As large numbers of America’s farmers near retirement, the need for new young farmers to take their place grows more urgent. But replacing retiring farm owners involves more than just finding a young person with the right skill set. It also takes money — a lot of it. So how do young farmers without much capital acquire property or take over farms?
In this video, working farmers and farm supporters discuss a variety of ways ownership transactions are taking place.
How Do Farm Buyers and Sellers Find Each Other?
It’s when the challenges we face are greatest that innovative thinking becomes most important. And that type of thinking is helping farm ownership transfers take place. One of the first challenges sellers and buyers face is finding each other. To facilitate that, a number of “land-link” websites serve as a resource to connect people. But sometimes the best strategy is to simply put buyers and sellers in the same room and let them get to know each other.
Organizations across the country are now working to do that. But making connections is just the beginning. Next comes a bigger challenge: making things work financially.
What Financial Strategies are Being Used?
Agricultural easements are growing in importance because they provide a financial benefit for a retiring farmer and help make farm acquisition more affordable for young farmers. Land trusts are another important component of the movement to keep farms in operation. As are investors who hold the mortgage on a property until a new farmer can afford to acquire it. And joint ventures that help groom young farmers to take over are becoming more common.
For more information on advancing your farming career, contact these organizations:
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project – Tufts University
nesfp@tufts.edu
978-654-6745
National Young Farmers Coalition
info@youngfarmers.org
518-643-3564
Rogue Farm Corps
info@roguefarmcorps.org
541-951-5105
Production Credits And Thanks
A special thank you goes out to farmers Jack Gray and Chris Overbaugh (Winter Green Farm), Emily Cooper (Full Cellar Farm), Lili Tova (Flying Coyote Farm), Jonny Steiger (By George Farm), and Katie Coppoletta and Tayne Reeve (Fiddlehead Farm); to farm employees and trainees Mary Koppes, Daphne Gill, Stephen Lewis, and Piper Krabbenhoft; to EMSWCD Land Legacy Director Matt Shipkey; and to the staff members of Rogue Farm Corps for their support and participation. Selected video and photo files were provided by Rogue Farm Corps
The four-part Farming For Life series was produced by Farming Is Life Media Services (FILMS), with writing and directing by John Vincent, and videography and editing by Paul Manda.
John Clark Vincent is a writer and author who lives in Portland, Ore. His most recent book, Planting a Future, presents a view of what’s happening within Oregon’s rapidly growing movement toward sustainable farming practices. In an effort to provide a glimpse into the many different aspects of such a surging movement, he uses profiles of 18 different farmers and farm supporters to represent the different elements of Oregon’s farm community. Find John online on his website, and read all of his MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts here.
THE YEAR-ROUND HOOPHOUSE
Design and build a hoophouse or polytunnel, and grow abundant produce year-round in any climate. Growing in hoophouses – also known as high tunnels or polytunnels – reduces the impact of an increasingly unpredictable climate on crops, mitigates soil erosion, extends the growing season and keeps leafy greens alive through the winter, and enables growers to supply more regional food needs.
The Year-Round Hoophouse is a comprehensive guide to designing and building a hoophouse and making a success of growing abundant, delicious fresh produce all year, whatever your climate and land size. The Year-Round Hoophouse is ideal for farmers who wish to move into protected growing, as well as beginning farmers in rural and urban spaces. It is an essential reference resource for professors and students of courses in sustainable agriculture, as well as interns and apprentices learning on the job.
Order from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Store or by calling 800-234-3368.
All MOTHER EARTH NEWS community bloggers have agreed to follow our Blogging Best Practices, and they are responsible for the accuracy of their posts. To learn more about the author of this post, click on the byline link at the top of the page.
