Category:Impact Story11 min read
In the lush summer months, the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) farm in rural Dakota County, Minnesota is a vibrant ecosystem. Bright green leaves dot fields, waving in the breeze to the deep emerald foliage of fruit trees. Gold, pink, orange, and red blossoms draw the eye. Farmers from 18 families work the land, while their children play “King of the Jungle” on mulch piles and bike across the acreage.
Janssen Hang, executive director and co-founder of HAFA, describes farming as more than a career—it’s a cultural touchstone, a way of life. Co-founded by Hang, HAFA was established to address the lack of resources available to Hmong farmers in the Twin Cities, many of whom have relied on farming for their livelihoods since resettling in Minnesota.
“Since being on the farm here, I’ve learned so much about my culture again through agriculture—my language, my elders, and how hard they work and how determined they are,” says Dao Yang, farm manager at HAFA. “Being in this space changed the way I think about food and community. Food is medicine, you know? Food is life.”
Video by Line Break Media.
Today, Hmong farmers lead the Twin Cities’ local food economy, comprising over 50% of the growers at the more than 70 farmers markets in the metro, many of which they helped revitalize or start, greatly increasing the region’s supply of nutritious, affordable food. Yet organizations like HAFA remain essential due to systemic inequities in access to resources and funding for non-white farmers. The last USDA census found that less than 1% of Minnesota farmers were people of color, despite people of color making up 22% of the state’s population.
“We have to support farmers, not just in being a steward of the land, and not just from a food production perspective, but from an economic perspective as well,” says Hang. “And from a social, cultural, racial perspective, too, because these are underserved communities.”
The Midwest Climate & Energy program at the McKnight Foundation partners with land stewards to advance solutions that cut climate pollution, sequester carbon, and build soil resiliency amid increasing climate disruptions.
“When we think about climate change and agriculture, regenerative agriculture and agroecology can provide us a blueprint to go far beyond reducing emissions or sequestering soil carbon—they strengthen community resilience, uplift historically marginalized farmers, and elevate land stewards to their rightful position as climate leaders,” shares Michael Roberts, senior program officer with McKnight Foundation’s Midwest Climate & Energy program. “By showing us what is possible through intentional and equitable practices, HAFA and other partner farmers across the Midwest are leading the movement toward a sustainable future for generations to come, while also filling our fridges with delicious and nutritious food.”
Every farmer has a story to tell now about erratic weather, drought, crop failure, pests, and other costly impacts of our changing climate, especially those using largely conventional agricultural practices. In the face of these threats, regenerative agriculture methods seek to restore and enhance soil health, water, and ecosystems while also reducing emissions.
“Agriculture here is critical to addressing climate justice, as an avenue to really address soil health, soil fertility, water infiltration, as well as sequestering carbon,” says Yang. “We went through extensive soil amendments here, incorporating over 40 tons of organic matter. And every year we will continue to evaluate the productivity of our soils.”
Techniques like crop rotation, cover cropping, reduced tillage, and composting build organic matter in the soil, and increasing perennial crops further reduces the need to till and disrupt soils. Unlike conventional agriculture, which often depletes soil and relies on chemical inputs, regenerative practices work with nature and draw on cultural knowledge. Bringing researchers together with farmers in an equal exchange of learning is key to HAFA’s approach.
“It is an incubator farm. It is an educational farm. It is a research farm. And you come in as an educator, but you also come in as a learner,” shared Hang. There are so many opportunities for us to really share our knowledge among each other, from traditional practices to current cutting-edge practices.”
Among the 160 crops grown at HAFA are many produce varieties central to Hmong diets and traditions, often unavailable at local stores, that have expanded the palate of people across the Twin Cities through farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSAs), schools, hospitals, and more. In this way, climate justice through agriculture is also a pathway to food justice and better health for all.
“Cultural foods are very important for our farmers and their communities, and it’s very important for their diet,” says KaZoua Berry, director of The Food Group’s Big River Farms, which operates in Washington and Sherburne Counties in Minnesota. “In order for farmers to continue to advance in farming and have profitability or ability to continue to grow these foods, they need to understand that thing which we’re all trying to understand—the climate impact.”
Big River Farms provides resources, land-based training, and support for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers contributing to a resilient and equitable agricultural system in Minnesota. The farm recently began experimenting with creative, climate-smart agriculture methods like agrivoltaics, combining solar panels and farming to maximize land access and protect crops from extreme heat.
“There is quite a bit of space to grow a lot of food underneath,” says Berry of their award-winning innovations. “A lot of people are still in disbelief that it works.”
The Regenerative Agriculture Alliance is a Midwest network of farming businesses rooted in another unique agricultural pairing: raising chickens and hazelnut trees together to store more carbon and moisture in the soil, improving its structure and quality. Tree-Range Farms, owned and operated by Reginaldo Haslett-Maroquin, is the model for the Alliance’s cross-state system that is also providing an entry point into the industry for beginning and BIPOC farmers across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
To effectively practice regenerative agriculture, farmers need affordable, long-term access to the land—something BIPOC farmers have systematically been excluded from and that groups like the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective are working to remedy. In 2022, only 36% of Black farmers in America received USDA direct loans for land purchase and other expenses, compared to 72% of white farmers.
“Long-term leases give farmers opportunities to grow perennials,” says Berry. “They can invest in these spaces and they have land security. There are a lot of farmers who lease land where they’re subjected to the year-to-year lease. They can’t regenerate the soil the way that they want to because it takes a lot of money, time, and investment.”
In the fall of 2020, HAFA successfully worked with allies at the State Capitol to receive $2 million through the bonding bill to help the organization buy the land, and they made history when they finalized the sale in 2022. It was a move that changed the trajectory of HAFA farmers’ ability to practice regenerative practices and build generational wealth.
“It was a momentous day when we purchased the farm, making us one of the first nonprofit, Hmong-led organizations in this field of work,” says Yang.
“I feel a lot of ownership to it,” says May, a HAFA farmer member. “Without HAFA and land security, I would have never imagined that I would have planted 500 fruit trees. So it is a long term investment for me. I’m excited to have my kids take over one day, building generational wealth here at the HAFA farm.”
According to the most recent Census of Agriculture, the age of the average farmer in the United States is 58 years and on the rise, and farms continue to increase in size and decrease in number. Work like HAFA’s to grow support for smallholder farmers and create structures for involving youth push back against those trends.
“I am hopeful for the next generation to engage and apply these farming practices, that they may advance themselves in operating and building a sustainable farming operation,” shares Judy Yang, a HAFA member who has been farming her entire life, since growing up in Laos. Her son Danny replies, “My parents, they’re passing on the knowledge that they have of farming onto me, and so I can pass it on to my next generation.”
These farming families want what every family wants, a bright future for their kids, and they’re growing a future that will help people and the planet thrive.
“Regenerative agriculture isn’t just about survival,” says Berry. “It’s about building systems that our children and their children can continue to benefit from.”
About the Author: Lauren Boritzke Smith is the founder of Heartseed Creative, offering communications and design services to create impact on the climate crisis.
