Unlocking Potentials: Embracing the Power of Fresh Starts! Farmers’s Corner: Volume 1 M2 2024
Unlocking Potentials: Embracing the Power of Fresh Starts! Farmers’s Corner: Volume 1 M2 2024
We are excited to bring you our second Farmer’s Corner Newsletter for 2024. Thank you for joining us as we continue our quest to reach out to farmers and get them more resources through our Black Farmer’s Initiative. You make it easy for us to get up daily, take out the tent, and continue doing the work we do. We are so grateful to you! Thank you for allowing us into your life, farms, and space. We are thankful for the opportunity to work alongside you towards our shared goals. We are also excited about the possibilities that await us this year to do even more together, with a visible impact on your farm and business bottom line. We commit to seeking even more partnerships and resources to help you do this vital work – feeding our community healthy and farming fresh food and vegetables.
As a farmer, you know too well the power of new beginnings, the opportunities to try again, to go out and put your seed in the soil, and let nature work its magic. One Sage put it this way; “It’s a wise man who understands that every day is a new beginning…” And so, this year, as you set the ball rolling towards the growth you want to see in your business, farm, and personal life, let’s do so with renewed hope and courage –working on your farm and doing the best with every resource available.
As we approach the spring planting session, Vivian’s Door wants you to know we’re in this together. We have a lot in store for you. In this edition, we want you to know right off the bat – we want to hear from you. We want to know your pain points and what keeps you awake at night so we can be a part of the solution, pointing you towards the help and resources you need. We’re here for you; email our Ag Biz team at info@viviansdoor.com or call them at 251-610-9880 and let us know how we can support you.
Vivian’s Door has some great programming on the horizon for this year to aid you, our current farmers (and anyone interested in gaining new knowledge about farming) in enhancing and growing their businesses. Vivian’s Door will host quarterly hybrid town halls, in-person educational sessions for new farmers, farm visits, and an Ag Club in 2024!
Our Vivian’s Door Ag Biz outreach team will also conduct monthly follow-up calls to stay in contact with you and get your input on future programming and topics that are important to you. Please share; it only makes us stronger and better as a community.
The Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP)
While the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) is now officially closed, we hope you were able to hit the deadline and submit your application successfully. Good luck to all farmers who applied to the USDA’s Discrimination Financial Assistance Program! Please keep us updated on your progress as we navigate these waters together. We look forward to hearing good news from you. Please remember Vivian’s Door is here for you all the way.
We thank all our 68 amazing farmers who attended the Vivian’s Door Farmers informational and technical assistance sessions for the DFAP program and an additional seven farmers who were not physically present but reached out to us for assistance—especially our very last session, which was also a hybrid this year, on 6 January 2024. We enjoyed your company and the good food. We sincerely appreciate you so much for what you do to put fresh and wholesome food on our table. Remember, we’re building this network together, do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or if you need any assistance. We are here to lend a helping hand.
Vivian’s Door Agriculture Club
We’ve got great news. The Vivian’s Door Ag Club kicks off on April 1, 2024. And as we get set for this – a first-of-its-kind training and enrichment program made possible by funding from NRCS USDA and the Allstate Foundation. We’re seeking ten (10) youth and five (5) adults for the club; we will have speakers, mentors, visits to farms, good food, and so much more, culminating with an Ag Expo. That’s where you come in – dear farmer. We need mentors like you -Farmers with hands-on experience who know their way around on a farm, how to produce crops, tend to livestock, soil conservation, ranching, forestry, and more.
In addition, what are your thoughts about other things we can do in this Ag club? What are the things (s) you wished you knew when getting into agriculture? If there was one thing we could do to attract more people to agriculture, what would it be? And what do you want them to know? We could even make a fun contest for everyone. What should any young person or adult wanting to go into farming need to learn and be aware of? What agriculture careers would you like to know more about? Please let us know by replying to this email or calling our Ag Biz team at 251-610-9880.
Vivian’s Door and NRCS Meet and Greet
Vivan’s Door hosted a Meet and Greet in partnership with Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), an agency of the USDA this February. We shared valuable information about Vivian’s Door and our programs, NRCS shared information about their programs, and we collaborated on our visions for the Ag Club and the outreach program. We will continue learning more about NRCS programs and resources through “lunch and learns” and further discussions.
Vaccines Can Ensure A Healthy Agricultural Environment
A crucial topic that directly impacts the well-being of your livestock and agricultural practices is understanding the importance of vaccinations. Vaccinations are essential in maintaining a healthy environment for your farm animals, protecting them from diseases, and ensuring maximum productivity.
Vaccination helps provide sustainable and economic stability for farmers and their communities. When animals are well cared for, it reduces resistance to diseases and the development of clinical diseases. Vaccines contain an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, and one of its surface proteins. Vaccinating animals helps stimulate an immune response without causing the disease itself. The vaccine creates early exposure to disease-causing organisms, where the animal’s immune system can recall the infectious agent to which the animal is vaccinated.
Vaccines protect animals from a wide range of diseases that affect production, fertility, and economic losses to farmers. The vaccine stimulates a defensive environment and prepares the animal to resist the impact of a pathogenic microorganism it may encounter later in life. They efficiently prevent the transmission and spread of contagious animal diseases (zoonotic diseases) from animals to people and from animal to animal. Vaccines ensure that animal products such as meat, eggs, and milk are safe for consumption. They also help conserve food and water into animal proteins and other essential nutrients. A vaccine is a cost-effective method to prevent animal diseases; they are generally safe and efficient and are associated with few severe side effects. They are suitable for long-term prevention because you can avoid diseases and illnesses that may cost you more than the vaccines. It is always vital to have a vaccination program in place to ensure that livestock herds and profits are well managed. Vaccination increases immunity, reduces the impact of subclinical disease, reduces the spread of disease, and eradicates disease. [Visit: www.viviansdoor.com/blackfarmers for more details].
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