By: Oregon Community Food Systems Network: Shin Lee, Network Coordinator, & Friends of Family Farmers: Alice Morrison, Co-Director
The Oregon Community Food System Network (OCFSN) successfully distributed $1.5 Million in state funds to provide relief for small and underserved producers to recover from the natural disasters of 2021. During the 2021 season, farmers faced historic heat domes, drought, wildfires, and an early ice storm which impacted agricultural producers across the state. OCFSN brought together its members and administered these funds from the State for farmers who did not fit into the Oregon Disaster Assistance Program (ODAP) run by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, with a focus on Black, Indigenous, People of Color, small, and beginning farmers.
The Program
The parameters of the program were designed by a group of stakeholder organizations. Thank you to Our Family Farms (OFF), the OSU Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems, A Greater Applegate, High Desert Food & Farm Alliance (HDFFA), Friends of Family Farmers (FoFF), and the Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network (OrCAN) for their participation and input in building the program to quickly and equitably distribute these funds to farmers and ranchers in need. This committee helped set this program’s guidelines to prioritize small, beginning, and BIPOC farmers. Eligibility requirements included: annual gross sales of less than $350K, ineligible for or unable to access assistance from the ODAP program, and for losses due to natural disasters occurring in 2021 only.
The funds were disbursed through three rounds of applications. Grant funds were held by OCFSN and the application was administered by FoFF. FoFF’s staff provided translation services, coordinated outreach efforts with partners, oversaw the application process including a preliminary review of applications for completeness, provided one-on-one application assistance and troubleshooting. Grant award decisions were made by the OCFSN Disaster Relief Grant Review Committee.
The Results
108 farmers received grants from these funds. Of these recipients, 38% were BIPOC-owned farms. Awards were capped at $30,000 in order to provide as much assistance to as many farmers as possible and the average grant was $13,186. All farmers received their checks within 30 days of the application deadlines. Read more in our Farmer and Rancher Disaster Relief Grant 2022 Impact Report. Some of the losses farmer requested relief for include: collapse of greenhouses due to snow and ice, loss of plants (both field crops and seedlings for future planting) from extreme heat, hay loss due to wildfires, smoke damage to crops and animals from fires, need for replacement feed for animals due to low hay yield from drought conditions, underselling livestock because of lack of food/water in drought conditions, and more. FoFF’s Co-Director, Alice Morrison, says “We are proud to say this program was met by entirely positive feedback and has set us up for future efforts to distribute emergency funds.”
Next Steps
This process has taught the coalition involved a lot about how to effectively reach, engage, and support our community of farmers. We will maintain these systems and relationships to respond to the next challenge that comes along. Because of the effects of a changing climate, we know that extreme conditions and worsening storms will continue to be a challenge for Oregon’s small, independent, and underserved farmers.
OCFSN is also encouraging lawmakers and state agencies to promote resilience on Oregon’s farms and ranches so farmers are better prepared for extreme weather events when they occur, rather than focusing only on disaster relief after farmers incur losses OCFSN, FoFF, and OrCAN support the inclusion of drought resilience mini-grants for farmers and ranchers in any drought relief package that comes from the State in the 2023 Legislative Session.