On Monday, October 27, 2008, Custom Ag Solutions' (CAS) John Mangus and Clifton Parker participated in a stakeholder meeting for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) currently being established by the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).  The meeting was held in Washington, DC, and included dozens of participants across a broad range of geographical and industry interests.

The 2008 Farm Bill made available $18 million in fiscal year 2009 to fund the BFRDP through a competitive grants process to be administered by CSREES.  During late 2008, CSREES sought stakeholder comments from the public as the agency worked to develop and implement the BFRDP.  CSREES accepted written and oral comments through November 14, 2008.

In work on over 20 USDA partnerships, CAS has interacted with thousands of beginning and traditional producers.  Based on this experience, CAS provided CSREES with comment and input on multiple BFRDP components, including objectives, administration, curriculum development, and training mechanisms.

CSREES expects to finalize BFRDP objectives and administrative rules sometime in late 2008 before releasing the first BFRDP RFA in early 2009.