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December 2025
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this year’s Food & Farm Forum! Thanks to our generous sponsors—Alabama Association of RC&D Councils, Southern SARE, USDA SE TOPP, and Alabama Ag Credit—registration (including lodging and meals) is free for all participants. Join other farmers, organizers, and food system partners from across the state for workshops, conversations, and community building. Registration is required and space is limited.
Practical Tips for Beginning Farmers—Compiled by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), this video series showcases farmers from across the country sharing advice about common challenges facing beginning farmers in today's agriculture.
Farm Safety Nets Don't Catch Everyone—Diversified farms face major challenges accessing federal crop insurance, which is largely designed for large row-crop operations with standardized yields and prices. As a result, specialty-crop farmers often lack a safety net, prompting calls to reform crop insurance so it better supports conservation-minded and diversified agriculture.
Could Urban Farming Feed the World?—This article explores the surprising rise of urban agriculture and asks whether it could reshape our food system, our communities, and even our relationship with nature. It’s a glimpse into a future where concrete and cropland blur, and where small urban harvests might spark big change.
Many Hats: A Food Hub Operator's Toolkit—This toolkit brings together Running a Food Hub and Regional Food Hub Resource Guide, creating a centralized hub to support food hub leaders in the diverse roles they may take on. It provides context, templates, and direct links, ensuring that no matter the path your food hub journey takes, you have a comprehensive set of tools to guide you.
United We Grow: The Power of Farm Cooperatives—Agricultural cooperatives continue to offer farmers collective power and support, helping them access resources, markets, and infrastructure that would be difficult to manage individually. Profiles of three active co-ops highlight how trust, collaboration, and shared vision help diverse farmers overcome challenges like land access, low-price imports, and scaling operations.
Last week, ASAN staff visited with Rinske de Jong at her family farm, Working Cows Dairy, an Animal Welfare Approved, 100% Grass-Fed, Certified Organic dairy located in Slocomb, AL. In addition to products like artisan & farmstead cheeses, organic grass-fed butter, and organic milk, they also sell organic feed hay and compost.
JOIN ASAN
Becoming a member of ASAN means joining a passionate community working to build a more just, sustainable, and thriving food system in Alabama. Whether you are a farmer, food lover, activist, or educator, your membership supports local agriculture, food justice, and environmental stewardship while giving you access to member-only perks, event discounts, and a powerful statewide network.
Member Benefits:
A say in where ASAN focuses its priorities.
Access to the member portal where you can collaborate with other members and share resources.
Save 5% off your order with Johnny's Seeds.
Save 20% off StrongSoil® from CHONEX.
Apply for a mini-grant through ASAN's Undo the Knot fund.
Not ready to become a member? You can still support ASAN’s mission by making a recurring or one-time donation. Every dollar helps build a stronger, more sustainable food system for us all.
ASAN allocates a portion of its annual budget to directly help ASAN farmer members "untie" a problem that's limiting their farm's operations or profitability. The hope is that these mini-grants can provide a leg-up in hard times
This fund provides grants to ASAN Members who could benefit from monetary support for the following categories:
an expense holding back production
help with transition to sustainable growing practices
ASAN is a partner in the USDA Southeast Transition to Organic Partnership Program (SE TOPP). Part of this program is a Farmer-to-Farmer Mentorship Program designed to build connections between producers transitioning to organic, provide support for the transition process, and create a stronger network of organic producers. Both mentors and mentees will have the opportunity to receive stipends as part of the program. Visit the Transition to Organic Partnership Program website below or email [email protected] for more information.
Urge Congress to Restore Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling—Since Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) was repealed in 2015, multinational corporations have used misleading labels to market imported beef as U.S.-made. Restoring MCOOL would level the playing field by requiring clear labels showing where cattle were born, raised, and slaughtered.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Free Composting Workshop(new rain date) This hands-on introduction to BioComplete Thermophilic Composting will demonstrate how to create biologically rich compost that restores soil health, supports regenerative growing, and strengthens our local food systems. December 13th from 2:00pm-4:00pm at Taylor Park Community Garden (1050 Baltimore Street, Mobile)
134th Annual Farmers Conference at Tuskegee University is a two-day educational forum that features tours, panel discussions, interactive demonstrations and concurrent workshops. It will take place February 19-20.
Alabama Water Rally is the annual gathering of Alabama’s network of water advocates and allies hosted by the Alabama Rivers Alliance. It will take place March 20-22 in Montgomery. Registration is open.
Submit your event to the ASAN Events Calendar! Do you have an event you would like to advertise in this monthly newsletter? If so, please email the following to [email protected]: name of event, host group and contact info, location (including full address), date/time, price, link to event website / Facebook event page. We cannot transcribe a flyer but can share a link to one you've already published online.
Small Farm Innovation Challenge: This challenge invites farmers, entrepreneurs, students, hackers, and any ingenious, farm-loving thinkers to propose tech-based innovations that will help small-scale agriculture compete, survive, and thrive. $10,000 in cash prizes. Apply by December 31st.
Fund-a-Farmer Grants: Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) has two grant opportunities for farmers seeking to improve the lives of their farm animals. Apply by January 3rd.
Good Farmer Award: This award program seeks beginning farmers who have been in operation for 10 years or less. Submissions should highlight active interest or current implementation in environmentally responsible practices that boost regenerative organic agriculture, biodiversity, promote long-term resilience, garner community engagement, and advance sustainable and equitable systems. Apply by January 16.
Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crop Program: This program provides financial assistance for specialty crop operations that incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses related to obtaining or renewing a food safety certification. Apply by January 31.
EQIP Bridge Loan Program: Managed by Food System 6, this program provides interest-free loans of up to $75,000 to help producers with approved USDA EQIP contracts cover upfront costs for conservation practices.
Cultivate Small Business: Santander helps early-stage entrepreneurs build and sustain businesses in the food industry, with a focus on historically underserved founders in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. The program is completely free for eligible entrepreneurs and provides a 12 week food-focused curriculum, mentorship, and capital grants.
Fall cohort: Apply March–June (program runs September–November)
Spring cohort: Apply November–January (program runs March–June)
Tribal Agriculture Fellowship: Designed to aid Native students in achieving their educational goals leading to careers in agriculture, the fellowship program provides a generous benefits package that can include up to four years of fellowship status with funding to earn agricultural degrees or technical certifications. Apply by March 2.
Regenerative Agriculture Course:Curious about regenerative agriculture and soil health? Kiss the Ground is offering scholarships for its 90-minute online Regenerative Agriculture Essentials course, prioritizing underserved and underrepresented communities.
Tribal Agriculture Fellowship: Designed to aid Native students in achieving their educational goals leading to careers in agriculture, the fellowship program provides a generous benefits package that can include up to four years of fellowship status with funding to earn agricultural degrees or technical certifications.
Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant:This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses qualify for this funding. Applications are open year round.
Tax Exemption Opportunity: Fencing materials, such as t-posts, wood posts, barbed wire, net wire, smooth wire, standard metal gates, and other like materials used for the purpose of fencing in agriculture livestock applications are exempt from state sales and use taxes through September 30, 2029. To benefit, the purchaser must provide the retailer with Form ST:EXC-2. For more information, email [email protected].
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