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Solar: It’s a “Big Dill” for Real Pickles Cooperative
As USDA Rural Development (RD) highlights National Cooperative Month, one worker owned co-op in Massachusetts stands out as a model for sustainability, collaboration, and local food system resiliency. The saying goes “it’s not easy being green.” But for Real Pickles in… [Read More]
10.20.2022

Gullah Co-op: Growing Food, Preserving Culture
St. Helena Island, South Carolina, is home to the Black-owned Gullah Farmers’ Cooperative. The co-op is named after the Gullah Geechee, an African American community known for its careful preservation of African cultural heritage in South Carolina and Georgia.
“This project… [Read More]
09.27.2022

Roam Free Ranch Uses USDA To Expand Markets
Roam Free Ranch (https://goroamfree.com) is a 16,000 acre grass-fed bison ranch in Hot Springs, Montana. In 2020, Roam Free Ranch utilized a USDA Rural Development Value Added Producer Grant to secure funding to help scale production capacity and expand their markets. With the… [Read More]
07.20.2022

RiverCrest Ranch Finds Community, Opportunity in USDA Grant
RiverCrest Ranch has always been a place worth sharing. Nestled in Oregon's Applegate Valley, the ranch's 11 and a half acres still hold the remnants of an 1870s hydraulic gold mining operation and "the best swimming hole on the Applegate River," according to owner Cathy Rodgers… [Read More]
03.31.2022
Claybrook Farms Providing Beef and Jobs
Even though Claybrook Farms had a long standing reputation for its excellent Black Angus cattle breeding operation, the new owner wanted to broaden the farm’s horizon.
The Turner family purchased the 700 acre Claybrook Farms in 1975 growing it to over 1,000 acres and adding the… [Read More]
08.06.2019
Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life
Town of Ashland City Mayor Richard Johnson was concerned about the sagging agricultural economy and lack of facilities for their Farmers Market.
Reaching out last year to state and federal partners the Town of Ashland City received a USDA Rural Development Rural Business… [Read More]
08.06.2019

Walking on Sunshine at 3 Porch Farm
Tucked away in Comer, Georgia is 3 Porch Farm, a sustainably-grown flower and fruit farm owned and managed by Steve and Mandy O’Shea. They specialize in delighting locals at the farmers markets in Atlanta and Marietta and Athens, Georgia with a variety of value-added products… [Read More]
05.13.2019