COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) Growing Tomorrow Grant supports individuals just starting their agriculture career, whether they are ag professionals, entrepreneurs or someone just looking to get into the agriculture industry. This year the grant committee will award up to $100,000. Applications were accepted beginning May 1. The deadline to apply is July 31.

The grant was established by farm bureau members Mike and Patti Boyert, owners of the now-thriving Boyert’s Greenhouse and Farm in Medina County. But when they started out in the early 1980s, it wasn’t easy.

“We struggled just to get started,” Patti Boyert said. “We had the idea, we had the business plan and we knew what we wanted to do, but we didn’t have the capital to do it. We had to piece it together.”

Now years later they are ready to help the next generation. The Boyerts came to the Farm Bureau Foundation with the idea of helping to support up-and-coming new businesses and getting more young people into agricultural careers.

“We want to pay it forward, get young people started in agriculture that may not be able to, with just a little bit of a start,” Patti Boyert said. “If they have the commitment, the dedication and are willing to work for it, I’d like to see more young people stay in agriculture and be able to produce a living from agriculture.”

Mike Boyert said, “The grant helps sustain Ohio rural communities. It gives you an opportunity to promote different educational opportunities (and) a more public understanding of what agriculture is all about. It teaches new and different methodologies centered around our environmental stewardship, and it creates an opportunity for employment in Ohio farm communities.”

The Growing Tomorrow Grant is a fantastic opportunity, said Kelly Burns, executive director of the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation. The grant is looking at applicants with a strong business plan. It will provide grants to new or early-stage agricultural businesses. Grants will focus on supporting, among other activities:

- The creation of long-term sustainable employment opportunities within Ohio farming communities;

- Educational opportunities to enable better public understanding of agriculture, help farmers learn from each other, and teach new and different agricultural methodologies;

- Businesses that use or demonstrate the viability of agricultural techniques that center on environmental stewardship;

- Farmers actively working to support and sustain the communities in which they live.

“We’re looking for folks who are in that first five years of the operation of their business,” Burns said. “A big objective of this grant is that we want to support our industry. Studies show that it is hard to find a skilled workforce in agriculture. Many people, their generation is further away from the farm. We want to focus on how we can support folks who want to get into this industry.”

Last year the grant gave out $50,000 to new and different businesses, Burns said. The recipients were the Winchester Farm Exchange, located in Canal Winchester, started by owners Trish Preston and Chelsie Casagrande-Smith. It is a community gathering space, which includes a local farm-to-table grocery store, and serves the community by offering over 50 bakers, makers, and meat and produce vendors a space to sell their goods.

The other recipient was the Chambers Family Fab, which specializes in designing pens for goats, sheep, hogs and chickens, all in-house at its Stark County fabrication shop. Ron and Diana Chambers pride themselves on working with youth, educating them on best practices for livestock and for an on-farm customization process, and working with customers to design products to ensure they create exactly what fits the farm and the end-users’ needs.

This year the grant will award up to $100,000 to the business or businesses that the review committee determines are eligible and stand out. The grant receives support from individuals and organizations like Nationwide and Farm Credit Mid-America.

How the grant is awarded depends on the number of applications the foundation receives as well as the quality of applications, Burns said. They’re looking for strong business plans that focus on sustainability.

“We’ve got a few months to get applications in,” Burns said. “From that point we have a review committee who will review all applications and determine who their top applicants are. The top applicants will be invited to come and present their business plan to the committee.”

The committee will then choose the recipient or recipients. Those recipients will be announced at the OFBF annual meeting Dec. 12-13. The recipients will get to meet Mike and Patti Boyert.

“The Growing Tomorrow Grant, the ‘tomorrow’ is not just tomorrow,” Patti Boyert said. “It’s for generations to come, and we’re hoping if we get this generation and we give a couple of people a jump-start that when they’re in a position, down the road that they’re going to pay it forward and keep this grant going and benefit young farmers for years and years to come.”

For questions regarding the Growing Tomorrow Grant and to apply, visit ofb.ag/GrowingTomorrowGrant.