Developing and Operating Individual Development Accounts

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Developing and Operating Individual Development Accounts (IDA’s) for Beginning Farmers

Amidst the ongoing funding and budget debates on Capitol Hill, organizations that work with beginning farmers and understand the need for farmer financial training have used federal funding through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) to pool their resources and expertise in order to replicate this model and establish more agricultural IDA programs across the country.

A collaborative of 16 organizations, led by California FarmLink, has recently published their findings from this 3 year project and best practices for how to start an agricultural IDA program in a new step by step manual – A Guide to Developing and Operating an Agricultural Individual Development Account (IDA) Program.

In the Guide, readers will learn the basics of IDAs and find a comprehensive collection of resources that the project partners have shared that cover many aspects of IDA program development, implementation, and management, such as marketing materials, financial education resources, program agreements with participants, evaluations and assessments, and program administration tools