farms has taken a big step toward its goal of sprouting a new generation of farmers.

The farm, which has operated for several years in Valle Crucis as an educational facility, agritourism location and sustainable farm, recently received its non-profit status, making it eligible for grants.

Tom Philpott, one of the farm’s founders, said the new status would make grant applications more flexible, since it will no longer need to find sponsoring agencies to seek grants.

The grants could become more important as the farm works toward its long-term goal of creating a new generation of farmers. The Farm Incubator and Grower (FIG) program is entering its second year, with Alyssa Rudolf as the manager of the program who will have the role of overseeing new FIG participants.

Rudolf, who has a degree from Appalachian State University in agriculture and renewable energy, is the perfect candidate for the program originally envisioned when a group of people started the farm on 65 acres of family land in 2004.

Maverick describes the program as aimed at building local food capacity, farming and entrepreneurial skills, and cooperative markets. It’s designed to mentor aspiring young farmers in Watauga and Ashe counties and connect them with land and resources to promote more local farming.

Philpott said the various efforts undertaken by the farm aren’t each in themselves able to support a large business enterprise, which is why educational grants could help. Many of the farm workers have second jobs to augment Maverick’s income.

In addition to grants, the farm sells produce to local restaurants and at the farmers’ market.

The farm has also completed its third year of Community-Supported Agriculture, in which 25 families bought “shares” in the farm’s production for the season. Participants pay $500 and contribute six hours of labor, getting a weekly box of in-season produce from June to mid-October.

The FIG program will provide intensive training that helps people take the next step toward running a successful farming program. The ideal candidates would have a degree and some formal training so that they already have a practical knowledge of agriculture. The FIG program would give them the business tools and experience to operate a local farm.

The next step is difficult because of high land prices, Philpott said.

However, the long-range plan is to build a network of connections so that FIG graduates can be matched with landowners who’d like their property to be farmed but can’t invest the time and money themselves.

Philpott said there’s anecdotal evidence that some families want to keep their land instead of seeing it developed, and they might be willing to let someone farm the land for a percentage of the profits or through a lease arrangement.

Philpott said while they wouldn’t make as much money as they would through developing the land, they might like to see property return to its traditional agricultural use.

Following Maverick’s FIG training, young farmers gain access to land, financing, equipment, and ready-made markets to launch their own farm enterprises. “The major constraint is there’s just not enough land,” Philpott said. “We need more farmers and we need more farms. The skills for running a diversified and productive farm are being lost.”

Such needs become increasingly important with the rising interest in a local food system, which some feel is safer, healthier and more cost-effective, as well as serving to boost the local economy.

Philpott said a number of regional resources are already in place, particularly with New River Organic Growers developing a cooperative infrastructure to more easily match growers and markets.

“We’re trying to get land under cultivation to fully utilize that infrastructure,” Philpott said. “The piece we’re working on now with the FIG program is that you’ll be a known entity in the High Country. You can start a farm business with credibility and contacts already in place.”

Because of a shortage of local farmland, part of the educational component is to seek out and develop connections with landowners. Philpott even envisions a parcel of several hundred acres being used by a few different agricultural operations, with farmers sharing equipment and finding other ways to reduce costs so the operation is more economically viable.

The next generation of young farmers is critical to building a local food system in which schools, hospitals and businesses use local produce, and Philpott said another goal is the expansion of the growing season, particularly through use of passive-solar greenhouses to create year-round markets.

Maverick Farms was recently featured in The New York Times and received a Food and Farm Steward Award at the Farm-City banquet earlier this month.