The Farmers First Agenda (Rollins, May 2025) supports small family farms by addressing access to federal resources, credit and simplifying risk management technical assistance. The USDA Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry (USDA, October 2025) states that US cattle ranch numbers are down 17%, US cattle herds are at a 75-year low while consumer demand for beef is up 9% and lists three priorities one of which is to protect and improve the business of ranching by increasing access to capital and affordable risk management tools. This project aims to address the USDA initiatives’ common theme of access to capital and risk management by providing a monthly risk management workshop series and in-person gatherings where beginning farmers, ranchers and veterans can simply talk one on one with experts about how crop insurance participation, resources and tools can help them reduce financial stress and keep farming their land.
Native Agriculture Financial Services (NAFS) utilizes the successful Financial Foundations (a Risk Management Series by NAFS) as a workshop platform designed to educate and recruit beginning farmers, ranchers and veterans to work directly with crop insurance agents and professionals to understand how participation in the crop insurance program can increase farm financial health. Priority Topics include:
- Taxes, including Schedule F
- Financial Record Keeping
- Crop insurance policy selection
- Livestock policies
- Crop insurance resources and tools
- Relationship building with insurance agents
- Crop Insurance 101
- Legal issues
- Transition, succession and estate planning
- Working with lenders
