Kentucky State University's Small-Scale Farm Grant Program is for small-scale Kentucky farmers who need funds to improve their farms.

“The Small-Scale Farm Grant Program is important to so many producers in the area because it can help them get past hurdles that they need to overcome in order to be successful,” said Joni Nelson, manager of Kentucky State University’s Center for the Sustainability of Farms and Families (CSFF).

In partnership with the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund and the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, the CSFF offers grants in the following areas: Aquaculture and Aquaponics; Certified Organic Agriculture; Value-Added Products; Food-Insecure Area Production; Agroforestry; and Farmer Education Assistance.

Farmers can apply for up to $5,000 at one time and can receive a lifetime maximum of $10,000. The program started in 2012 and had given $3.6 million to 979 farmers in 113 Kentucky counties as of August 2022.

million to 979 farmers in 113 Kentucky counties as of August 2022.

The program offers new economic opportunities to limited-resource farmers, Nelson said.

Jim Embry of Richmond, Dustin Cornett of Beattyville, and Mehera Baugher of Frankfort are just a few recent recipients of the Small-Scale Farm Grant.

Jim Embry’s ancestors have farmed in the Concord community in Richmond, Kentucky, for centuries.

Census records indicate that Embry’s enslaved ancestors were brought to the area by a white farmer around 1800.

“We were brought here to work the land, so we claim stewardship since 1800,” he said.

Embry calls himself an agrarian intellectual activist, because he comes from a long line of people who combined agriculture, education and civil rights activism. Three of his farming ancestors fought in the Civil War, and two were at the Appomattox Courthouse on the day of the Confederacy's surrender. Some of his

ancestors attended college as early as just after the Civil War, starting “a long line of folks who value education.” operates,” Embry said. “So the idea of being collaborative and having networks, we’re just trying to catch up.”

When he was growing up, the 30 acres in Madison County that Embry now lives on were owned by his great-uncle. He became used to working hard on the farm—putting in two hours of work before he even ate breakfast. Embry moved to the farm about 10 years ago, to farm and help care for elderly relatives.

Embry gives 30 to 40 presentations each year at various events across the world, from Tennessee to Italy. Even on his own land, he partners with others, such as a research project by a friend who works at the University of Kentucky. He also welcomes school and church groups for tours.

Embry stressed the importance of collaboration, among humans and with the land.

“The Earth already operates cooperatively, collaboratively, synergistically—that’s how she operates,” Embry said. “So the idea of being collaborative and having networks, we’re just trying to catch up.”

Embry has received two Small-Scale Farm Grants from Kentucky State, which have funded necessary equipment. The funding also helped him purchase bees, hives, and tools.

“I became a beekeeper thanks to KSU,” Embry said.

The honey from his Richmond hives will soon be bottled up and given away to family, then maybe sold. Embry owns property in Western Kentucky, too, and he's already bottled up honey from hives there. It's called "Mom Bea's Honey," after his grandmother, Beatrice.

Embry also has high tunnels, about 30 fruit trees and a pollinator conservation area on his farm. Running a farm means being involved in many things and requires a lot of knowledge—from how to repair a tractor to animal husbandry to reading the weather.

“I kind of tell people that farmers, yes,

bless our hearts, bless our hearts— yes, they farm, they do other kinds of things, too! They can do anything, in my opinion,” Embry said. “It’s one of the professions where you’re called upon to do a lot of things.”