Fund-A-Farmer Project provides microgrants for animal welfare

Farmers concerned about animal welfare have a new resource with the Food Animal Concerns Trust.

The Chicago-based organization's Fund-A-Farmer Project provides microgrants for marketing, increased access to pasture and overall welfare of farm animals. In 2012 -- its first complete year -- the project provided a total of $15,000 in funding to nine farms across the continental U.S.

"A lot of livestock farmers are already thinking about the welfare of their animals every day because the welfare of the animal is so important to the product that they have," says Lisa Isenhart, humane farming program manager at FACT. The organization started more than 30 years ago with two main program areas: humane farming and public health relating to meat, milk and eggs. In talking to farmers and other organizations, FACT found that many farmers were interested in improving animal welfare, but they didn't have the funds to make changes on their own farms.

"In general, a lot of the larger farms and industrial operations are eligible for subsidies or USDA grants," says Isenhart. "The family farms often aren't eligible or they don't have the staffing to do the huge amount of paperwork with grants. What we're looking to do with this project is provide alternatives for grant funding."

Fund-A-Farmer grants are meant to support projects that will help farms transition to pasture-based systems, provide better living conditions for farm animals or improve marketing of humane products. There were more than 60 eligible applicants from 23 states in 2012. This year there were 75 eligible applicants, including one from Missouri and several from Illinois -- and the organization has more funding available this year, says Isenhart. The applications from 2013 are still being reviewed, with grants to be awarded in mid-August, and Isenhart says the process will start again in January 2014.

In 2012, Fund-A-Farmer grants helped fund pasture housing for more than 3,500 broiler chickens in Oregon; sausage making equipment and training in North Carolina; winter housing for laying hens in New York; and frost-free hydrants to provide water for grass-fed beef cattle in Michigan, to name a few projects.

The Fund-A-Farmer Project is one way FACT is working spread the word about animal welfare and why it matters to farmers as well as consumers.

"Even with the rise of the food movement in the U.S. -- people are really interested in food issues right now -- there is still a lot of education that needs to be done about where food comes from and the costs associated with that type of farming, and letting people see the other options if they don't want to support farming that is cruel and abusive to animals. That's the height of our mission," says Isenhart. "We like to see farmers successful and their animals well taken care of."

Get started now

The 2013 application period is closed, but it's time to get ready for a new round in January. Here's what you can do to prepare:

* Visit www.fundafarmer.org and sign up for email updates.

* Also at www.fundafarmer.org, review the application guidelines to make sure your farm is eligible for a grant.

* Start thinking about projects for your farm: "We like farmers to come to the table with ideas for projects," says Isenhart. For background and inspiration, read through the website to see what other farmers have done with their grants. Visit www.foodanimalconcerns.org to learn more about animal welfare issues. FACT is also on Facebook.

* For more information, contact Lisa Isenhart, humane farming program manager, at lisenhart@foodanimalconcerns.org or 773-525-4952.