Progress report for ENE21-169
Project Information
Problem and Justification
We are in a farmland access crisis: 30% of Northeast farmers are retiring; 90% do not have successors; 98% of farmland owners are white. New farmers face formidable barriers to entry: low farm income; high farm costs and debt; 7,000 acres of farmland per year lost or threatened over the last 20 years. At the same time, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers and communities seek justice and equity solutions to a racist history and policies that have excluded and marginalized them from farmland access, land security, and healthy food systems. Land access training, FarmLink, and farmland preservation address this farmland access crisis on some levels, yet solving it on all levels within an equity framework requires innovating new models of land tenure. Land access training is essential for new farmers and transitioning farm owners, but it does not focus on de-commodifying land to ensure equity and security for all farmers. Preserving farmland is essential, but it is not enough to keep farms affordable and available for production where development pressure is strong. Matching land-seeking farmers with retiring farmers is also essential, but it is not enough to overcome the burden of high land costs, debt, and/or unstable leases. The Northeast has some of the most successful land access programs in the nation - yet new farmers and farmers of color are not gaining ground. New farmers need new solutions to the farmland access crisis. Service providers need new training offer those solutions.
Solution and Approach
Agrarian Commons formed in the Northeast region to acquire, steward and lease farms to new farmers producing local food with agro-ecological practices. Equitable land tenure strategies empower communities to self-govern their land, and new and/or BIPOC farmers to have secure access to good land for life. Agrarian Trust will offer 8 trainings and open source resource materials focused on co-learning about community landholding models for sustainable agriculture, 200 Service Providers (SP's) across the Northeast region will learn through case studies how community landholding entities acquire land from transitioning farm owners, and provide affordable, long-term leases for new farmers to stay on land. 100 SP's will each mentor 5 transitioning farm owners to consider moving their land into an equitable land tenure structure as a community legacy, and 5 new farmers to consider long-term leases of community farmland as affordable, secure alternatives to buying a farm. A focus on community tenure case studies expands upon current land transition and land access options, adding layers of land justice and local self-governance, allowing SP's, farmers, and farm owners in the Northeast region to co-create equitable solutions to the land access crisis.
100 Service Providers in 4 states over 2 years (25 per state) will serve as Equitable Land Tenure Mentors supporting 500 farmland owners considering transitioning their land to some form of community-based land tenure, and 500 beginning and BIPOC farmers seeking farmland and considering long-term leasing of community farmland. 10 farmers who are farmland owners will take action to begin transitioning their land into some form of community-based equitable land tenure structure. 10 beginning and/or BIPOC farmers will take action to begin leasing land from a community-based equitable land tenure entity.
We are in a farmland access crisis: 30% of Northeast farmers are retiring; 90% do not have successors; 98% of farmland owners are white. New farmers face formidable barriers to entry: low farm income; high farm costs and debt; 7,000 acres of farmland per year lost or threatened over the last 20 years. At the same time, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers and communities seek justice and equity solutions to a racist history and policies that have excluded and marginalized them from farmland access, land security, and healthy food systems.
To address these challenges, Agrarian Trust is partnering with New Roots Community Farm to host these trainings in WV. Agrarian Trust and local partners formed Agrarian Commons in the Northeast region to acquire, steward and lease farms to new farmers producing local food with agro-ecological practices. To build a network of well-informed advocates for equitable farmland tenure models including Agrarian Commons, Agrarian Trust and Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust partnered to host a series of Equitable Farmland Tenure trainings for service providers in the Northeast region, to serve as a model for similar trainings in Minnesota (North Central SARE PDP grant) and possible future trainings for CA, WA, and MT (Western SARE).
Equitable land tenure strategies empower communities to self-govern their land, and new and/or BIPOC farmers to have secure access to good land for life. Agrarian Trust will offer 8 trainings and open source resource materials focused on co-learning about community landholding models for sustainable agriculture, 200 Service Providers (SP's) across the Northeast region will learn through case studies how community landholding entities acquire land from transitioning farm owners, and provide affordable, long-term leases for new farmers to stay on land. 100 SP's will each mentor 5 transitioning farm owners to consider moving their land into an equitable land tenure structure as a community legacy, and 5 new farmers to consider long-term leases of community farmland as affordable, secure alternatives to buying a farm. A focus on community tenure case studies expands upon current land transition and land access options, adding layers of land justice and local self-governance, allowing SP's, farmers, and farm owners in the Northeast region to co-create equitable solutions to the land access crisis.
Educational Approach
The Equitable Land Access Trainings will increase the capacity of 200 SP's to support equitable land transitions for retiring farmers and long-term, secure, affordable land tenure for farmers in the Northeast region with a subset of 100 trained with farm-based case studies to mentor both retiring farmers and beginning farmers in how these models can provide community-based solutions. Agrarian Trust will host a series of 8 trainings over 2 years in the region.
By December 2022, 100 attorneys, land trust professionals, extension agents and farm and food practitioners in the Northeast region, will receive training regarding community-based land tenure strategies (such as Agrarian Commons, community farms held by municipalities or nonprofits, and cooperative housing or land organizations).
By summer 2023, 50 of these will self-select for further training with farm-based case studies featuring a 1-day visit to an Agrarian Commons farm to explore the entire process of transitioning land, creating the community-based landholding entity, fundraising, developing documents, stewarding land, maintaining structures, and finally leasing land with long term agreements to new farmers including BIPOC farmers. This training leads to an Equitable Land Tenure Mentorship role for each to support 5 farmland owners and 5 farmland seekers in their states in learning and understanding how these models can help support each of their land transition goals.
By July 2023 the 2nd cohort of 100 SP's will go through the same training (25 per state).
By September 2023 50 more SP's will self-select for the farm-based training leading to Mentorship role with 5 farmland owners and 5 farmland seekers in their states.
By December 2023, 10 farmland owners (2 to 3 per state) will be supported by Mentors, Agrarian Trust, and as they begin the process of transitioning their land to an equitable land tenure entity in their community. At the same time, 10 farmland seekers (2 to 3 per state) will be supported by those partners as they begin leasing land from an equitable land tenure equity in their community.
Milestones
400 Service Providers will receive invitations to participate in Equitable Land Access Trainings over a two year period and will be made aware of equitable land access models and their importance to beginning and BIPOC farmers. 200 of these are expected to participate in the Trainings.
10
200
October 31, 2024
In Progress
We have approached marketing and recruitment primarily by using our project list (Building Equitable Tenure Master Workshop Attendee List) of 320+ Farm Service Providers for outreach.
We have also conducted outreach with the West Virginia Agrarian Commons, New Roots Community Farm, and other partners in West Virginia.
Marketing materials and sample slides: Building Equitable Farmland Tenure Models for Northeast Farmers
200 Service Providers will participate in Equitable Farmland Access Trainings in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 and will experience a change in understanding and knowledge of concepts, process and steps involved in creating community-based, equitable land tenure strategies to support beginning and BIPOC farmers.
10
200
10
189
October 31, 2024
In Progress
Note: Recordings of all available slide presentations and webinars will be made available to the public on a new page, "Equitable Land Tenure Resources," created to distribute materials developed and presented through this grant project on our website. (In-progress; website link will be available by April 2024.)
2024:
Agrarian Trust's new project leader has scheduled three new workshops focused on equitable land tenure with presenters including a Community Land Trust attorney (March 2o24), the board president of a farmland trust with long-term secure leases to farmers (April 2024), and a former farmer and staff member of a nonprofit farm with experience related to equitable land tenure issues (May 2024).
On January 10, 2024, Agrarian Trust hosted an on-farm workshop located on New Roots Community Farm, a member of the West Virginia Agrarian Commons. The workshop was targeted mainly toward farm service providers familiar with and invested in the West Virginia Agrarian Commons. With the help of a facilitator, participants discussed the relative benefits and drawbacks of various legal structures to support equitable land tenure through the Agrarian Commons, as developed by Agrarian Trust, and proposed alterations that would allow it to better suit their needs and priorities.
2023:
Agrarian Trust held a facilitated a blended in-person and online gathering and workshop that explored legal entities for equitable land tenure in West Virginia on 8/28/2023, attended by approximately 30 farm service providers and farmers.
Agrarian Trust staff held 1 to 2 hour informational meetings with the WV cohort to discuss legal entities and equitable tenure options on February 16, 2023; March 9, 2023; April 6, 2023; July 6, 2023; and August 3, 2023. Materials developed include meeting notes, questions and reflections on various legal entities and approaches, and drafts of an adapted curriculum relevant to regional needs.
Note: In 2023, Agrarian Trust transitioned leadership and staff roles on the project, leading to delays in completing deliverables and requested a final extension for the project, which was granted to support the project's completion by November 2024.
2022:
In December of 2022, Agrarian Trust conducted a virtual 3-hour Equitable Farmland Tenure Co-Learning Experiences in West Virginia, for which 44 service providers registered and 32 attended live. The format was changed to a single 3-hour session rather than a series of sessions to support more consistent participation in the entire training. We also shifted the content to be more interactive, incorporating a combination of presentation, small group discussion, and full group discussion. All registered SP's received a recording of the full session.
2021:
In Summer of 2021, Agrarian Trust and Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust offered a 3-part virtual series of Equitable Farmland Tenure Co-Learning Experiences, each as a 2-hour webinar (6 hours total). These were:
I - Land-as-Commodity: History of Land Injustices 7/19/21
II - Land Tenure Power Structure on Turtle Island 7/26/21
III - Land-as-Community: Equitable Farmland Tenure models/case studies 8/9/21
313 SPs registered from 25 states (11 of 12 NE SARE states), Washington D.C. and Canada. 159 SPs participated in the workshops (39 in all three, 43 in two, 78 in one). This number exceeded our goal for Year 1 of 25 SPs from 4 target states (100 per year). At least 112 SPs from NE SARE states, with 44 from target states of VT (24), NH (10), and ME (10). NY (44) and MA (11) also had high participation. Participants included attorneys, community organizers, land trust professionals, farmer mentors, farm and food system advocates, university professionals, and state, federal and local government officials. Training occurred with slide presentations and live questions and answers.
Planning and curriculum development began in 2021 and continued throughout 2022 for an additional round of trainings to be held in 2022 and 2023 in the Northeast region.
100 Service Providers will be selected based on the level of interest and engagement expressed in the Equitable Land Access Trainings and invited to participate as Equitable Land Access Mentors to directly assist landowners and land seekers.
10
100
May 15, 2024
In Progress
2024:
An outreach email including a brief survey will be sent by the project leader to all previous project participants to recruit potential EFT Mentors who will receive training and a copy of the curriculum developed through this project to support their professional development going forward.
The project leader will continue to work with the WV cohort to confirm EFT Mentors who will participate in training activities in 2024.
2023:
Through meetings with the WV cohort, prospective EFT Mentors have been identified in the state to be engaged in further recruitment activities planned for 2024.
100 Service Providers will participate in one of four on-farm and/or online equitable farmland access trainings and informational meetings. They will be held in 2023 and 2024 and focus on specific case studies and a variety of relevant legal entities. Participants will experience a change in understanding and knowledge of land acquisition, community landholding entities, stewardship of land and structures, and farmer leases to support beginning and BIPOC farmers.
10
100
October 31, 2024
In Progress
2024:
Three new workshops are planned for 2024 in March, April, and May. Additional training and workshop opportunities will be developed to continue building the skills and knowledge of project participants in the area of equitable land tenure.
A new factsheet and FAQ about the Agrarian Commons and relevant legal entities is in development. It will be posted publicly and included in the final report. The project leader is drafting a new resource on c2/c3 relationships, benefits, and limitations for farmland ownership. This is currently slated for completion and release by June 2024.
Evidence of participation comes from event attendance, questions received to our presenters, email open-rates, and website statistics (click-rates), survey responses (farm service providers completed a survey for us in Airtable). The project leader will share a full report including all metrics related to learning and participation in the final report.
On January 10, 2024, Agrarian Trust hosted an on-farm workshop located on New Roots Community Farm, a member of the West Virginia Agrarian Commons. The workshop was targeted mainly toward farm service providers familiar with and invested in the West Virginia Agrarian Commons. With the help of a facilitator, participants discussed the relative benefits and drawbacks of various legal structures to support equitable land tenure through the Agrarian Commons, as developed by Agrarian Trust, and proposed alterations that would allow it to better suit their needs and priorities.
2023:
Agrarian Trust staff held 1-2 hour informational meetings with the WV cohort to discuss legal entities and equitable tenure options on February 16, 2023; March 9, 2023; April 6, 2023; July 6, 2023; and August 3, 2023.
100 Service Providers who become Equitable Farmland Access Mentors will experience a change in awareness and commitment to sharing equitable farmland tenure strategies with farmland owners interested in transitioning their land into a structure supporting new farmers, and farmland seekers including BIPOC farmers interested in accessing farmland from a secure, community-based entity, including mentorship of 5 farmland owners and 5 farmland seekers.
10
100
October 31, 2024
In Progress
10 transitioning farmland owners experience a change in awareness and behavior about equitable land tenure models benefitting beginning and BIPOC farmers, and take action to begin transferring their land (through gift, bargain sale or FMV sale) to a community-based equitable land tenure entity. Follow-up emails and phone calls will be held with each of the 100 Equitable Land Tenure Mentor SP's to monitor progress, provide mentoring advice and guidance to 5 farmland owners and 5 farmland seekers. Tracking of SP's and Mentor projects will be conducted via spreadsheet and GIS mapping in each state.
10
10
October 31, 2024
In Progress
In 2023 and 2024, Agrarian Trust took action to transfer farmland to community-based equitable land tenure entities in multiple states, including in the NE region, documenting the process to share with other land trusts and farmland owners. Documentation will be posted to our project website before completion.
10 land seeking farmers (including BIPOC farmers) experience a change in awareness and behavior about equitable land tenure models and take action to begin entering into long-term farm leases on land held by a community-based equitable land tenure entity. Follow-up emails and phone calls will be held with each of the 100 Equitable Land Tenure Mentor SP's to monitor progress, provide mentoring advice and guidance to 5 farmland owners and 5 farmland seekers. Tracking of SP's and Mentor projects will be conducted via spreadsheet and GIS mapping in each state.
10
10
November 01, 2024
In Progress
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities and events conducted by the project team:
Participants in the project’s educational activities:
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
100
100 Service Providers will serve as Equitable Land Tenure Mentors supporting 500 farmland owners considering transitioning their land to some form of community-based land tenure, and 500 beginning and BIPOC farmers seeking farmland and considering long-term leasing of community farmland.
1000
12,500 acres with gross sales of $5,000,000.
Performance Target Outcomes - Farmers
Target #1
20
10 farmers who are farmland owners will take action to begin transitioning their land into some form of community-based equitable land tenure structure. 10 beginning and/or BIPOC farmers will take action to begin leasing land from a community-based equitable land tenure entity.
250 acres with gross sales of $100,000