LaGrand Elliott, co-owner of Foot Print Farms, the largest urban farm in Jackson, Miss., and TEAM Tilley’s educational outreach director
TEAM Tilley representatives introduced the program at the National Black Growers Council’s Model Farm Field Day at Conyer Farms in Pine Bluff, Ark., in June
Joe Jennings, founder and CEO of Daitaas, talks about the TEAM Tilley Leaders Program with farmers inside Fort Valley State University’s Mobile Information Technology Center at the National Black Growers Council’s Model Farm Field Day event
TEAM Tilley Leaders Program to offer farm-specific proprietary technology from Daitaas and financial education to underserved farmers in four states
— LaGrand Elliott, farmer and TEAM Tilley educational outreach director
MEMPHIS, TN, UNITED STATES, August 7, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — A new, free program offered by Daitaas and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency aims to increase productivity and profitability for underserved farmers in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The TEAM Tilley Leaders Program allows qualified farmers to participate in a learn-by-doing program that combines financial and risk management education with robust proprietary technology using the farmers’ own financial data to deliver real results. The program is designed to demonstrate how the decisions farmers make throughout the growing season impact their bottom line and profitability.
LaGrand Elliott, a Black farmer and co-owner of Foot Print Farms, the largest urban farm in Jackson, Miss., is leading TEAM Tilley as the educational outreach director. He is motivated by what the program can do for underserved farmers. “Financial farm management and data collection is and will be paramount to the sustainability and success of underserved farmers around the country. I see this program as providing the tools and more importantly the technology to begin leveling the playing field so that we can change the trajectory for ourselves,” said Elliott.
A McKinsey & Company research report in November 2021, Black Farmers in the US: The Opportunity for Addressing Racial Disparities in Farming, shows farming can be a lucrative career choice for Black and other minority Americans. According to the report, the median income for farmers is 25 percent higher than the median household income for Black Americans. And the median net worth for farming households is almost 45 times higher than the median net worth for Black households. But Black-owned farms are smaller and generate lower profits and sales than other farms. The report shows Black farmers operate at 70 percent of U.S. peer-level farm revenue with a 14 percent operating margin gap versus their peers, before government payments.
The new program from Daitaas and the USDA RMA aims to change that, according to Joe Jennings, CEO for Daitaas, the company that developed the Tilley software for the TEAM Tilley program. “Financial management and operational management of a farm are one in the same today. It’s too costly and the margins are too thin to farm without knowing the data behind the decisions,” said Jennings. “The goal of the TEAM Tilley Leaders Program is for underserved farmers to be successful both out in the fields and at their computers managing their profitability.”
The program, which will include online and local in-person training in selected counties in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, is funded through a cooperative agreement between the USDA RMA and Daitaas, a Memphis-based data science and software company.
“What’s unique about this program is that we’re not just teaching farmers what modern farm financial management is and what it means to be data-informed. We’re also explaining why it matters in relation to individual farms. As part of each course, farmers will log in to the Tilley platform and see these important concepts come to life using their own data,” said Elliott.
The name “TEAM Tilley” combines the program’s foundational pillars – technology, empowerment, action and measurement – with the name for the proprietary technology, Tilley, which is available only through this program.
Who can qualify for the TEAM Tilley Leaders Program?
TEAM Tilley is provided free to farmers through a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency. Up to 150 minority and underserved farmers who own or rent farmland in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi will be eligible each year of the program. The free program will begin this fall. Year two will begin in 2025 and include farmers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What will TEAM Tilley participants receive?
Farmers in the program will participate in self-paced and live online instructional presentations, videos, hands-on practice with the Tilley platform and in-person workshops. The courses will explore critical decisions farmers make throughout the growing season: crop intentions, production costs, budgeting, Farm Bill selection, crop insurance, lending and crop marketing.
Participants will use data from their own farms within the Tilley platform to build budgets for comparisons, run risk analyses and review their Farm Financial Scorecards. Farm data will be securely stored and exclusively owned by the farmers themselves and accessible only by the farmers and TEAM Tilley experts.
How can farmers register?
Farmers can learn more about the program at TEAMTilley.com or by calling 1-800-739-4774.
About the USDA Risk Management Agency
The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition and related issues based on public policy, the best available science and effective management. RMA is committed to increasing the availability and effectiveness of Federal crop insurance as a risk management tool. RMA manages the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to provide innovative crop insurance products to America’s farmers and ranchers. RMA’s vision is to secure the future of agriculture by providing world-class risk management tools to rural America. More information is available at Farmers.gov.
About Daitaas
Daitaas is a Memphis-based data science and software company that specializes in predictive analytics for farmers, ranchers and the agriculture industry. Daitaas leaders believe that modern farm financial management is the missing ingredient in consistent profitable farming and ranching. More information is available at Daitaas.com.
About Tilley
Tilley by Daitaas is a first-of-its-kind crop profitability management platform using proprietary analytics and artificial intelligence integrated with real-time data from the USDA, leading ag universities, agency extensions and global resources. Tilley structures for analysis and stores producers’ specific farm data to assess, model and predict a farm’s unique financial outlook using accurate, timely crop data. The result is a highly customizable financial tool that helps producers manage risk, choose crop insurance, build loan budgets, view their financial scorecards and more. More information is available at FarmTilley.com.
For immediate release
Contact: Kelley Morice, (901) 569-3658, kmorice@daitaas.com
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