Delmarva farmers scholarship applications due Dec. 14

All Delmarva small farmers interested in learning more about sustainable practices and focused on growing for the local market may apply now for the 2016 Historic Lewes Farmers Market scholarship program. Completed applications are due no later than Monday, Dec.14.

Several $500 scholarships will be awarded to Delmarva farmers to attend sustainable farming conferences including these conferences in the Mid-Atlantic: The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Annual Farming for the Future Conference to be held Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 3-6, in State College, Pa; Future Harvest CASA Conference set Thursday, Jan. 14 to Sunday, Jan. 16, in College Park, Md.; and similar conferences such as the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Conference set Tuesday, Feb. 2, through Thursday, Feb. 4, in Hershey, Pa.

These conferences draw farmers interested in education about sustainable agriculture practices from a broad section of the East Coast, Mid-Atlantic and the South with similar growing conditions to Delmarva. For more information, go to www.pasafarming.org, www.futureharvestcasa.org and www.mafvc.org.

To be eligible for the scholarship, the Delmarva farmer must:

• Currently be developing a sustainable farming enterprise or currently farming on Delmarva.

• Currently operate a small farm (low-sales) as defined by the Economic Research Service for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (less than $350,000 gross in agricultural sales) on Delmarva or be able to demonstrate financial need to attend this conference. (Only one applicant per farm).

• Currently be a farmer/grower who sells what they grow, raise or produce on their own farm. A farmer/grower may be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation and shall include family members and employees who assist in the production and/or sales/marketing of the farm products.

• Commit to attend the HLFM farmers' workshop held in the spring and share what they learned at the conference so as to disseminate this information to other farmers. To receive an application and more information about the scholarships, call 302-644-1436 or email HistoricLewesFarmersMarket@comcast.net.

Completed applications are due no later than Monday, Dec. 14. All scholarship applicants will be notified of awards by Monday, Jan. 4.