OMAHA, Neb (KMTV) — Most farmers in Nebraska come from a family of farmers but for Laura Simpson, its a passion she found later in life.
“I had met a friend that did the Big Muddy Urban Farm Residency and so it just became this full circle thing where I got involved,” said Simpson.
Taking your first steps into farming can be difficult.
You need land to plant your crops and the know how to get them to grow buts its all for nothing if you can’t keep farming year after year.
“We work to help them understand that we do have young people that want to get on the land. The want to grow table food so actual edible food,” said Cait Caughey, a program coordinator for the Center for Rural Affairs.
Cait Caughey and the Center for Rural Affairs have been helping new farmers like Laura build their farming and conservation skills with its Beginning Farmer Conservation Fellowship.
It matches new farmers with mentors, resources and funding they need to get their own conservation projects off the ground.
“My mentor Terry Trowel owns Iowana farms in Crescent Iowa and ive had a couple of opportunities to meet with her, she came here and toured the farm and I went to her farm” said Simpson.
The projects are all unique to the farmers in the program.
Some projects, like Laura’s, focus on improving pollinator habitats but others cover issues like soil health, rehabilitating natural water sources, or sustainable grazing practices for livestock.
“It allows us to continue to grow. We need to do things like cover crops, we need to revert back to crop rotations, we need to have fallow periods where we are allowing soil to rest,” said Caughey.
For Laura those conservation skills are just one important piece of what the fellowship has given her.
It’s those skills, along with the mentors, fellow farmers and advocates involved int he program that are helping make her dream of farming a reality.
“You are building community. That’s the best way to learn is in a community with others,” said Simpson.
