Izula Maximillen: Working in the Field to Help Small Farmers

Farm Outreach Worker Izula Maximillen representing Lincoln University at Ivanhoe Community Center for Earth Day in April 2024.

Izula Maximillen is a small farm and garden outreach worker for Lincoln University Cooperative Extension’s Innovative Small Farmers Outreach Program (IFSOP). In this role, Maximillen gets down in the dirt with farmers and gardeners in Jackson County, Missouri, finding exactly what those producers need.

It is because of their passion and dedication to small farmers that Maximillen worked with the Kansas Black Farmers Association (KBFA) to bring a groundbreaking federal grant to Missouri.

KBFA’s new program — Reclaiming the Heritage of Farming for the Underserved: A Regional Agricultural Partnership to Access Land, Capital, Markets and Education — uses federal funds from the Land and Capital Market Access Grant to better serve underserved farmers across five states.

Those states are Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

Thanks to previous collaborations between the KBFA and LU, KBFA invited Maximillen to serve as the liaison for Lincoln and provide technical assistance in crafting the grant. Maximillen spent six months attending grant meetings, writing, brainstorming and speaking with farmers to assess their needs and help produce the final product:

A multi-regional collaboration harnessing the resources of several organizations and universities —including Lincoln— to help socially disadvantaged, limited-resource and veteran small-to-medium producers build or grow their farms.

“The goal is to bring together this alliance of universities across a five-state region to implement this grant of $8.5 million,” Maximillen said.

Maximillen added about 60 percent of those funds are dedicated to providing down payment assistance, education, technical assistance and “linking people to land.”

Farm Outreach Worker Izula Maximillen works in the dirt during spring planting at Sankara Farm in March 2021.

Through its partners, KBFA seeks to increase land access to underserved farmers with various services. The program will empower underserved farmers by improving land access, increasing capital availability, enhancing market opportunities and providing innovative education and technical support.

Services include:

• Providing training and education to producers the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) hasn’t been able to provide.
• Providing KBFA staff to help BIPOC farmers in a mentoring format to utilize and apply for USDA-FSA programs.
• Securing farm numbers, down payments and loan support to access or enhance land.
• Providing success to aging farmers with will and trust preparation and legal assistance with matters such as heirs’ property.
• Providing BIPOC farmers with sustainable resources.

Maximillen said KBFA started working on the proposal in 2022. Initially, they said, it was only intended as a state grant. However, after Lincoln got involved, the program was extended to include multiple states with a broader range of partners.

“It was beautiful," Maximillen said. "They [KBFA] have a lot of experience with managing grants of this size. They have over 160 members of farmers across Kansas, so I thought it was really generous, and I was very grateful they were willing to extend the opportunity to us as well."

Lincoln University, Prairie View A&M University, Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project Inc., Kansas State University, Bar H Farms, Sankara Farms and Nicodemus Pharm LLC are all providing services as part of the program.

Under Lincoln’s subcontract with KBFA, the university receives a little over $255,000 over four years to provide technical assistance support and farmer training.

According to Maximillen, that includes various activities organized by Cooperative Extension’s subdepartments, including ISFOP, Integrated Pest Management, Specialty Crops and the Hemp Institute.

Maximillen said these groups will coordinate programming, assist participants, conduct presentations, organize workshops and field days, connect one-on-one with producers and act as liaisons between the producers and the USDA and FSA.

These activities are primarily targeted at historically underserved beginning farmers (with or without land) and historically underserved experienced farmers facing challenges with sustaining themselves.

“I’m very excited for it,” Maximillen said. “It’s significant to me. Missouri has the second largest number of small farmers in the country. I want to see all our agricultural needs taken care of so we can be that community and show it’s viable to have a life as a farmer.” 

As an outreach worker, Maximillen said their role is identifying and engaging farmers and directing them to participate in the program.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nadia Navarrette-Tindall with Specialty Crops brings pollinators to producers and gives people access to plants so they can start gardens. The Hemp Institute helps establish cooperatives focused on growing hemp, and IPM contributes resources, identifies pests and offers direct assistance.

The Agricultural Economics and Marketing Program assists producers with marketing and managing their businesses.

Maximillen added this program breaks new ground and said they have never seen a grant of this caliber before.

“There are very, very few federal programs that help farmers actually just straight up buy land and buy the infrastructure — the tractors and greenhouses and everything — they need,” Maximillen said. 

Community Gardener and Herbalist Izula Maximillen poses for a headshot at the Ida Mae Patterson Center for Maternal and Infant Wellness in October 2022.

They said farmers typically need an existing foothold in the food-producer industry to get assistance, and most grants don't let people purchase land. 

As a small farm outreach worker, Maximillen said finding affordable land is a significant challenge for small farmers, making it difficult for those trying to embrace agriculture and fight food insecurity.

This grant, however, gives farmers up to $50,000 toward down payments on land.

“That was completely brand new, and it was a big part of the reason I thought it was instrumental that Lincoln be a part of the grant,” Maximillen said.

They added they hope the program continues to receive funding in the future so organizations can continue collaborating and facilitating programs.

Maximillen joined ISFOP in September 2021. They operate in Kansas City and serve in Jackson and Platte counties meeting one-on-one and in groups with farmers to identify challenges and secure support.

They connect farmers with evidence-based resources, coordinate workshops with Cooperative Extension specialists and volunteer with other partners and community organizations.

“I like to think of it as helping farmers make their dreams come true,” Maximillen said.

Maximillen has worked as a community herbalist, a wellness consultant, a birth worker, a master gardener, a farmer and more. They are a co-land steward at Sankara Farm and a chapter organizer for Hip Hop is Green KC and Herbalists Without Borders. They are also engaged with the Agroforestry Speakers Coalition to uplift soil health, perennial agriculture and intensive tree planting.

Additionally, Maximillen serves on the governance committee of Kansas City Farmers and Ranchers for Mentoring, Education and Resource Sharing (KC F.A.R.M.E.R.S.), a joint project of KC Farm School at Gibbs Road and Kansas City Black Urban Growers. KC F.A.R.M.E.R.S. provides farmer-led, hands-on education for beginning farmers and ranchers across the Kansas City region and seeks to preserve farmland for future generations.