Looking back at 35 years of Center for Rural Affairs history, it is easy to see some of
the landmark projects that defined the Center for Rural Affairs. Reports like
Who Will Sit Up With the Corporate Sow? and
Wheels of Fortune put the Center on
the map when it came to research and policy. But the Center also became know
for its work with farmers on the ground, in rural Nebraska. One of the very first projects of
the Center, the Small Farm Energy Project, defined the Center and its values in
a way that rings true today.
A
three-year (1976-1980) research and demonstration project funded by the federal
Community Services Administration working with 48 farms in Cedar County, Neb.,
the Small Farm Energy Project sought to demonstrate that the adoption of alternative
energy technologies by small family farms can make positive contributions to
their incomes. To make a three-year story short, it worked. And it worked. In
1979, an average of $1,138 in energy expenses was saved for each participating
farm.
More
importantly, the project put the Center on the map when it came to on-farm
sustainable agriculture research, and helped propel the Center for Rural
Affairs into the top tier of nonprofits working in the sustainable agriculture
field.
Martin
Kleinschmit has worked directly for the Center for Rural Affairs since 1993,
but he first encountered the Center in 1976 as a farmer working with the
Project. As Martin remembers:
They
used that project; because our farms turned into “show and tells” for other
foundations [to raise money for future work]. I remember a lady showed up from
the Ford Foundation on a muddy day in her heels; ruined her shoes. But largely
because of that visit, the Ford Foundation got introduced to the Center for
Rural Affairs. That project, as I understand it, turned into a huge
steppingstone for the Center to enter the real world. … They brought people out
all the time [to visit the farm]. We were also targeted for foreign tours,
people from other countries came to see us.
But
the Small Farm Energy Project wasn’t just a benefit for the Center for Rural
Affairs, and its benefits went far beyond a cold dollars and cents calculation.
Martin:
What
it did for us, as individuals— it led us to believe we could make a difference,
that we are not powerless, that we can make decisions that are going to change
our future. That was the message of the Center then— you can make a difference.
Thirty
years later, that is still a primary message of the Center for Rural Affairs,
and it is one that I hope we articulate as well today as we have in the past.
And the impact of the Small Farm Energy Project continues today as well. Later
this summer, Martin will host a renewable energy presentation at the Cedar
County Fairgrounds, and several local farmers will be there to lend Martin a
hand. Farmers who, 30 years ago, started working together through a Center for
Rural Affairs program, the Small Farm Energy Project.
Contact: Dan Owens,
dano@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1017 for more information. See the Small Farm
Energy Primer, a report from the Small Farm Energy Project.
Dakota Rural Action has been a close ally of the Center for Rural Affairs since the South Dakota grassroots organization was established. In particular, Dakota Rural Action is a key ally in South Dakota on livestock market reforms, beginning farmer and rancher initiatives and on anti-corporate farming laws. Visit them online today. 
