RC Crutcher, a fourth generation rancher, grew up ranching with his parents on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Owyhee, Nev. RC and his wife Claudia, their two daughters, Journie and Paisley, love the ranching life.

So when RC and his family decided to branch off on their own, they turned to the Farm Service Agency.

“We helped RC and his family to get started ranching on their own,” said Farm Loan Specialist Chris Wood. “We provided credit for annual operating expenses and a term loan to purchase cattle.” Continue reading →

High School student Wesley Davis came home from the county fair one summer with a chicken. Despite not living on a farm or having a family steeped in the farming tradition, Davis used a $5,000 FSA Youth Loan to expanded his single chicken operation into 250 free-range hens that produce nearly 20 dozen eggs a day. Working off of two acres of land in West Virginia, Davis sells his eggs to local residents and nine schools in the Mason County school district. Read more (Farm & Dairy).

California orchard grower Nazar Kooner visits with CA State Executive Director Val Dolcini during a recent visit on his farm.

Traveling through 13 counties on a 1,600-mile road trip, FSA State Executive Director Val Dolcini wrapped up a busy week in southern California by hosting a local grower’s listening session March 9 with Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and about 40 local farmers at the headquarters of the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif.

The Great Park, formerly a Marine Corps air base, is being transformed into the largest metropolitan park in the U.S. and will feature a working 114-acre farm designed to provide fresh produce to the public.

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The Gronski family expanded from pumpkins to row crops and use their land to educate the community about farming and food.

by Cally Ehle, Wisconsin Farm Service Agency

It all started with a little red wagon and six pumpkins.

Growing up on his family’s farm in Suamico, Wis., Brian Gronski’s family had a large garden and five acres of pick your own raspberries. One year, Gronski’s father provided his sons with a small spot to grow their own vegetables, which resulted in six pumpkins. The boys decided to load their bounty into a little red wagon and haul it down to the end of the driveway. Selling just two of those pumpkins inspired the boys to only grow pumpkins the following year. That resulted in a much larger wagon load of pumpkins and the successful sale of most of them. 

With that small start, the Gronski family moved from growing raspberries to growing pumpkins and becoming The Pumpkin Place on Briter’s Farm.

Continue reading →

A new Farmers Market has cropped up in Illinois, but it can’t be found in a local neighborhood. The online farmers market — the first of its kind in Illinois — was designed to connect farmers to customers while offering the convenience of online shopping. Residents can purchase fresh, local food and crafts found at a traditional farmers market. Read more (KCRG.com).