Aspiring farmers looking to start their own operation may get a helping hand from the state thanks to a new grant program.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Minnesota’s New Farming Grants:
- 🚜Planting Seeds - The grant gives young, ambitious farmers $15,000 to use toward a down payment. Why? Turns out the average age of a Minnesota Farmer is 56. They ain’t getting any younger.
- 🌿Cultivation - There are a few requirements, though. Applicants need to live in Minnesota (duh) and purchase land in the state. They need to make less than $250,000 per year from “farm merchandise” and have to have the ability to match that $15,000.
- 🌽Tiller - Here’s the real catch: the farmer is required to own and farm the land they buy with the grant for at least five years or pay a penalty equal to 20% of the grant per year. They’re not messing around. Applications are now open.
- 🍅Harvest - The grant program also looks to help minorities and other communities who often have to pay hundreds of dollars more per acre of rented land than white farmers.
- 🥕Tough Road to Hoe - The major concern is inflation, leading lawmakers to wonder just how much land you can buy with that sum of money and make it profitable.
🔥Bottom line: A little nudge can move things in the right direction. $15,000 may not be much, but the state is hoping that it’s enough to get young farmers to reconsider their goals and bank on themselves. It may turn out to be a smart move for the state, strengthening the agriculture economy for the next generation.
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