The success of the next generation of farmers and ranchers is crucially dependant on whether they can secure suitable land to start and expand their operations. According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, the number of new farmers and ranchers in the United States decreased 20 percent from 2007 and hit a 30-year low. In acknowledgement of this barrier for young farmers, the American Farmland Trust have just recently announced that 24 experienced educators will serve as Land Access Trainers to help beginning farmers and ranchers secure agricultural land. This will be part of a nationwide, four-year-long project and the chosen trainers are located in each of the 10 U.S. farm production regions. The American Farmland Trust is a national nonprofit organization that works to protect farmland, promote sound farming practices and keep farmers on the land.
Did you have the experience of entering a coloring contest to win an over-sized Easter bunny, or perhaps a pie baking competition for gift basket filled with all manner of goodies? I clearly remember those moments from my childhood – moments that now seem quite unrealistic in terms of how things actually work in the world.
But wait!
Here’s the equivalent over-sized Easter bunny for the young agrarian: Award-winning architect-turned-farmer Norma Burns has decided to give her beautiful farm away in an essay contest. Norma has been growing herbs, vegetables, and cut flowers on the certified organic, 13 acre farm for the last eighteen years. Continue reading →
The deadline for initial applications and letters of intent for Glynwood’s Hudson Valley Farm Business Incubator (HVFBI) has been extended to January 6, 2017, with the 2017 program beginning in early next May.
HVFBI is taking the “long view” on supporting a new generation of farmers in the region, equipping participants with the tools and guidance to successfully get there. Visit their websitefor more information.
“A coalition of growers is working with Haringey Council to explore taking on Wolves Lane, a 2 acre former plant nursery in north London. The goal is to turn the site into a centre/hub for community food enterprise and prevent the loss of the extensive rare urban glasshouse infrastructure.
The lead partner is Organiclea, an award winning and internationally renowned workers’ co-operative with over 15 years of experience doing similar work in a neighbouring London borough. They have a 12 acre site nearby and are currently supporting new groups of growers to take on sites under their farmstart program.
The aim is for an initiative that grows and distributes sustainably produced food to local residents and businesses; engages a wide range of people in learning and skills activities, and health and well-being benefits; establishes itself as a centre for promoting healthy eating; and offers space for community groups and social enterprises to run activities that benefit the community.
A presentation is being given to the council on 10th October and the pitch would be greatly enhanced if we could find seed funding of £20k. Given the tight turn around of this bid, we are seeking this from private donors and trusts; this money could be given as a gift or a ten year loan, if preferred.
Please contact Brian Kelly on 07816 930585 or brian@organiclea.org.uk if you want to find out more.”
[[[[[[[THIS LAND IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT APC WITH REQUESTS FOR INFO.]]]]]]]]]
The Appalacian Catholic Worker has put out a call for someone to rent a beloved but human-starved piece of land in West Virginia. [Edit: please note that this is NOT a Greenhorns offer. The following text is from the APC, whose contact information is towards the bottom of the post.] Read on for more information:
OUR LAND TRUST HAS A 65 ACRE TRACT THAT IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING PEOPLELESSNESS ***** (contrary to urban homelessness, many rural homesteads suffer from peoplelessness, sometimes chronic/cyclical) One of Appalachian Catholic Worker’s community projects is being on the board of directors for the “Regional Land Trust of West Virginia.” RLTWV lands have been protected since 1969, and are close ‘cousins’ with “Trust in the Hills” land trust in WV, started by CWers, Chuck Smith and Sandy Adams (dubbed by Dorothy Day herself as the quintessential examples of CW farmers!)
Currently, RLTWV has a 65 acre tract -mostly wooded hillsides – that would be the perfect place to start your own homestead or CW community. Get a free life-time lease for: – About 10 acres of cleared flat bottom for a big garden or pasturing small livestock; – a pond up on the hill – the old hippie house needs lots of TLC and skilled handiwork or just be lived in as a new one is built – wood stove, water well and pump, electric, telephone land line, indoor compost toilet – and the land taxes this year were only $471.00 !!!
The majority of the board wants to let it go (sell it! God forbid!) because, – since this tract was annexed in 2013, we haven’t been able to find conscientious care-takers who don’t trash the place, or potential lease-holders who can stick around very long. – The board doesn’t want to have to afford (and I can’t myself) the additional taxes on top of the other lands we are responsible for. – We’re an older, or already-swamped, voluntarily-poor board, without the energy or time to clean up the messes or maintain the land.
Mission of RLTWV is … 1. Providing access to land for the landless; 2. Promoting the ecological use of land for the common good; 3. Protecting land from speculation; 4. Encouraging a new relationship with land that sees it as the common heritage of all people, not as the private property of a few, nor as a commodity to be exchanged; 5. Developing networks of support and fellowship that will strengthen those on trust lands in times of need or ecological threat to the land; 6. Supporting efforts for land reform everywhere.
Looks like a job for SUPER CWs or their counterparts!! Your new address would be: 881 Slab Fork Rd. Spencer, WV 25276 about 10 miles from town (last 2 are gravel), relatively reliable transportation would be needed. There are currently FIVE other CW houses spread out around the state of WV each doing different ministries. You’d have an automatic extended intentional community AND a wonderful, tightly knit, REGION-WIDE network of fellow radically-minded, environmentally friendly folks, catholic, not-so-Catholic, and not-Catholic.
The Roots & Fruits Farm Business Incubator in Black Mountan, NC provides the tools and resources aspiring agricultural entrepreneurs need to develop and manage viable farm enterprises in Appalachia. The Incubator reduces the traditional barriers to success for new farm businesses by providing access to land, shared equipment, infrastructure, low-interest capital, business mentoring, and training in advanced practical skills. Launching farm-based businesses in the supportive, low-risk environment of the Incubator greatly increases the likelihood of business viability and success.
Once their businesses have matured to the point of self-sufficiency, we will assist Incubator graduates in transitioning to longer-term landholdings in the region, ensuring they will have a place to operate their businesses independently while also bringing more land into production. Through the Incubator, we will be ushering in a new generation of profitable, conservation-oriented farm entrepreneurs while bringing more preserved farmland into production and investing in farm communities across the region.
We are currently seeking proposals for the 2016-2018 seasons. The length of the lease period will be 2 years. All needed infrastructure is in place, including water supply, irrigation lines, chicken coop & run, hoop houses, greenhouse, wash facilities, cold storage, and a multi-purpose shed. All business infrastructures are in place, including direct selling through Roots & Fruits market & café.
Jump-start your farm business on the Front Porch of North Carolina! Are you looking for a low-risk entry point for your organic and biologically intensive farm practice? Join us in our campaign to re-imagine human-scale food systems. Together we will empower through education and build an inspiring community through food.
Fields for Food
a workshop on leasing farmland Tuesday March 17, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
@
St. Bede’s Episcopal Church
1609 Elm St.
Forest Grove, OR
To RSVP, call: 503-992-0078 ext. 302
Free with snacks provided!
Presentations by:
Nellie McAdams, Director of Farm Preservation Program at Rogue Farm Corps. Nellie will explain how to find farmers and craft a lease. http://www.roguefarmcorps.org/
Greg Malinowski, farmer at Malinowski Farms and Washington County Commissioner. Greg will share his experience in leasing portions of his land to farmers for over 20 years. http://www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/
USDA has a new website and you can see it here. Its purpose is to support new farmers and is pretty awesome.
We are thankful for the websites, USDA!
What we’d like is a national land bank that holds land in transition and allows young farmers to buy their way into ownership over the course of 30 years without having to face the rapid fire/ long waiting lists/ prejudiced bankers.
For readers who are staring out the window of a chilly office on a sunny day, dreaming about a life digging into the land, with miles of hiking trails and quiet, pastoral valleys right outside of your front door…the National Park Service may have a job for you.
Shone Farm, Santa Rosa Junior College’s educational farm in Forestville, CA, is offering 6 intermediate growers an opportunity to farm on 3 acres of our land, producing for sale to our 100-member CSA, restaurant customers and Culinary Program at the college.
This is a revenue-sharing opportunity for those who are working towards establishing their own independent farming enterprise and want the experience of taking responsibility for a parcel of land. You will have the chance to grow for established markets within a supportive environment with access to mentorship and shared resources like equipment, irrigation infrastructure, etc. You will also be able to establish new sales channels for your products, including farmers market.
Participation in the Enterprise Program requires:
Minimum of 2 FULL seasons of experience growing mixed vegetables in a commercial environment
Availability of 20 hours/week (average) to plant, maintain and harvest your parcel
Willingness to grow according to our 4-year crop rotation and pre-established 2015 crop plan
Registration in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Ag 98 (Independent Study) and Ag 56 (Ag Enterprise) courses
This program begins in May of 2015 and applications are being reviewed now. To express an interest in the program and request more information, click here
We are reaching out to the farming community to find a buyer for our farm. We are currently operating an organic farmstead dairy and creamery. We had big plans for this farm when we purchased it 4 years ago and have found that we do not have enough hours in the day to bring those plans to fruition. Our children have moved away from home and we have decided to downsize our dairy and cheesemaking operation.
The 20+/- acre property has approximately ⅔ of open land. There is a farmland easement held by Maine Farmland Trust. In addition to the 1830’s New England farmhouse, the property has a new farm store, commercial kitchen & creamery with walk-in cooler, milk house, 6 cow step up parlor(can be easily converted to goats or sheep), two barns, two greenhouses and another shed for additional storage or animal housing. Continue reading →
Ever heard of an in-residence program where you actually get to keep the residence??! That would be the case in this innovative new model coming out of Detroit.
Write A House accepted applications from working, “low-income” writers earlier this spring, which included writing samples and a letter of intent. Whoever wins (to be announced this month) will call Detroit home for at least the next two years. Writers will lease the homes from the nonprofit, a small amount to cover taxes and insurance. If they stay for 24 months, they’ll be awarded the deed — and Detroit will count another resident to its comeback. To read more about this awesome endeavor, CLICK HERE—>
During the summer of 2013, Land Stewardship Project Farm Beginnings journalism intern Alex Baumhardt interviewed families in Minnesota and Wisconsin that were in various stages of farm transitions. The following five “Farm Transition Profiles” are the result of those interviews.
The common thread connecting these profiles is that all parties involved—retiring farmers as well as new farmers—have given the transitioning process long, careful thought. Planning, flexibility and creativity are key elements of any transition plan. In the end, these profiles illustrate that no matter what the circumstances, successful transitions require help and support from a broad spectrum of community members. For more information on the farm transitions toolkit, visit HERE.
If you are a farmer with 2+ years of experience farming and a clear idea of what you’re looking for, California FarmLink now offers a new service which allows for landowners and land-seeking farmers to connect directly online (rather than through their regional coordinator).
Here’s how the new system will work:
Landseekers and landowners must register for an account with California FarmLink.
Registered users will be able to see detailed land listing information, including landowner contact information. Only logged-in and registered farmers will be able to see this information, and the property addresses will NOT be posted.
Become a member of California FarmLink. Landseeker Memberships are $15 and are valid for one year. If you have previously paid a membership fee within the last year, your membership will be activated automatically. You may also request a Fee Waiver Application by contacting the main office.
Have a business plan or a statement about your farm vision ready, then use the Dashboard to browse the Land Listings and contact landowner”?;.lkijouhyh7loi0t09r54rre3wq2
To see more of what California FarmLink has to offer, head over to their website!
Ever heard of an in-residence program where you actually get to keep the residence??! That would be the case in this innovative new model coming out of Detroit.
the irresistible fleet of bicycles 