FederalRolling / continuousAnnual payment / contract
USDA Farm Service Agency
Apply before the CRP contract expires (sign up in the final year)
Pays retiring landowners two extra years of CRP rental payments for selling or leasing expiring CRP land to a beginning, veteran, or underserved farmer — one of the few federal programs that directly moves land to new growers.
- Land is in the last year of an expiring CRP contract
- Buyer/renter is a beginning, veteran, or socially disadvantaged farmer
Two additional years of CRP annual rental payments to the landowner
Beginning farmer & land accessBeginning / underservedIndividual producerTribal
Private / NonprofitRolling / continuousTechnical assistance
National Farmers Union
Annual cohort application, typically summer
Free multi-session training cohort for new farmers covering business planning, financing, land tenure, and farm policy, with travel stipends and a national peer network.
- Farming fewer than roughly 10 years, or preparing to start
- Able to attend the full session schedule
No cost to participants; travel support provided
Beginning farmer & land accessBeginning / underservedIndividual producer
Private / NonprofitRolling / continuousTechnical assistance
Annie's Project (delivered through Cooperative Extension)
Rolling — courses scheduled by state, mostly winter
Six-week course for farm women on financial records, crop insurance, leases, estate/succession planning, and negotiating with lenders — delivered locally by Extension at low cost.
- Women involved in farm or ranch decision-making
- Any experience level, from prospective to multigenerational
Course fees typically $75–$200, scholarships common
Beginning farmer & land accessIndividual producerBeginning / underserved