Beginning Farmer Scholarships
Farmers with fewer than 10 years of experience can benefit from the USDA's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The grant allows us to offer 40 scholarships to beginning farmers, to assist with the cost of registration to the 2011 NOFA Summer Conference. Scholarship awards are $60, equal to half the cost of three-day conference registration for members of any of the NOFA chapters or of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association; they do not apply to costs associated with travel, housing or meals. Only NOFA and MOFGA members who have been farming for less than 10 years may apply. No early additional discount may be taken for scholarship recipients.
By applying for a Beginning Farmer Scholarship, applicants agree to provide NOFA/Mass with the following in the event that they are awarded a scholarship:
- Two hours of volunteer service at the 2011 NOFA Summer Conference. Special arrangements may be made if you would like to do your volunteer shift prior to the conference.
- One post-conference scholarship evaluation. The post-conference scholarship evaluation is a brief form that helps us to track the effectiveness of our educational programs. This form will be made available to all scholarship recipients, and must be returned by September 4, 2011.
To fill out an application for a Beginning Farmer scholarship, please CLICK HERE.
Scholarship applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until July 11. Accepted applicants will be notified by July 18. Priority will be given to financially or socially disadvantaged farmers. Accepted applicants who do not register by July 25 will forfeit their scholarship to someone on our waiting list. The number of scholarships that we can offer is limited by our funding, so please don't delay. Apply today!
To request a hard copy of the application, please call the NOFA Summer Conference registration team at (413) 230-7835.
This project was supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2010-49400-21847