Texas Young Farmers Grants Help Grow New Operations

In partnership with: Texas Department of Agriculture

For 15 years, the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) have helped young Texans start or grow their agricultural businesses through Young Farmer Grants (YFG).

The program offers matching grant funds for Texas agricultural producers who are 45 years old or younger. To date, more than $4.9 million in YFG funding has been awarded.

“A significant hurdle for new and beginning farmers is accessing capital to make initial purchases to get their agricultural operations off the ground or to expand to a sustainable level,” says Kat Neilson, lead grants specialist in Trade & Economic Development at TDA. “This program helps fund that gap.”

Two recent recipients detail the critical impact these grants have had on their operations.

Tegwende Organic Farming

Jeremie Oubda is a man on a mission. The founder of Tegwende Organic Farming grows and raises healthy, culturally relevant foods for his fellow veterans and underserved communities.

Oubda used his YFG to lease 3 acres of land from Harvest for the Hungry, a Freeport-based nonprofit focused on food insecurity, where he also participated in a training program. With support from his longtime friend David Bonkoungou, who has helped with everything from planting vegetables to setting up irrigation, Oubda’s specialty crops include amaranth leaves, African eggplant, okra, African corn, moringa and other foods relevant to his culture.

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“I was also able to acquire more than 100 guinea fowl and chickens for eggs, six Boer goats that birthed four babies, four lambs and four pigs,” says Oubda, noting Bonkoungou also helps care for livestock. “The YFG helped us build housing structures for our livestock.”

YFG funds also helped Oubda develop agricultural career opportunities for African-American and veteran communities.

“I was able to have two U.S. Army veterans participate,” says Oubda, an Army veteran himself. One of the veterans, an engineer, helped build the chicken coop and goat pens. The other, a native of Ethiopia, hopes to start his own farm after helping tend vegetable gardens.

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“This grant is a stepping stone for me and my organization,” Oubda says. “We were able to produce thousands of pounds of culturally relevant foods for our communities. At the same time, we were able to create an opportunity for the next generation of farmers to come and learn.”

Big Tree Oyster Co.

Big Tree Oyster Co. in Rockport was also awarded a YFG for expanding its oyster farm, making it the seventh permitted oyster farm in Texas.

“For us, oyster farming is a way to ensure that fresh, local, sustainable oysters can be part of our community and ecosystem for a long time to come,” says Amy Belaire, a conservation biologist and owner of Big Tree Oyster Co.

She and her husband, Seth Gambill, a marine hydrographer and professional boat builder, point out that oyster farming is considered environmentally beneficial because it requires no food, fertilizers or pesticides.

“The oysters feed on nutrients in the bay, and that’s all they need,” Belaire says. Because of the company’s relatively sheltered location on north Copano Bay, they can use oyster management practices such as regularly flipping the cages and tumbling the oysters that help mimic the action of ideal tides to keep the oysters healthy, strong and clean.

Their YFG allowed Big Tree Oyster to buy a second set of floating cages to grow their operation. They expect to harvest about 300,000 oysters in 2025.

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“Many of us in the first wave of Texas oyster farmers are still finding our footing, and it can be a struggle to make it work,” Belaire adds. “The Young Farmer Grant has been a tremendous resource as we work to slowly grow and scale up our operation. We were able to double our production capacity this year, thanks to the Young Farmer Grant and the support of TDA.”