Hilltop Urban Farm launches 2019 pilot Farmer Incubation Program in Pittsburgh

It will ultimately become the largest urban farm in the United States and serve as a resource for urban farming initiatives.

South Pittsburgh Reporter
Jan 3, 2019

Excerpt:

The 2019 Pilot Farmer Incubation Program (FIP) at Hilltop Urban Farm (HUF), a 23-acre urban farm nonprofit in the City of Pittsburgh, is accepting applications from experienced urban farmers to farm 5.75 rehabilitated urban acres for the 2019 growing season.

The application deadline for farmers to apply to the program is February 1. Applications can be downloaded at: https://www.hilltopurbanfarm.org/farmer-incubation-program/.

Since 2017, Hilltop Urban Farm has rehabilitated 5.75 urban acres for farming purposes, completing a soil rebuilding process that included cover crop rotations and compost amendments. The 2019 Pilot FIP at HUF is a workforce development program for small-scale organic urban farm enterprises that seeks to grow farmers and grow food.

In Allegheny County, PA, the average age of a farmer is nearly 60 years old, and local farmers are transitioning out of farming. The 2019 Pilot FIP is designed to train a new generation of farmers, focused on the urban core of the City of Pittsburgh. Participants of the 2019 Pilot FIP will be provided access to land and farming amenities and will learn farm business management skills and food growing techniques.

Once under full production, FIP farmers at Hilltop Urban Farm will quadruple the amount of produce grown within the City of Pittsburgh.

Read the complete article here.

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