Harlingen nonprofit gets grant to support small farmers

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — More farming opportunities are coming to the Rio Grande Valley.

Harlingen nonprofit H.O.P.E. for Small Farm Sustainability held an event Wednesday to announce it had been awarded a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture for $7.4 million.

Funding came from the Inflation Reduction Act's Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access Program. The money is part of a $300 million block of funding given to 50 projects across the country.

According to a release from the group, HOPE was the only project in Texas to be awarded these funds.

Joshua Coleman, State Outreach Coordinator for the USDA Farm Service Agency was at the event and said, “It helps to provide that investment and also those opportunities for those smaller individuals that may be interested in getting started with agriculture production but may not have the background to do it.”

Coleman said his agency has worked with HOPE for over a decade as they provided technical assistance to farm producers. "We wanted to be sure to be out here," Coleman said. "To help celebrate this significant achievement and milestone."

The grant will provide training and land for people who are interested in farming, but may not have the skills or real estate to make that happen.

HOPE is teaming up with four community-based partners with sites that will be spread across the Valley in Harlingen, Donna, Santa Rosa and Mission. Each location will set aside parcels of land for people to plant, manage and harvest their produce after completing a training program.

“We’ll have 20 by 20 plots and 50 by 50 plots where the trainees can practice and grow their produce," said Matthew Ramon. He and his wife own Sunshine's Bounty Farm and Ranch in Palmview. The couple began urban farming in their backyard and Ramon said they have attended farming training with HOPE for many years.

They recently acquired 12 acres of farmland and are one of the partners in the grant program.

HOPE Executive Director Diana Parilla said her group offers different levels of training depending on skill level.

The basic lessons cover soil types, irrigation and harvest seasons among other topics. For people with more experience, Parilla said, “It’s a different kind of training. It’s not teaching them the 101 of agriculture. It’s more teaching them how to make it so that you utilize space at its maximum capability.”

For newcomers to farming, the goal is to give them the basic tools and information they need. They start out working in smaller areas, eventually getting bigger areas of land to work, leading up to selling their produce.

“We need more food, local food. You know, you go to the farmer’s market and you don’t have that many people in the farmer’s market that are selling. We need to increase that. We need to show people they can make a living, and that’s what we want to change. You can make a living from a small space," Parilla said.

The group said that after people have gained the necessary experience, they may be in a position to buy or lease their own land. Parilla said the program already has several farms selling wholesale to food banks and other nonprofits.

HOPE is also looking into working with school district nutrition programs to sell healthy local food to schools.