--- title: USDA to Increase Funding For Local and Organic Farming description: A total of $30 million a year will go towards promotion for local food and farmer's markets canonical: https://time.com/3445218/farmer-marketing-local-organic/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-29T16:54:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:28:05.791Z article:section: Health og:title: USDA to Increase Funding For Local and Organic Farming og:description: A total of $30 million a year will go towards promotion for local food and farmer's markets og:url: https://time.com/3445218/farmer-marketing-local-organic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79c1135b079e715e/6986a5e51eebf73cbc372e85/wheat-usda-farmers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Wheat og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: USDA to Increase Funding For Local and Organic Farming twitter:description: A total of $30 million a year will go towards promotion for local food and farmer's markets twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79c1135b079e715e/6986a5e51eebf73cbc372e85/wheat-usda-farmers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gov't to Put Up $52 Million to Help Farmers Market Their Produce > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 29, 2014 4:54 PM UTC  GAILLAC, FRANCE - JULY 11: Wheat grows in a farmer's field July 11, 2007 near Gaillac, France. Wheat is one the main crops in the region. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) GAILLAC, FRANCE - JULY 11: Wheat grows in a farmer's field July 11, 2007 near Gaillac, France. Wheat is one the main crops in the region. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Sean Gallup—Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 29, 2014 4:54 PM UTC The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to put [$52 million](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/business/usda-to-start-program-to-support-local-and-organic-farming.html) toward local and organic farming through farmers markets and organic research. Local farmers are having difficulty marketing their produce, even though there’s increasingly high consumer demand for it. [According to the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/business/usda-to-start-program-to-support-local-and-organic-farming.html), the funding is part of the Farm Bill signed by President Obama in February. The $52 million is being distributed to the industry through five grant programs that were authorized through the Farm Bill. The grants will be distributed annually. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the funding at the Virginia State Fair, where farmer and business owner M. James Faison of Milton’s Local Harvest won a grant to help farmers producing pork and beef products market their goods more effectively. According to the _Times_, the organic business sector will be getting $125 million over the next five years for research as well as $50 million for conservation. The USDA will also be allocating $30 million each year to marketing for local food and farmer’s markets. Another $70 million will go toward researching fruits and vegetables. [In an interview](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/business/usda-to-start-program-to-support-local-and-organic-farming.html), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said funding local food systems are good business for the government since they generate new employment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3445218/farmer-marketing-local-organic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3445218/farmer-marketing-local-organic/"},"headline":"Gov't to Put Up $52 Million to Help Farmers Market Their Produce","datePublished":"2014-09-29T16:54:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:28:05.791Z","description":"A total of $30 million a year will go towards promotion for local food and farmer's markets","url":"https://time.com/3445218/farmer-marketing-local-organic/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Farming","USDA","farms","local","Organic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79c1135b079e715e/6986a5e51eebf73cbc372e85/wheat-usda-farmers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79c1135b079e715e/6986a5e51eebf73cbc372e85/wheat-usda-farmers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Wheat","caption":"Wheat","creditText":"Sean Gallup—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3445218/farmer-marketing-local-organic/","name":"Gov't to Put Up $52 Million to Help Farmers Market Their Produce"}}]}] ```