Young Farmers Sustainable Agriculture Tool Lending Library

From: RAFI USA
Series: North Carolina Farmer Voices
Length: 07:32

This is the story of the incredible project: sustainable agriculture tool lending library. Led by farmer couple George (self-declared rap listening/punk rocker farmer) and his girlfriend Kelly, this tool sharing program connects ten young/beginning farmers that couldn't buy expensive farm tools on their own but together- and with the help of Google Calendar- are succeeding. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Young Farmers Sustainable Agriculture Tool ...
From: RAFI USA

2011_rafi_tool_library_050s_small The Sustainable Agriculture Tool Lending Library came to be through George O'Neal of Lil' Farm and his girlfriend Kelly Owensby: realizing how difficult it was for George, as a young farmer, to rent or buy equipment for his farm in Timberlake, they came up with the plan to become a cooperative with ten other farmers to buy farm tools together and share.

The Lending Library uses a Google calendar to manage who gets what tool when. The Library also collects yearly membership fees that go towards future tool buying, insurance, and maintenance of the tools, and different farmers are assigned to different positions (ie. secretary, treasurer...) to help the cooperative run smoothly and be self-sustaining.

Learn how tremendously beneficial this project is, how easy it is to replicate, and how it makes for a stronger, more vibrant, more successful, and more educated farm community.

Also in the North Carolina Farmer Voices series

Harold Wright: Five generations on once-tobacco land (04:16)
From: RAFI USA

Harold Wright is the third generation farming on land his grandfather bought in the 1900's. His children and grandchildren farm with him. It was once an area rich- ...

Horse Collar Farm: many generations on one farm & new project of free-range poultry (06:55)
From: RAFI USA

This story is about Shannon Roberts. He lives in Western North Carolina and runs Horse Collar Farm. His family has farmed the same land for five generations and Shannon hopes ...

Purple Sweet Potatoes in North Carolina (05:38)
From: RAFI USA

A story of the two men who run Stokes County's Saura Pride Purple Sweet Potato LLC and how these sweet potatoes are saving tobacco farmers in the county.

Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative (08:05)
From: RAFI USA

The Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative is based out of Moore County. The mission is to meet local food needs with local food and that happens, in CSA style, when consumer ...

New Town Farms, Poultry-processing facility (07:36)
From: RAFI USA

Sammy Koenigsberg lives in Waxhaw, North Carolina and runs New Town Farms with the help of his family. Sammy built a poultry processing facility on his small family farm for ...

Piedmont Local Foods: love & success between farmers, consumers, and the internet (06:29)
From: RAFI USA

Piedmont Local Food is a regional food/farmer project involving multiple counties, connecting farmers directly to consumers with the internet. A story about how modern ...

OakMoon Farm & Creamery, Agritourism (06:53)
From: RAFI USA

Cynthia Sharpe and Dwain Swing run OakMoon Farm & Creamery in Bakersville, North Carolina. They've increased the agri-tourism aspect of their farm, where they offer ...

Transitioning 40 acres of tobacco land to organic vegetables (05:46)
From: RAFI USA

Matthew Garrett's a 24-year-old farmer, pretty much single-handedly transitioning a 40 acre tobacco farm to organic produce. He's in the second year of the three-year ...

Kay Doby & her meat goats (06:12)
From: RAFI USA

Kay Doby, is a fourth generation farmer raised on tobacco land. Once a contract poultry grower, she now raises meat goats in her empty chicken houses.

Growing Pomegranates in North Carolina (05:55)
From: RAFI USA

John Shaw plans to be the first commercial pomegranate grower in North Carolina. He has over 300 pomegranate trees. He has also planted 250 apple trees. He's one of the only ...

Piece Description

The Sustainable Agriculture Tool Lending Library came to be through George O'Neal of Lil' Farm and his girlfriend Kelly Owensby: realizing how difficult it was for George, as a young farmer, to rent or buy equipment for his farm in Timberlake, they came up with the plan to become a cooperative with ten other farmers to buy farm tools together and share.

The Lending Library uses a Google calendar to manage who gets what tool when. The Library also collects yearly membership fees that go towards future tool buying, insurance, and maintenance of the tools, and different farmers are assigned to different positions (ie. secretary, treasurer...) to help the cooperative run smoothly and be self-sustaining.

Learn how tremendously beneficial this project is, how easy it is to replicate, and how it makes for a stronger, more vibrant, more successful, and more educated farm community.