USDA Farm Service Agency awards $2.5m to Cultivate KC through Increasing Land Access Grant

On August 7th, Cultivate KC hosted USDA Deputy Under Secretary Gloria Montaño Greene at Juniper Gardens Training Farm to announce the award of a $2.5 million grant to help increase access to land, markets, and capital for historically underserved farmers throughout the Kansas City metro. With these grant funds, Cultivate KC and our partners will be able to address access to land by purchasing farmland in Kansas City, KS that will be made available to urban and peri-urban farmers in need of secure, affordable land leases on which to operate their farm businesses. The grant will also increase access to capital by piloting a bridge loan program to facilitate participation in reimbursable government grant and cost share programs and by increasing the funding for Cultivate KC’s Get Farming Mini Grant program. Lastly, funds from this opportunity will allow the City of Kansas City, MO to add a Food Systems Coordinator position that will work across city agencies to help reduce barriers to food production within city limits.  

Executive Director Brien Darby explains that “by working with partners like K-State Olathe, AltCap, the City of Kansas City, MO, the Unified Government Planning Department, and KC Healthy Kids, we are planning for the sustainability and longevity of small farm businesses by reducing barriers to accessing land, developing urban farms, and participating in government grant and cost share programs.” 

Cultivate KC and their partners are one of 50 projects across the nation that were selected to receive funding under this one-time opportunity from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The grant is through USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program. To learn more about the grant opportunity and for a full list of awardees, visit the Increasing Land Access webpage. 

In addition to Deputy Under Secretary Montaño, attendees included Jake Wessel from Senator Jerry Moran’s office, Kelli Montgomery from Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s Office, Dennis McKinney, State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency in Kansas and Joe Aull, State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency in Missouri. Thank you to all the attendees from other agencies throughout KS and MO who are working to improve land access for farmers, and all the Cultivate KC board members who were able to join us.