Farming with Spirit
The Abbey of St. Walburga is a working farm run by Benedictine nuns.
Featured Resource: Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund
The Federation of Southern Cooperatives was founded in 1967. The following is from their website and explains their history and mission: In the four decades since the founding of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, there has been significant work, participation and development of low income people and their communities. There are three major themes of […]
Wood Colony Feels Urban Pressure
From The New York Times by Patricia Lee Brown MODESTO, Calif. — Farmers and other residents of the rural district known as Wood Colony refer to the 110-year-old arboreal landmark in their midst — a gigantic walnut tree of Grimm’s fairy-tale proportions — as, simply, the Tree. To many people in this unincorporated community, settled […]
Giving Voice to the Soil
The methods we use to gain attention for agricultural land access must be as diverse as the land we aim to preserve. Doug Nopar, a farmer and program organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, authored a creative dramatization about land gifting called “Look Who’s Knockin.’ The play gives life to the ethics and motives behind […]
Land Gifting Tradition and Agrarian Trust
The Schumacher Center for a New Economics, a partner of Agrarian Trust tells of the tradition of land gifting and our hopes for an agrarian future. On a shelf in the Library of the Schumacher Center for a New Economics sits a small wooden box with worn leather handle—13 inches by 8 inches by 2 […]
How Do We Trust?
As the Agrarian Trust project forges forward, it seems important to check back and define what this trust idea is really about. I remember my first reflections on mishearing our name as a growing trust, and all the connotations that came along with my understanding of what a trust is. In current language, as applied […]
Farm Profile: Tom and Irene Frantzen and their 300 acre Organic Farm in Iowa
AMES, Iowa —Tom and Irene Frantzen’s desire to preserve their New Hampton land for generations to come led them to bequeath the 300-acre certified organic farm to Practical Farmers of Iowa. They announced the transition plan at the recent PFI conference in Ames. Their voices choking with emotion, the couple offered the details of their […]