Farm and Farmland Acquisition: A Curriculum for Farmers and Communities

Farm and Farmland Acquisition: A Curriculum for Farmers and Communities

Summary

This project focuses on land acquisition for beginning farmers. Access to land is one of the biggest challenges facing new farmers in New England. In this project, farmers, service providers, and community partners improve their understanding of land acquisition issues and options, and strengthen the necessary relationships to get farmers onto the farms that these communities value.

We are designing a curriculum with and for farm seekers and community partners. The curriculum brings in and involves community partners to inform farmers and strengthen the ties between seekers and communities that want to sustain active farming and farm opportunities. The curriculum will work as an online stand-alone for farm seekers as well as an integrated module in other educational programs for beginning and other farmers. The project will make land acquisition issues less onerous and complicated, and farm searches more productive

Objectives/Performance Targets

· Design an effective online educational curriculum: done
· Pilot test the curriculum with beginning farmers: done
· Engage community leaders in curriculum development: done
· Have the curriculum used by other groups that teach and work with beginning farmers: to be done

Accomplishments/Milestones

· Drafted curriculum contents and online format.
· Held face-to-face and phone meeting sessions with two groups of “pilot” farmers—six farmers in CT and five in VT—who provided input into draft content and format for the course.
· Contacted over 60 community partners. Obtained feedback on the course from 20 partners in CT and VT. Several met with pilot farmers and LFG staff in person; others contacted by phone or email.
· Made revisions and additions to the curriculum content; revised the format, based on feedback.
· Uploaded final curriculum. It is organized into six topics. Each includes information, links to resources, stories, and tools that combined, form a farm acquisition action plan for each person who takes the course.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

While it is still premature to assess ultimate impacts, the feedback we received from the pilot farmers and community members affirmed that what we are doing is important and worthwhile. The community members include Extension, agency personnel, farm support organizations, lenders, farmers, land trust staff, Conservation District staff, and others.

Collaborators: