Rainwater Collection, Storage, and Use on Small Farms…New and Beginning Farmers and Historically Underserved

Providing adequate water for livestock and vegetable crops on an appropriate scale is a problem for many small farmers. Most do not have irrigation systems, cannot leverage economies of scale to obtain them and have not historically participated in USDA programs to address these challenges. In addition, rainwater runoff can move sediment and nutrients into area streams, impacting water quality. This project will assist historically underserved producers with implementing practices to capture and store rainwater runoff from farm buildings thus reducing soil erosion and nutrient and sediment runoff to streams, and increasing the sustainability of small farms by improving access to affordable irrigation systems based on appropriate technology.