Final report for ENC22-218
Project Information
For over two decades, the North Central Region (NCR) has been a national leader in pioneering public policies to invest in beginning farmer/rancher (BFR) land access. State and federal innovations operating throughout the NCR and beyond incentivize landowners to choose a BFR as the next operator or owner of their farm or ranch. Each of these public policies is passed by a legislature and then often interpreted and implemented by a lone manager working in rather isolated conditions. The target audience for this PDP will be these professional public servants who manage Land Access Policy Incentive (LAPI) programs out of state departments of agriculture or community development, finance authorities, or other public and non-profit agencies. This PDP aimed to reinforce the professional development of ag service providers who work in the LAPI space either because they manage a LAPI on behalf of their state or because they were engaged in improving a federal LAPI whose uptake has been highest in the NCR. The PDP award’s first purpose was to reinforce a young, established Community of Practice made up of state LAPI managers, and to augment the members' capacity by: (1) convening them for three in-person conferences and trainings, and (2) extending their funding for facilitated virtual gatherings by one year, for a transition towards self-governance. The award’s second purpose was to similarly augment the collective and individual capacity of FSA cooperators engaged in improving a federal LAPI, CRP-TIP, through an in-person convening and their participation in the American Farmland Trust and National Agricultural Land Network Saving America’s Working Lands conference. Service to these networks of land access professionals will lead to these outcomes: (1) learning leading to action: LAPI managers and cooperators will bring innovations and improvements learned from their peers home to their states, strengthening their service to farmer/ranchers and landowners; (2) smoother new policy liftoff as more states introduce LAPIs; and (3) sustained motivation of LAPI leaders and cooperators who become able to support one another and contribute to the land access movement as coordinated peers.
Products developed
The routine products the PDP developed include a series of eight virtual meetings of the LAPI Community of Practice (CoP) and their agendas, meeting notes, and recordings. Conversations during these meetings guided the development of public materials for the online Farmland Information Center for CoP members to use to promote their LAPI programs.
The PDP award convened the CoP for conferences of the National Council of State Agricultural Finance Programs (NCOSAFP). These gatherings involved presentations by members of the CoP as well as NCOSAFP conference content tailored to the CoP. Programming produced included:
- 2023: To continue to develop CoP members’ familiarity with the broader land access movement, we delivered an interactive seminar about the national land access and transfer curricula our PDP partners at American Farmland Trust have led since 2017. The training provided hands-on tools focused on paths to land access as well as the communications skills pivotal to land access and transfer agreements.
- 2024: A series of year-long facilitated conversations towards the process of becoming self-governing. Year two of the PDP focused on the pilot CoP transitioning into a self-sustaining model, and, with an external consultant,prepared conference, meeting, and training content to serve this objective.
- 2025: An in-person convening with attendance in American Farmland Trust’s Saving America’s Working Lands conference, and two conference sessions. Products included a series of presentations from each cooperator organization and the outputs of a facilitated discussion using Ketso. Conversations during this meeting guided the development of public materials for the Farmland Information Center for cooperators and agricultural professionals to use to engage with the federal LAPI, CRP-TIP, and advocate for other federal land access programming.
A final set of outputs reflect the products of the CoP network. These outputs will involve the members’ interactions and dialogue with one another.
With the help of a facilitator and the NCOSAFP, the LAPI CoP members chose to sustain their Community of Practice beyond the PDP award through a collaboration with the NCOSAFP.
Priority participants: CoP members
- State LAPIs:
- Beginning Farmer Tax Credits:
- Iowa Finance Authority (Tammy Nebola and Nicki Howell)
- Minnesota Department of Agriculture (Jenny Heck)
- Missouri Department of Agriculture (Kate Haarmann and Jill Wood)
- Nebraska Department of Agriculture (Holle Evert)
- Ohio Department of Agriculture (Jessica Neff and Todd Thacker)
- And the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development (Tim Back), Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (Stephanie Shirk) and Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (Christine Jacoby)
- Easement incentives: Hilary Aten and Dan Schilling (WA), Jimmy Kroon (DE), Steve McHenry and Allison Roe (MD), Stephanie Shirk, Cheryl Cook and Neil Imes (PA)
- Beginning Farmer Tax Credits:
- Federal LAPI:
- USDA: Sarah Campbell, Amanda Robertson, Cara McNab and their appointees
- Kansas State University (Ashlee Westerhold)
- Center for Rural Affairs (Cynthia Farmer)
- And Adrian Parrott (NM), Andrea Rivera (TX), Russell Bean (AL), Jewell Bean (AL), David Martin (AL, GA), Frances Martin (AL, GA)
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
Education
- Reinforce a national Community of Practice made up of the public officials who manage state and federal Land Access Policy Incentives.
- Convene the Communities of Practice for regular virtual and in-person gatherings to establish a coordinated peer network. The purpose of the networks is to add value to the members' work in their home states facilitating sale and lease agreements between young, beginning, and historically underserved farmers and ranchers and small- and mid-sized landowners.
- Facilitate conversations among the Community of Practice with the support of an external consultant to plan to sustain the network long term.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
To build a coordinated peer network of state LAPI managers nationwide.
Quarterly virtual meetings of the CoP and annual convenings in person. Led a facilitated procedure to co-create a plan for the members to sustain the CoP beyond its finite grant funding.
Learning outcomes:
- CoP members gain or increase knowledge, attitude, skills, and/or awareness about LAPI topics, practices, strategies or approaches.
- Learning about other states’ LAPIs affects CoP members' work with their own LAPI.
Action outcomes: CoP members
- Use knowledge learned through the CoP in their LAPI program’s activities, services, or tools.
- Share project materials (i.e. data summaries, stories) with their LAPI program participants (farmers, landowners) or other agriculture professionals in their state.
- Contact other CoP members outside of the group CoP meetings.
- For managers of younger LAPIs, being in the CoP helps them to run their new LAPI.
- Derive value from the network support of the CoP.
- Increase their organizations' capacity to administer LAPI programming because of their involvement in the LAPI CoP.
- Credit their involvement in the CoP with anything good that’s happened with their LAPI.
To build the individual and network capacity of agricultural professionals engaged in assessing the federal LAPI, CRP-TIP.
Full day in-person meeting for thought partnership and cohesion around service providers' assessments of the federal LAPI, the Conservation Reserve Program - Transition Incentive Program. Hosted in conjunction with the National Agricultural Lands Network Conference, which 5 cooperators attended through our sponsorship.
Learning outcome
Members in the CRP-TIP Community of practice gain or increase knowledge, attitude, skills, and/or awareness about LAPI topics, practices, strategies or approaches.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
- We convened and facilitated eight regular gatherings of the LAPI Community of Practice. These events attracted the participation of a total of 35 unique individuals who run their states' LAPI programs, many of whom were regular attendees.
- We convened LAPI CoP members for two National Council of State Agricultural Finance Programs annual conferences, and delivered two presentations there, together with members of the Community of Practice.
- We convened and facilitated one in-person gathering of FSA cooperators who were working to improve the federal LAPI, CRP-TIP. This event attracted the participation of 10 individuals, representing 5 organizations, who facilitate outreach and research efforts on federal land access programming.
- We sponsored 5 FSA cooperators’ and 1 LAPI Community of Practice member’s attendance and participation at the Saving America’s Working Lands conference. This provided an opportunity for networking and education and included one presentation about LAPIs which involved 2 LAPI Community of Practice members.
"Seeing the results of what we all do is not something most of us get, it is so rewarding and important to see things full circle. I appreciate all the work you have done with the LAPI group and bringing together the CoP. There is so much value in sharing the successes and failures with those who are doing the same work, and the CoP group provides those valuable resources."
"Participation in the LAPI Community of Practice has helped us increase the profile of our program, support the program's investment to our state legislature, and describe the impacts and importance of our program's work within the bigger national picture of farm viability and food security."
"As “the doer” of the program, sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the weeds and feel overwhelmed by how much needs to be done. And let’s be real, it’s tough to keep up with everything going on around us while also trying to get the work out there. Your work has truly helped make the time and the resources come together for all the fantastic material produced, and I’ve learned so much from it. I’m personally super excited about the Results Summary, Survey Results, and Policy Spotlights – they’re already bookmarked in my browser. Once again, thank you and words can't quite express how much I admire your work."
Information Products
- Farmer spotlights: States' Farmland Purchase and Protection Incentives
- Farmer spotlights: States' Beginning Farmer Tax Credits
- Farm Purchase and Protection Incentives for Young and Beginner Farmers: Survey Results Summary
- States' Beginning Farmer Tax Credits: Participant Survey Results Summaries
- Bipartisan creation of US Land Access Policy Incentives: states’ efforts to support beginning farmers and resist farm consolidation and loss
- State Leaders Set Aside Differences to Support Land Access