One of the primary barriers to growth for small farmers and other food entrepreneurs is access to capital. Appropriate financing allows entrepreneurs to invent new technologies, deploy innovative sales strategies, attract new investment, and ford occasional economic valleys. Small businesses in WA state have a lot of advantages including nationally renowned community development organizations, a supportive Department of Financial Institutions, and a strong angel investor community.

In an effort to synthesize the leading programs as well as highlight some more creative tools and strategies from around the nation, I will begin posting regular blog shorts, highlighting one or two programs or opportunities at a time. We look forward to your participation and feedback.

This fall I spoke with David Poor of Northwest Farm Credit Services about their Young and Beginning Producer Grant. The program was established to support young and beginning farmers who would otherwise have a hard time accessing financing. ‘Beginning’ is a bit of a misnomer as eligible farmers must have several (but fewer than 10) years of experience in farm management. Loans can range in amount from $2.5K to 200K and interest rates (at the time of our conversation) are at approximately prime rate plus 2%. Ancillary benefits include mentorship and a $500 stipend for continuing education (including the purchase of a computer).

Alex Moore is Program Manager at Cascade Harvest Coalition.