Small Farmer Leadership

Mission
The mission of the Small Farmer Agricultural Institute is to educate, inform and support minority, socially disadvantaged and small farmers as they become more successful enterpreneurs.

Agricultural Edge Newsletter
The latest agricultural and leadership news.

News and Interviews

The following videos and stories highlight various components of the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute at the Southern University Ag Center. (Click the icon for more information)

	About the Ag Institute
	Ag Institute Graduates Class II
	AG Leadership Institute graduates second class U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack presided over the graduation ceremony of 26 minority farmers from the Southern University Ag Center’s Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Training Institute.
	Cash for Conservation
	Empowering Small Farmers in Rural Communities Operators of small and mid-size farms are suffering from low economic growth. As a result, many of these limited-resource farmers have begun hitting the books in order to compete with the larger, more economically stable farms. With funding from USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Training Institute at the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Baton Rouge, LA, promotes small and family farm sustainability by enhancing business management skills and leadership development.(MORE)
	Mission: Farmers and Families Lynda Hassel is a petit woman, but her ambition stands 10 feet tall. She is cultivating a concept to diversify her family farm by resurrecting three greenhouses that have been ignored for years. She didn’t see any potential in them until she was selected to participate in the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute at the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
	66th Annual Livestock Show
	Southern University Ag Tour
	Small Farm Digest Women in Agriculture This issue of the Small Farm Digest features Institute graduate Willonese Tillman Adams.
	Teaching Agriculture to Urban Children
	USDA Agriculture Leadership Institute graduates small farmers Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today presided over the Washington, D.C., graduation ceremony of 26 minority farmers from the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Training Institute, a 2-year course of study that gives small, socially disadvantaged, limited resource and/or minority farmers the knowledge to become successful agricultural entrepreneurs."President Obama recognizes that small farm operators are the custodians of about 48 percent of this nation's farm and ranch land," Vilsack said. "It's vital that we support programs such as this that provide the tools needed to promote the sustainability of small family farms."

Contact: Dawn Mellion Patin, Ph.D., MBA, Agricultural Specialist, dawn_mellion@suagcenter.com or (225) 771-2242