Over $45,000 Awarded to Four NE Iowa Farms

DECORAH -- Tailwind Acres, Sweet Season Farm, Luna Valley Farm, and Oak and Olive Flowers were awarded Value-Added Grants totaling over $45,500 from Choose Iowa, a program administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture. Awards were announced on Wednesday, March 20 by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, at an event in Indianola, IA as part of Iowa Ag week. "I was absolutely thrilled to receive the call from Beth Romer at Choose Iowa that our application had ranked well and was chosen for funding!" said Maren Beard, co-owner of Luna Valley Farm. "We're even more excited after meeting other grantees and learning about their projects. It's really incredible to think about the impacts that these Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants will have across the state of Iowa for small farms and businesses like ours." The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship serves the rural and urban residents that call Iowa home. Through its 14 diverse bureaus, the Department ensures animal health, food safety, and consumer protection. It also promotes conservation efforts to preserve our land and enhance water quality for the next generation. The Choose Iowa grants aim to assist Iowa farmers, businesses, and non-profit organizations with their efforts to increase or diversify their agricultural product offerings, expand markets, and shorten the supply chain. Each grant is a 1:1 match up to $25,000, where it caps out. NE Iowa was awarded four of the 26 grants this year. Beard was excited about the possibilities offered by this grant as soon as she heard about it. "We first heard about the Choose Iowa Value-Added Grant Program in mid-November through an email from Practical Farmers of Iowa," she said. "This is the third year these grants have been offered but the first year we had heard about them! With a few fun ideas in our back pocket that could benefit our farm and the regional food system, we decided to submit an application." With an application deadline of December 15, Beard had a quick turnaround time to get Luna Valley's name in the mix. "I spent a lot of time over the course of a few weeks meeting with contractors to get estimates, defining our project, writing narrative to describe our project, and compiling historical and projected numbers to represent the impacts our project might have," she said. "We were also fortunate to have a few local partners write letters of support for our application." Grantees were contacted in late February/early March and the formal announcement was made publicly in Indianola on Wednesday, March 20. Luna Valley Farm (Decorah) received a $25,000 grant toward a $81,467 total project budget. They will put the grant award towards construction of a farm store that is scheduled to open in May 2025. The rural store will feature grass fed beef and lamb from the farm and locally produced items such as cheese, meat, dairy, vegetables, fruit, baked goods and beverages from more than 50 local/regional farms and food businesses. Beard says "We have long dreamed of opening a farm store. We are excited for the way this project will help us further contribute to a vibrant community-based food system." Tailwind Acres (Cresco) received a $2,418 grant toward a $4,836 total project budget. They will use grant funds to construct a walk-in cooler for flowers and mushrooms grown on the farm and a point of sale system for use at on-farm events. Co-owner Flannery Cerbin-Bohach says "We're thrilled to have support for the infrastructure needed for post-harvest handling of our mushrooms and flowers! Also, we look forward to a streamlined checkout experience for visitors who partake in our u-pick flower events, workshops, barn dances, and farm-to-table meals." Sweet Season Farm (Calmar) received a $15,805 grant toward a $31,611.40 total project budget. They will build a vegetable washing and packing facility where vegetables grown on their two acres can be prepared for grocery stores, restaurants, the Iowa Food Hub, and their vegetable subscription program. "With the help of this grant, we can build the infrastructure needed to boost the production of fresh, organic vegetables for our community and increase the resilience of our farm," says Carly Zierke, co-owner of Sweet Season Farm. Oak and Olive Flowers (Decorah) received a $2,328 grant toward a $4,656 total project budget. They plan to improve efficiency of specialty cut flower production with a new bouquet-making/design space, as well as specialized equipment to expand evergreen wreath-making. "As my small business has grown over the past few years, I have outgrown my current design and production space," says owner Clara Muggli-Toyloy. "I am grateful for this opportunity to expand my work space and create bouquets and wreaths more efficiently. I look forward to being able to bring more local flowers out to folks in my community." Preference for these grants was bestowed upon small to medium-sized entities. This year, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship received 63 eligible grant requests totaling $1,130,139. The grant program remains highly competitive, given that requests far exceed the available funding of $463,000. Read the full list of Iowa grantees here.