November 5, 2024

The First State African American Farmers’ Association (FSAAFA) has partnered with Delaware State University College of Agriculture, Science and Technology (CAST) and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to create a conference to address the needs of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Farmers. The conference is taking place November 12-13, 2024, at Delaware State University, and features farm tours, interactive technology demonstrations, and a youth drone-flying competition, among other highlights.

Keynote speakers include Michael T. Scuse, Delaware Secretary of Agriculture; Dr. John Boyd, Jr., President of the National Black Farmers Association; and Dennis J. Coker, Chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware. In addition, representatives from NRCS, Farm Service Agency, and USDA Rural Development will also be speaking.

The conference organizers note that the event is designed to pay homage to the Farmers Conference at Tuskegee University, the oldest event of its type in the nation, which has taken place yearly since 1892 and features tours, panel discussions, interactive demonstrations, and concurrent workshops.

The NERCRD is proud to have played a role in the development of the First State African American Farmers Association. In 2011, NERCRD brought together partners including Delaware State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Tennessee State University to secure a USDA grant aimed at building social networks among small farmers. One of the team members, Andy Wetherill (Delaware State University and longtime member of NERCRD’s Technical Advisory Committee), used a project output—a manual published by NERCRD that guides Extension educators through the process of conducting network analyses of farmer groups— to help minority farmers in Delaware form the new network in 2018, and is a founding member himself. Since then, FSAAFA has gained nonprofit status (2020), gained farmer members from all three Delaware counties, and launched an educational video series and podcast. Learn more about the genesis of this farmer network here.