Hmong Farming for the Young.

The Hmong people are refugees from the mountainous area of Laos. Hmong farming culture carried over after their eventual post Vietnam War emigration to the United States. Because this is so rooted into their culture, you can find many local Hmong farmers selling their vegetables, produce and other wares at farmer’s markets around the state and country.

Because of language and cultural barriers Hmong farmers can have difficulty getting information about their crops to market or different larger markets, getting fair prices for their product and enhancing their farming set-ups. I found two articles that shine light on young Hmong farmers trying to remove these barriers in order to encourage current and prospective farmers to expand or start up their own farming systems. The first article is about young farmers in Minneapolis.  The other is about a young married couple in Washington that grew up in California and now farm about 20 acres on their farm.  For both parties in the two articles, they describe farming as being in their blood. With the utilization of new small farms programs, young Hmong hope to keep the cultural tradition of farming alive for generations to come.