Private / NonprofitRolling / continuousTechnical assistanceCalifornia only
Kitchen Table Advisors
Kitchen Table Advisors
Multi-year, free one-on-one business advising for small sustainable farms in California, with a focus on immigrant, Latino, and first-generation growers.
The eligibility and application details below are general guidance for this kind of program, not text copied from the funder. The facts above — who runs it, how much, and when it closes — are hand-checked. Always confirm specifics on the official page.
Am I eligible?
Farm or business must operate in CA
Individual farmers, ranchers, and farm businesses may apply
Beginning, veteran, and historically underserved producers are prioritized
No cost to the producer in most cases — advising, not funding
How to apply
1Contact Kitchen Table Advisors through the official page and describe your operation
2Schedule an intake call or farm visit
3Agree on a scope of work — what questions you need answered
4Work through the recommendations and follow up as your season changes
What you'll need
Farm or business name, address, and tax ID / EIN
Short description of your operation and acreage
The specific question or bottleneck you want help with
Any existing records, maps, or plans that give context
Timeline & contact
Usually days to a few weeks from first contact to real help
Get help: Kitchen Table Advisors — contact details are on the official program page
Ready to apply?
Applications go through Kitchen Table Advisors, not through this site. Open the official page below for eligibility rules, forms, and contacts. For federal programs it's worth calling your local USDA Service Center or Cooperative Extension office first — they help with paperwork for free and know what your county actually funds.
National Center for Appropriate Technology (USDA-funded)
Always available
Free one-on-one help from ag specialists plus hundreds of practical publications on organic production, season extension, small-scale marketing, and enterprise budgets. Call or email a specialist directly.
Open nationwide — check for state-level ranking or set-asides
Individual farmers, ranchers, and farm businesses may apply
Your county extension office runs soil testing, pest diagnostics, produce-safety training, business planning classes, and on-farm visits — usually free or near-free, and consistently the most underused resource in agriculture.
Open nationwide — check for state-level ranking or set-asides
Individual farmers, ranchers, and farm businesses may apply
Free mentoring and business-plan review from retired executives and campus-based advisors. Useful for pricing, bookkeeping, and the loan packaging that trips up most first grant and loan applications.
Open nationwide — check for state-level ranking or set-asides
Individual farmers, ranchers, and farm businesses may apply