It's tough to break into farming nowadays, and even tougher if you're an immigrant. MPR’s Rob Schmitz reports on Minnesota Food Association, which assists immigrant farmers in areas like production techniques, marketing, and management skills. Unfortunately, federal budget cuts have had a negative impact on program.

Congress will appropriate hundreds of billions of dollars to various programs in next farm bill. A tiny portion will be used to fund the minority farm outreach program. The program's advocates say the small amount of money will produce visible results by helping more immigrants become farmers.

Portion of report profiles Nikk Cha and his wife, Der Thao, who have a 65-acre farm near Northfield. They are the first Hmong Americans in Minnesota to receive a loan from the USDA to buy their own farm.