Heritage Farm Cooperative(HFC) is a farmer owned and controlled and its members are an enthusiastic group interested in marketing, educational and technical assistance that will enable limited resources small farms to diversify and participate into the emerging markets of sunflower bio-based materials and bio-energy.
HFC was awarded a 2007 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Small, Minority Agricultural Producer (SMPG) grant for technical assistance in economically severe depressed rural areas where over 75 people form Yakima Valley’s diverse populations (Women, Hispanics, Native Americans, Japanese and Filipino) had benefited form it. The program helped ignite their abilities and talents through hands-on training on the whole cycle of sunflower oil and meal production and utilization.
While HFC islooking to expand its growing base by increasing its membership and a lot has been done on the farming and technology side of the project, more needs to be done in the area of public support and endorsement including incentives for farm production and utilization of biobased materials and bioenergy and for broadening the participation of socially-disadvantaged agricultural producers in the national quest for renwable bio-based energy and materials.
Heritage Farm Cooperative is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Service Provider and it is a non profit organization incorporated in Washington State.
