Local small farmers and distributors are warily eyeing Columbus and Washington D.C. for any potential impacts on grant funding posed by the state budget cycle and federal funding cuts. Farmers with successful businesses say the investments that state and federal governments made helped them to grow and stabilize.
Audra Sparks, one of the co-owners of Guided By Mushrooms, said the small mushroom farming business was recently awarded $6,900 for Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops Program from the Farm Service Agency USDA. Guided By Mushrooms sells about six different strains of specialty mushrooms at local grocery stores and to restaurants.
The USDA program is meant to help specialty crop producers offset higher marketing costs related to the perishability of specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs; specialized handling and transport equipment with temperature and humidity control; packaging to prevent damage; moving perishable items quickly and higher labor costs related to the cost of moving the items.
In 2023, Guided By Mushrooms was awarded $30,000 from Ohio Means Jobs, the state's private job attraction service. David Sparks said at the time that the grant helped them purchase equipment and made the process to grow the mushrooms more efficient.
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