RAFI-USA
Rural Advancement Foundation International - USA
274 Pittsboro Elem. Sch. Rd. PO Box 640 Pittsboro, NC 27312 Tel: 919-542-1396 Fax: 919-542-0069 www.rafiusa.org
PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Joe Schroeder, Tobacco Communities Reinvestment
Fund Program Director, (919) 621-0534
May 9, 2011 joe@rafiusa.org
STUDY: SMALL INVESTMENTS IN FARMS HAVE BIG BENEFITS
Small investments in farmer innovation can bring hefty economic rewards, according to a
new study by researchers at the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNC-
Greensboro.
The study analyzes the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, a program of the
Pittsboro-based Rural Advancement Foundation International – USA that provides small grants
to farmers and farmer groups piloting innovative enterprises on North Carolina farms.
In the last three years, the program has invested $3.6 million in 367 projects, which
created $733 million in economic benefits and more than 4,100 new jobs in the state, according
to the study.
The study was conducted by Dr. Andrew Brod at the UNC-Greensboro Center for
Business and Economic Research. It looks at the income and jobs created directly on-farm and
the multiplier effect in the state economy.
The program created $205 new dollars circulating in the economy for every dollar spent,
the study concluded.
The program’s cost-share grants, which average about $10,000, allow farmers to
diversify their operations and develop new products and markets, according to Linda Shaw,
RAFI’s executive director.
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“More than 80 percent of the projects are still going strong after their third year,” Shaw
said. “They create jobs, preserve farmland, enable farmers to innovate and share their ideas, and
sustain the rural economy.”
According to Brod, the study demonstrates that small cost-share grants to farmers are an
effective driver of economic growth.
“The program has not single-handedly solved the unemployment problem,” Brod says.
“But it has made a good start and has done it in the rural counties of the state, which have been
especially hard-hit by the recession.”
“These figures no doubt understate the true impact, because they track the operational
impact of each year’s grants for only that one year, whereas expanding farm capacity should
increase farm incomes for years,” Brod said.
Participants agree that cost-share grants make a critical difference for farmers. “If it
hadn't been for the RAFI grant, I would have had to just close the doors and find a job
somewhere else,” says participant Kay Doby, a former contract poultry farmer in Cameron, N.C.
Doby converted her empty poultry barns to serve her expanding meat goat business. “The
grant saved my farm,” she says.
The program is funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. The
2011 budget approved by the state’s House of Representatives would abolish the Commission
and re-direct its funding.
“I am a big proponent of the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission,” says Steve Tate of Goat
Lady Dairy in Climax, N.C.
“People are so frustrated and want say that the system is screwed up and that government
does not work,” Tate said. “Yes, a lot is wrong, but the tobacco settlement and the way it’s
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negotiated so there is money for farmers in rural communities, in my mind that is a huge
success.”
Shaw says farmers and rural advocates will fight the cuts. “Rural communities have been hit hard
in the economic downturn. This study demonstrates that these small investments in farm businesses are
one of the best ways to create jobs and bring dependable income to the areas that need it most.”
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ADDITIONAL CONTACTS:
Linda Shaw, Executive Director, RAFI, lshaw@rafiusa.org, (919) 632-9306
McRay Greene Jr., Saura Pride Purple Sweet Potato, Stokes County, (336) 817-8588,
Video profile at vimeo.com/21081165
Steve Tate, Goat Lady Dairy CSA, Randolph County, (336) 824-2163,
info@goatladydairy.com, Video profile at vimeo.com/21831334
Sammy Koeingsberg, New Town Farm, Union County, (704) 534-5582 ,
newtownfarms@windstream.net, Video profile at http://vimeo.com/19403936.
Charlene Jacobs, American Prawn Cooperative, (910) 385-4618, jacobs@intrstar.net,
Video profile at http://vimeo.com/21904139.
Brenda Sutton, Piedmont Local Foods and Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County,
(336) 342-8230, brenda_sutton@ncsu.edu, Video profile at http://vimeo.com/21485851
Cassie Parsons, Grateful Growers Farm and Harvest Moon Grille, Lincoln County, (828)
446-8005
Alan Souther, Rocking S Farm, Alleghany County, (336) 359-8324,
rockingsfarm@skybest.com
Angela Shur, Miss Angel’s Heavenly Pies, (336) 352-3009, purdieladies143@aol.com
Jane Steigerwald, Program Director of Marketing, Southeastern NC Food Systems
Network and Farm to Chef Program, (631) 275-6260, steigerwaldj@uncw.edu
Shirley Brown, Center for Northeastern Coalition of Minority Small Landowners and
Farmers, 252-330-2428, swsmith1967@earthlink.net
Lee Swinson, Duplin County, (910) 293- 4209, leeswinson@goldengrovecandy.com
Gene Maurice Wiseman Jr., farmer grantee, Wayne County, (919) 921-1993,
gwiseman@summitstudios.com
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RAFI is a nonprofit organization that cultivates markets, policies and communities that support
thriving, socially just and environmentally sound family farms. RAFI is based in Pittsboro, N.C.
Find us online at www.rafiusa.org or call (919) 542-1396.