Over the last century, there has been a drastic decline in Black farmers in the United States. Black farmers make up only about 1.4% of all farmers today, compared to 14% in the early part of the 1900s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Ashanti Williams and Arian Rivera are two of them. They run the Black Yard Farm Collective and are passionate about educating communities of color about agriculture and land cultivation. They want to increase the number of Black people and people of color in farming.
In the last year, Williams and Rivera have had to move their farm to a different New York location due to “issues with the lease arrangement” at their last property.
“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke to Williams and Rivera about the progress they’ve made, despite having to start over on new land. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kai Ryssdal: First of all, you have moved since the last time we spoke. And I don’t imagine it’s an easy thing to do to move a farm.
Ashanti Williams: We have moved, yes, it’s been quite challenging. We had some issues with the lease arrangement at the last property, and we have since moved to another part of New York, and we started up last March.
Ryssdal: How do you start up a farm when you move? I mean, that’s more a logistics thing, right? Because you got to move all the animals, you got to figure out your produce, right?
Williams: Yeah, and it’s a just kind of getting reacquainted with — or getting acquainted with — new land and building infrastructure. Sometimes places come with stuff. Luckily for us here, there was already a barn, but we had to put up a new greenhouse. And this spring, we’ll be putting up a new high tunnel.
Ryssdal: What’s a high tunnel?
Williams: It’s like a greenhouse that you grow in the ground, for season extension.
Ryssdal: Gotcha. What does it mean when you said, “We have to get used to the land” “or figure out the land.” I mean, what what’s involved in that?
Arian Rivera: So the soil is different. It holds water differently, it drains differently, it requires different nutrients. And so the vegetables grow differently at this property than they did in our prior property.
Williams: Yeah. And you don’t know that until like, you kind of do, like, soil tests and stuff.
Ryssdal: Yeah, which makes total sense. It also occurs to me that fundamentally what you have done is you have relocated a small business. And as with any business, you have to have customers, you have to find markets. Since you have relocated your small farming business, have you had to sort of refigure out what your market is?
Williams: Kind of. So, one of the big markets that we do is in Schenectady, and that was about the same distance from the last property that we were at as this one. So, in terms of finding a market that we sell stuff at, it hasn’t been super challenging. But some of our wholesale clients have changed because of that. Yep.
Ryssdal: So not, you know, specifics if you don’t want to, but what kind of clients?
Williams: Just, like, different restaurants. Or last season, we actually worked with a couple of different food pantries. So, plugging in to different people who buy stuff wholesale and larger quantities.
Ryssdal: I imagine — I mean, this is more commentary on hunger in America — I imagine food pantries are eager for your produce and what you have to offer.
Rivera: They’ve been one of our primary sources of income. And we’ve also, like, really enjoy going into the cities and dropping off food at different locations.
Ryssdal: Tell me about dropping food in town.
Rivera: So, we were able to link up with some churches, and we did deliveries in the South Bronx.
Williams: And, like, being able to sell to the food pantries has been great, because the food pantries usually are partnered with different nonprofits, and they’re able to buy our produce at the prices that we need for us to actually sustain our business. But the folks in the Bronx are able to receive that food at no cost. So it’s a win-win.
Ryssdal: So Arian, let me ask you this: Assuming you figure out the new land, and you can grow what you need to grow and sell what you need to sell it — where do you see yourself and the Black Yard Farm Collective in, like, five years? I mean, are you off and running now? The reason I ask is because last time we spoke, you sort of felt like you had had a good start, and then you got knocked sideways, and then you kind of have to start all over again.
Rivera: So unfortunately, land access is a real issue for a lot of beginning farmers. But I think we have a home in this piece of land that we’re at now. And I think in five years, we’ll have purchased this piece of land, we’ll have a mortgage in our names, we’ll be paying towards ownership, and we’ll have welcomed, hopefully, two or three more members to the collective who are also cultivating the land with us.
Ryssdal: Last thing and then I’ll let you go: When we spoke last time, we talked a little bit about you all wanting to raise the profile and make Black farmers more visible. I mean, I think they are something, as I said the introduction, like 1% of all farmers in the United States. You making progress do you think, Ashanti?
Williams: I think so. We actually got to work with a group of schoolchildren at the end of 2022. And just, like, listening to their stories and hearing how they have been inspired has been great. It’s just like, I think visibility really does a lot, in addition to, you know, actually creating spaces for folks to be. But just having folks know that it’s possible has been really enlightening.
Ryssdal: All right, so this is a silly question, but do you tell them how hard it is? That you have to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning to milk the cows and feed the chickens and you got to, you know, do harvest time and all that?
Williams: Absolutely. I feel like there’s no point and romanticizing it.
Ryssdal: That’s fair.
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These NY farmers are building a space to teach Black people about farming – Marketplace
