Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) is pleased to partner with the Food Finance Institute (FFI) to offer free financial training for livestock and poultry farmers to help their farm businesses thrive. We are accepting applications from farmers who are interested in two training opportunities:
Eligiblity guidelines and basic information:
- Applicants must be located in the United States; one application per farm will be accepted.
- Farms should currently raise livestock (ruminants, swine) and/or poultry (laying and meat birds, waterfowl).
- Farms should be committed to raising their animals using humane management practices
- Farms must be working, independent farms. This is a farm on which a family, tribe or individual owns the animals, is engaged in the management of the farm and its animals, derives a share of livelihood from the farm, and produces a livestock product for sale.
- For virtual Boot Camp:
- We will prioritize farm businesses where at least 25% of household income is derived from farming.
- If selected to participate in Boot Camp, at least one person from your farm's financial team must be able to attend all four days of the online training. We encourage two people from your membership team to attend if at all possible.
- Applicants may choose from two Boot Camp sessions:
- Session 1: December 7-8, 2021 and January 11-12, 2022
- Session 2: February 1-2 and March 1-2, 2022
- The training will last 8 hours each day and take place during normal business hours (approximately 9am – 5pm CT, exact time tbd).
Farmers may apply for all training opportunities on the same application. Applicants for the Boot Camp will be notified about their status by November 20, 2021. Farmers who apply for but are not selected to participate in Boot Camp will automatically be entered into consideration for an online subscription. FACT is committed to training a diverse group of farmers and ranchers. We encourage farmers of color, beginning farmers, veteran farmers, and farmers belonging to other historically underserved or marginalized groups to apply.
The following factors will be considered during the selection process:
- If all basic eligibly criteria are met;
- Applicant’s rationale for attending the training and how it will benefit their farm business;
- Applicant’s understanding of their farm’s business challenges and opportunities;
- That we serve a diverse cohort of livestock farmers and ranchers.