Press Release: Plant It Forward Announces Participation in Transitioning Land to a New Generation – A Nationwide Effort to Support Farm & Ranch Transfer to a New Generation of Producers
For new producers, accessing farmland is the biggest hurdle to starting a sustainable farm
Plant It Forward (PIF) is collaborating with American Farmland Trust (AFT) as one of 48 Ag Service Providers from across the country who will help shape a new curriculum, Transitioning Land to a New Generation: Preparing Trainers to Help Facilitate Transfer.
The project will build an adaptable, skills-based curriculum to help a new generation of farmers and ranchers navigate the legal, financial and interpersonal issues in accessing and transferring land. The new cohort of Trainers will be trained to field test the curriculum in their communities and provide feedback from producers they work with. The project will foster a service provider network and provide Trainers with necessary skills to support farm and ranch transition, meeting growing demands for succession facilitation resources.
The time is right to transfer America’s farmland to a new, diverse generation of farmers & ranchers.
The successful transfer of land to the next generation of farmers and ranches – including the new American producers we partner with at PIF – will require a transfer of knowledge and skills. More than 40 percent of American farmland is owned by seniors aged 65 and older who are likely to retire in the next decade or so. Given the demographics, AFT estimates, 371 million acres or one-third of U.S. farmland will likely transition to new ownership in the next 15 years.
The cohort of trainers selected for Transitioning Land to the Next Generation were chosen for their expertise and the educational services they provide to farmers and ranchers. Collectively they represent regional, agricultural and demographic diversity. They bring voices and experiences of farmers, ranchers and landholders from across the country who face a range of unique challenges in either accessing or transferring land.
Keeping land in agriculture and helping the next generation of farmers and ranchers access it, are both critical issues for the future of food production in this country.
Transitioning is funded by a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (grant #2020-49400-33257) from the USDA/National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The three-year project builds on AFT’s previous BFRDP grant project, Farmland for the Next Generation.
“It takes extra skill to bridge cultural, demographic and production system differences. And it also takes extra effort to connect new generations of producers with nonoperator landowners, local governments, land trusts, churches, and other institutions who have land and are willing to make it available to them. American Farmland Trust will focus on how to build relationships that foster productive communication skills and help a diverse new generation of producers find secure land options to grow their agricultural businesses, feeding their communities and stewarding the land.”
Suzanna Denison, American Farmland Trust Program Manager, Farms for a New Generation
Plant It Forward is ready to tackle historically-rooted farmland access disparities and put land under the control of farmers of color, forging a new American farming tradition.
PIF farmers, along with a growing demographic of new Americans, have the skill and motivation to farm. In our first ten years we’ve seen the good that can come – to our entire community – when people are empowered though agriculture. During our next ten years, we will take the next step towards building a just and sustainable food system by tackling one of the biggest challenges facing new American and producers of color today: farmland access.
For questions about this work, or to learn more about how you can support expanding farmland access for new American growers, contact PIF Farm Programs Director, Rachel Folkerts at rachel@plant-it-forward.org
