Seed Farm Program trains new farmers in Lehigh County, PA

Programs for training new farmers are beginning to sprout up around the country. It would be great if each county would sponsor a program of its own to build local populations of farmers serving their areas.

In an effort to “to encourage a new generation to learn to make their living off the land,” Lehigh County, Pennsylvania is incubating a program that will team selected “fellows” with mentors with extensive agriculture experience.

Each fellow will be teamed with a mentor farmer and will participate in classroom as well as hands-on training at a county-owned farm that straddles Upper and Lower Milford townships. At the end of the first year of the three-year program, each farmer will be given the opportunity to run his or her own business.

Upon completion of the program, participants who choose to continue their small farm business in Lehigh County will be eligible to apply for a $10,000 Seed Farm expansion grant.

Six fellow will be chosen each year from a pool of applicants who need not have any prior farming experience. Classroom training and mentoring will be provided for both vegetable farming and poultry farming.

The Seed Farm is a 451-acre tract formerly owned by the Seem Family, purchased by the county in 1974. The 25-acre agricultural incubator site includes 10 acres for crops, two irrigation ponds, a site for a pole building, two greenhouses and a small parking area.

The program is sponsored by a number of organizations including the county, the state Department of Agriculture, Penn State University Cooperative Extension and the Wildlands Conservancy.

Startup costs for the three-year project are about $350,000 Cunningham said. The money comes from a combination of federal and state grants and private donations.