Farm Incubator Introduction

The Linda and Gene Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability created a new farm incubator in 2010. Through the farm incubator, new farmers are supported with land, tools, education, and marketing support. The farm incubator expands upon the community gardening projects supported for 15 years on the land of Gene and Linda Farley. There are other farm incubators around the country, but this one is the first in Dane County. Training takes place while maintaining full respect for the cultural crops and practices of the growers involved.   All production is organic.

Currently ten acres of the land is cultivated by a group of five ethnically diverse farmers.   An adjacent neighbor has contributed an additional 10 acres to the project, which came into production and cover crops in 2010. In 2013 there will be nine farmers in the Farm Incubator program.

In starting the farm incubator, the Farley Center worked in close collaboration with Community GroundWorks, a nonprofit organization that connects people to nature and local food. Organized in Madison Wisconsin in 2001 as 'The Friends of Troy Gardens', Community GroundWorks serves diverse communities and schools across the region. www.troygardens.org 

Other regional collaborations include the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and many university and nonprofit partners, who are very enthusiastic about the project because they want to see a new generation of farmers succeed.

The growers at the Farley Center cultivate a variety of vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs and honey. They produce many Latino and Asian specialty crops, and began selling their produce in 2010 at farmers markets, at ethnic grocery stores, and to Hospice Care.   In 2011, Farley Center growers and others who have participated in our trainings launched two multi-farm immigrant farmer CSAs, including the first CSA in the region with Hmong farmers.  In 2013 this has grown to 4 CSAs who market under the Farley Center CSA Farms.

Farmer assistance has occurred over the years with support from the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a USDA grant; a Small Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant from USDA Rural Development; the City of Madison CDBG; MGE Foundation; Willy Street Co-op; and an anonymous donation.  This allows us to have several staff to coordinate four areas of support for a wide variety of beginning farmers beyond those growing on the Farley Center land.  The four areas include: 1. Education, training and technical assistance 2.A  Land Link project 3. Farm incubator 4. Marketing assistance

See a recent interesting article about us in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, P 24.  Follow the link at: article                                                    http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/news/in-common/fall2011/story.php?s=1390