Final report for ENE21-169
Project Information
Agrarian Trust Expands Equitable Land Tenure Education for Northeast Farmers
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Grant Supports the Future of Farmland Transition in the U.S.
The Northeast region has long faced a farmland access crisis, with an aging farmer population, steep land costs, and historical inequities that disproportionately affect limited-resource farmers, female farmers, and farmers of color. With 30% of farmers nearing retirement and 90% lacking identified successors, the barriers for new farmers are substantial though the potential for farmland transition is enormous. Over the past two decades, the region has lost or seen the threat of development on 7,000 acres of farmland per year, exacerbating these challenges.
To address these urgent issues, Agrarian Trust, in collaboration with regional partners, initiated a project focused on equitable land tenure solutions. The project’s goal was to provide service providers with the knowledge and tools needed to support transitioning farm owners and land-seeking farmers in exploring community-based farmland tenure models, such as the Agrarian Commons. This initiative aimed to create new pathways for secure and affordable land access, ensuring that farmland remains in agricultural production while also fostering land justice and local self-governance.
Educational Approach and Deliverables
The project delivered a comprehensive training program for service providers (SPs) who play a critical role in farmland transitions. Several Equitable Farmland Tenure trainings were conducted, reaching 200+ SPs across the Northeast. These trainings utilized case studies to demonstrate how community landholding entities acquire land from retiring farmers and provide long-term, affordable leases to farmers.
In addition to hosting trainings, the project developed open-source resource materials to further expand access to information on community tenure models. These resources served as key learning tools for SPs, allowing them to integrate equitable land tenure strategies into their work with farmers and landowners.
Learning Outcomes and Impact
Between 30 and 50 service providers and farmers attended each event in Agrarian Trust's online speaker series. As a result of this initiative, 100+ service providers took on mentorship roles, each supporting transitioning farm owners and new farmers. These mentorship efforts encouraged farmland owners to consider moving their land into community-based equitable tenure structures, while also guiding new farmers toward long-term leases that provide land security without the financial burden of traditional land ownership.
Through these trainings, service providers gained a deeper understanding of community landholding models, the barriers new farmers face in land acquisition, and the systemic changes needed to ensure equitable farmland access. Many service providers reported increased confidence in advising farm owners and new farmers about alternative tenure models, leading to a broader network of professionals advocating for farmland justice.
Farm Service Provider Actions and Real-World Change
The education program resulted in tangible, real-world actions. After the project concluded, several farmland owners reported beginning the process of either researching or starting plans to transition their land to new farmers through one of the innovative models they learned about through the project, helping to preserve farmland while ensuring long-term access for future generations of farmers. Additionally, several new farmers reported taking steps toward learning about leasing farmland from community-based entities, securing access to productive farmland without the burden of high land costs and debt.
This initiative has laid a strong foundation for future equitable farmland tenure training programs beyond the Northeast, with interest growing in regions with significant land transitions underway such as Minnesota, California, Washington, and Montana. By equipping service providers and farmers with the knowledge and tools to support alternative land tenure solutions, this project has contributed to a shift in how farmland is accessed and stewarded, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and resilient agricultural landscape. For more information about this project and its ongoing impact, please visit: agrariantrust.org/land
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 a nation in a farmland access crisis. The same holds true across the Northeast, where upwards 30% of farmers are headed into retirement, an estimated 90% of whom do not have successors. In terms of social equity, it’s important to note that nationally 98% of farmland owners are white. This statistic is also reflected in the Northeast. Furthermore, new farmers face formidable barriers to entry: low farm income, especially in their initial years; high farm costs and debt pressure; and more than 7,000 acres of farmland per year lost or threatened by development over the last 20 years.
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 and farmers to access land for life.
The project delivered a comprehensive training program for service providers (SPs) who play a critical role in farmland transitions. Several Equitable Farmland Tenure trainings were conducted, reaching 200+ SPs across the Northeast. These trainings utilized case studies to demonstrate how community landholding entities acquire land from retiring farmers and provide long-term, affordable leases to farmers.
In addition to hosting trainings, the project developed open-source resource materials to further expand access to information on community tenure models. These resources served as key learning tools for SPs, allowing them to integrate equitable land tenure strategies into their work with farmers and landowners.
Educational Approach
The project delivered a comprehensive training program for service providers (SPs) who play a critical role in farmland transitions. Several Equitable Farmland Tenure trainings were conducted, reaching 200+ SPs across the Northeast. These trainings utilized case studies to demonstrate how community landholding entities acquire land from retiring farmers and provide long-term, affordable leases to farmers.
In addition to hosting trainings, the project developed open-source resource materials to further expand access to information on community tenure models. These resources served as key learning tools for SPs, allowing them to integrate equitable land tenure strategies into their work with farmers and landowners.
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 farmers, limited-resource farmers, and farmers of color. 200 of these are expected to participate in the Trainings.
10
200
20
213
October 31, 2024
Completed
October 31, 2024
400 Service Providers received invitations to participate in Equitable Land Access Trainings.
We approached marketing and recruitment primarily by using our project list (Building Equitable Tenure Master Workshop Attendee List) of 400+ Farm Service Providers for outreach. We expanded our list with help from other groups in the region.
We also conducted outreach with the West Virginia Agrarian Commons, New Roots Community Farm, and other partners in West Virginia.
2021 - Marketing materials and sample slides: Building Equitable Farmland Tenure Models for Northeast Farmers
2024 - We shared our "Building Equitable Land Tenure Series," a webinar series and videos, with all participants via email and created a long-term home for the resources at: https://agrariantrust.org/land
More than 200 farmers and farm service providers registered and attended the series.
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 farmers, limited-resource farmers, and farmers of color.
20
200
20
213
October 31, 2024
Completed
October 31, 2024
Website link: https://www.agrariantrust.org/land/
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.
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.
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.
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.
In early 2024, Agrarian Trust's project leader held 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).
In the last few months of the grant until November 2024, Agrarian Trust's project leader worked with project collaborators in West Virginia and Maine to complete project activities.
- New Roots Community Farm in West Virginia planned several trainings and educational opportunities.
- The Somali-Bantu Community Association completed a video project focused on equitable land access and tenure. This video will be available at Agrarian Trust's YouTube channel once edited and uploaded: https://www.youtube.com/@agrariantrust
2024 Agrarian Trust Speaker Series on Building Equitable Land Tenure:
|
Date |
Presenter(s) |
Event Title, Organization/Project, Topic |
|
February 27, 2024 |
Fran Miller, Attorney |
Title: Legal and Equity Considerations in Collective Land Models Organization(s): White River Land Collaborative Topic(s): Legal considerations, equity-building questions Fran Miller shares her work with the White River Land Collaborative and participates in dialogue with farmers and farm service providers about important legal and equity-building considerations for collective land initiatives. Links, Slides, or Additional Resources: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O88DXwTRj1U A short (13 minute) documentary on the White River Land Collaborative: https://vimeo.com/791929932/4a7ad5aa9a |
|
March 26, 2024 |
Kristin King-Ries, Attorney |
Title: Equity Considerations in Community Land Trust Models Topic(s): Community Land Trusts Kristin King-Ries, an attorney (specialized in Community Land Trusts) offers a deep dive into equity-building and CLTs. Links, Slides, or Additional Resources: Video: |
|
April 30, 2024 |
Tom Spaulding, Farmer, Former Executive Director, Board Chair |
Title: Outcomes in Community Land Trusts Organization: Angelic Organics/Farmers Rising Topic(s): legal structure; collective stewardship Thomas Spaulding, co-founder and former executive director of Angelic Organics Learning Center, now called Farmers Rising, which helps urban and rural people build local food systems. Links, Slides, or Additional Resources: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH4KQTEoRn8 Learn more about Farmers Rising at https://www.farmersrising.org/ Two slide decks: The first, to ground folks in Thomas' experience with Angelic Organics Learning Center (rebranded this year as Farmers Rising) can be viewed here: Angelic Organics Learning Center introduction The second, to provide a view into the Farms Forever Initiative, which led to the creation of their land trust Angelic Organics Association, can be viewed here: Farms Forever-WLFN-BDA-2017_0105short for SARE-AT2024Apr30 |
|
May 28, 2024 |
Fran Miller & Kristin King-Ries, Attorneys |
Title: Considering Different Legal Pathways for Collective Land Tenure Topic: land holding legal entities A deep dive into legal entity choice considerations for collective farmland projects and businesses. Links, Slides, or Additional Resources: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry0XuCg8wKk&list=PLSFj7eNtNv_zk4lbXNzh_ggzT8iQjsQW2&index=11 Resources and Notes from the Event: Introduction to the Legal Entity Choice Comparison Chart: Agrarian Trust - Legal Entity Comparison Chart
|
|
June 25, 2024 |
Luis Marcos, Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim (Nebraska) |
Title: Comunidad Maya: Native Nations Rebuilding and Regenerative Farming Topic(s): Indigenous land; land rematriation Organization: Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim A discussion of considerations that informed legal entity choice for an indigenous-led organization based in Nebraska working to build equity, land access, and community wealth initiatives. Discussion of the Principles of Native Nation Rebuilding and how it informs their efforts. Links, Slides, or Additional Resources: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55A6fzA-HE0&list=PLSFj7eNtNv_zk4lbXNzh_ggzT8iQjsQW2&index=12 Resources From the Event: Presentation: The Q'anjob'al Maya Nation and Agrarian Trust Presentation - 2024.pptx
|
|
July 30th, 2024 |
Gary Hampton (Renewing the Countryside, The Ajani Group), Kelly Maynard (Minnesota Department of Agriculture), and Collie Graddick (UW Center for Cooperatives) |
Title: The Principles of Cooperatives, Governance, and Mitigating Risks Topic(s): organizing; land justice Organizations: Renewing the Countryside, The Ajani Group, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, UW Center for Cooperatives Gary Hampton, Kelly Maynard, and Collie Graddick generously shared their knowledge and led a rich conversation about cooperatives and principles of collective organizing as they apply to land access. Links, Slides, or Additional Resources: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI8nt3FQxgo&list=PLSFj7eNtNv_zk4lbXNzh_ggzT8iQjsQW2&index=13 Resources from the Event:
|
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
20
100
October 31, 2024
Completed
October 31, 2024
2023:
Through meetings with the WV cohort, prospective Mentors were identified in the state to be engaged in further recruitment activities planned for 2024.
2024:
100 Service Providers from the event and webinar series were invited to participate as Equitable Land Access Mentors. An outreach email including a brief survey was sent by the project leader to all previous project participants to recruit potential Mentors who received training and a copy of the curriculum developed through this project to support their professional development going forward.
The project leader continued to work with the WV cohort to confirm Mentors who will participate in training activities in 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 farmers, limited-resource farmers, and farmers of color.
10
100
20
100
October 31, 2024
Completed
October 31, 2024
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.
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.
A webinar series engaged 100+ Service Providers throughout 2024. The series was then posted on our website at: https://www.agrariantrust.org/land/
In 2024, the project director maintained email correspondence with upwards 100 participants and farm service providers throughout the year, answering questions, fielding inquiries, and connecting service providers to additional resources for land access and tenure, including a legal entities guide that will be posted to the above mentioned section of the website.
Three new workshops were held in March, April, and May 2024. 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 was completed, titled Agrarian Trust Legal Entity Comparison Chart (https://projects.sare.org/media/pdf/A/g/r/Agrarian-Trust-Legal-Entity-Comparison-Chart.pdf).
Future updates to these resources will be posted online at: https://www.agrariantrust.org/land/
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).
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 limited-resource farmers and farmers of color interested in accessing farmland from a secure, community-based entity, including mentorship of 5 farmland owners and 5 farmland seekers.
10
100
20
100
October 31, 2024
Completed
October 31, 2024
100 Service Providers experienced 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 limited-resource and beginning farmers interested in accessing farmland from a secure, community-based entity.
However, while we were aware of connections being sparked through our events and webinars, we were unable to fully track the mentorship of 5 farmland owners and 5 farmland seekers. This would be ideal for a future project. We do know that at least 20 farmers attended and participated.
Farm service providers who are staff or are connected to both New Roots Community Farm and the Somali-Bantu Community Farm took concrete steps to secure collective land access for future generations of farmers.
10 transitioning farmland owners experience a change in awareness and behavior about equitable land tenure models benefitting beginning and limited-resource farmers and farmers of color, 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
10
10
October 31, 2024
Completed
October 31, 2024
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 over time at: https://www.agrariantrust.org/land/
Ten land seeking 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
20
10
October 31, 2024
Completed
October 31, 2024
Ten land seeking farmers experienced a change in awareness and behavior about equitable land tenure models and took action to begin entering into long-term farm leases on land held by a community-based equitable land tenure entity.
Additionally, title for a farm was transferred to the Somali-Bantu Community Association in late 2024 to continue long-term collective tenure of the farm. When fully completed, a new resource documenting this farmland transfer will be published and shared at: https://www.agrariantrust.org/land/
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities and events conducted by the project team:
Participants in the project’s educational activities:
Learning Outcomes
Key areas where changes in knowledge, skills, and awareness by service providers and farmers happened included the topics of land access and tenure, legal entities, collective ownership approaches, the concept of the commons, and an introduction to the Agrarian Commons initiative at Agrarian Trust as an example of the commons.
Surveys via Airtable were used to verify changes in understanding among all project participants, including farmers and farm service providers.
In 2024, the project director also maintained email correspondence with upwards 100 participants and farm service providers throughout the year, answering questions, fielding inquiries, and connecting service providers to additional resources for land access and tenure. This allowed the project director to observe changes in awareness and knowledge through direct interaction and sharing resources.
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.
100
10
340
- 12 Curricula, factsheets and other educational tools
- 16 Consultations
- 3 On-farm demonstrations
- 8 Online trainings
- 6 Published press articles/newsletters
- 1 Study circles/focus groups
- 1 Tours
- 8 Webinars/talks/presentations
- 2 Workshops/field days
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). Surveys via Airtable were used to verify changes in understanding among all project participants, including farmers and farm service providers. Surveys via Google forms were also used for initial sign-ups and gauging interest.
More than 50 individuals filled out an anonymous survey sent via email to gauge their needs, questions, and interests to help guide the speaker series topics. Results conclusively demonstrated that service providers and farmers are interested in collective land ownership models, particularly the Agrarian Commons approach, cooperatives, permanent real estate cooperatives, nonprofit holding companies, and other entities.
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
10
340
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). 213 farm service providers participated in a survey.
Surveys via Airtable were used to verify changes in understanding among all project participants, including farmers and farm service providers.
A survey via Google forms was used to verify all other project information. 20 farmers participated in the farmer survey.
Additional Project Outcomes
Throughout the course of the project and especially during the webinar series, we found that research, resources, and farmer/farm service provider engagement efforts around approaches to equitable and collective land access are in short supply and high demand.
Our events this year were always well-attended, with many farmers and farm service providers writing in before and after sharing how much they wanted to share this information with their networks.
Along with our partners, we've concluded that an ongoing speaker series (perhaps on a bi-monthly basis) focused on these topics would be of value to continue exploring and sharing resources, particularly on different approaches to legal entity formation for collective and community-based landholding including community land trusts, cooperatives, nonprofit holding companies, permanent real estate cooperatives, real estate investment trusts, and everything in between.