Topics
- Organizations Working on Land Access Issues
- General/Background Reading
- Land Access
- Financing
- Grants & Loans
- Professional Assistance
- Farming/Outdoor/Environmental Job Sources
- How to Take Political Action
Organizations Working on Land Access Issues
- Sustainable Agriculture Land Tenure Initiative
- The Carrot Project
- Equity Trust
- New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
- UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture/New Farmer Project
- Northeast Beginning Farmer Project
- CA Farmlink
- Land for Good
- New England Farmers Union
- American Farmland Trust
- The Intervale Center
- Center for Rural Affairs
- University of Wisconsin’s Land Tenure Center
- Environmental Working Group
- A Growing Culture
- Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program
- Women Food and Agriculture Network
- National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
- New England Small Farm Institute
Organizations Working on Land Access – Canada
- FarmStart (Ontario)
- National Farmers Union
- Farmland Legacies (Saskatchewan)
- Ontario Farmland Trust
- FarmFolk/City Folk
- Young Agrarians
- Farmlink
- Landshare Canada
General/Background Reading
- Lincoln Institute for Land Policy Blog
- Use-Value Assessment of Rural Land (Policy Focus Report)
- Wealth and Want: Tragedy of the Commons
- Trends in U.S. Farmland Values and Ownership
- Reclaiming the Land Commons
- UN HABITAT program report on affordable housing trusts
- Community Land Trusts: Saving the Land to Which we Belong
- GrowNYC – “Farmers on the Edge” report
- Use-Value Assessment of Rural Land (Policy Focus Report)” by Anderson, John E. and Richard W. England
- Creating Social Capital by Elizabeth Henderson, Peacework Farm
- “Building a Future with Farmers” by the National Young Farmers Coalition
- “How You Can Help America’s New Agrarians” Neil Hamilton in Organic Gardening Magazine
- Indigenous Land Tenure and Land Use in Alaska The University of Wisconsin- Madison
- Non-profit and Resident Collaboratives The University of Wisconsin- Madison
- Pension Funds: Key Players in the Global Farmland Grab by Grain
- Private Sector Agricultural Tenancy Arrangements in Europe The University of Wisconsin- Madison
- Re-entering African-American Farmers The University of Wisconsin- Madison
- Who Owns Natural Resources in the United States and Canada The University of Wisconsin- Madison
- The Living New Deal highlights the ongoing legacy of FDR’s New Deal, including Resettlement Communities, that included small agricultural homesteads
- Lease-Based Approach to Sustainable Agriculture: Part 1 and Part 2 Drake University Law School
- Helping Landowners Help New Farmers Drake University Law School
- Corn Flakes Aren’t Just For Kelloggs Drake University Law School
- Collectivized Lands in Spain The Independent
- Publications from aGter
- Social and Solidarity Economy Resource Site
Land Access
Land Access Guides
- Farm Finance Tools in Montana, 2019 (Covers Agrarian Trust’s model)
- The FarmLASTS Project: Farm Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship
- ATTRA ‘s Finding Land to Farm: Six ways to Secure Farmland
- Land for Good’s Acquiring Your Farm Online Tutorial
- Equity Trust Publications
- Acquiring Land to Farm Guide
- Greenhorns’ Land, Liberty, Sunshine, Stamina: Mini Compendium on Land Tenure Resources
- Finding Land to Farm
- Finding a Farm to Buy or Lease
- Climate and Soil Considerations
- Infrastructure Considerations
- New England Small Farms Institute and the Intervale Center. Holding Ground: A Guide to Northeast Farmland Tenure and Stewardship
- Gaining Ground – How CSAs Can Acquire, Hold and Pass On Land
- The FarmLASTS Project: Farm Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship
- Creating a Life Together about establishing intentional communities with valuable information on buying land with a group of other people
Farm Linking Programs
- The International Farm Transition Network
- National Family Farm Coalition Farmland Monitor (About)
- Center for Rural Affairs’ Listing of Linking Programs by State
- New England Farmland Finder
- Land Stewardship Project’s Land Clearinghouse
- Center for Rural Affairs’ Land Link
- MOSES Land Link-Up with classified ads frequently listing linkage opportunities
- Rodale Institute’s New Farm Classifieds
- CA Farmlink
- IDA program
- Organic Farm Succession Program allows experienced farmers and qualified beginning farmers take over mature organic farming operations
- Columbia Land Conservancy (NY) Farmer Landowner Match Program
- New England Farm Finder– a regional farm property clearinghouse
- Central New Mexico LandLink Initiative
- Farm Asset Builder Program an IDA matched savings program that strengthens farm businesses through asset acquisition and technical assistance
- New England Land Link
- Maine Farm Link
- New Jersey Farm Link
- Connecticut Farm Link
- New York Farm Net
- Pennsylvania Farm Link
- National Farm Transition Network
- Ontario, Canada FarmLink
- New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
Incubator Programs
- The Intervale Center, Burlington VT
- Tillian Center, MI
- ALBA, CA
- The SEED Farm, PA
- Viva Farms, WA
- Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming, NY
- NE Beginning Farmers’ Green County Agricultural Incubator Study
Land Leasing
- The FarmLASTS Project: Farm Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship
- Farmers Guide to Farming in NY – Finding a Farm to Buy or Lease
- Georgia Organics – Lease Agreement Template
- Iowa State Extension – Lease Template
- Land For Good – Leasing tutorial, Toolbox for Leasing Land
- Vermont Land Trust – Conservation purchase agreements
- Ohio State Extension – Managing Landlord-Tenant Relationships: A Strategic Perspective
- Model Agricultural Ground Lease
- Commentary on Model Agricultural Ground Lease
- Model Agricultural Conservation Easement with Option to Purchase
Agricultural Land Trusts
The USDA and American Farmland Trust offers a very comprehensive land trust locator tool at findalandtrust.org
- A New Lease on Farmland: Assuring a Future for Farming in the Northeast by The New Economics Institute
- Land Trusts and Agricultural Land
- 2011 Community Land Trust Technical Manual
- Preserving Farms for Farmers Manual by Equity Trust provides case studies on farm protection strategies as well as model programs and documents
- American Farmland Trust
- Farm Land Working Group
- Commentary on Model Agricultural Conservation Easement with Option to Purchase
- The FarmLASTS Project: Farm Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship
List of Regional Land Trusts
- Alaska Farmland Trust
- California Council of Land Trusts
- Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust (BALT)
- Big Sur Land Trust
- Sierra Foothills Conservancy, Ranchers Program
- Land Trust of Santa Cruz
- Sonoma Land Trust
- Placer Co Land Trust
- Marin Agricultural Land Trust
- Vermont Land Trust
- Community Land Trust of the Southern Berkshires
- Peconic Land Trust
- Farm Catskills
- Maine Farmland Trust
- NY Agricultural Land Trust
- Lancaster Farmland Trust
- Connecticut Farmland Trust
- Rhode Island Land Trust Council
- PCC Farmland Trust
- Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust
- Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust
- Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust
- Georgia Agricultural Land Trust
Financing
Financing Basics
- Income Tax Incentives for Land Conservation
- IRA Charitable Rollover
- Financing Your Farm by CA Farmlink a quick 4-pager on conventional sources of farm credit, and the tradeoffs
- The Farmer’s Guide to Agricultural Credit a guide to navigate the more traditional sources of farm credit, especially in terms of effectively and successfully applying for a loan through lenders
- CISA – Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture- references and resources for grants and financing, financial planning, and land access and transition
- CA Farmlink Financial Literacy Guide
Social Impact Investors
- New Spirit Farmland Partnerships is a social finance organization that connects sustainable farmers to land and business opportunities
- Organic Farmland Access Program helps investors to buy land, which they subsequently lease to farmers that enroll in the program
- The Land Connection facilitates socially motivated investors to buy land, transition it to organic and resell it to organic farmers.
- NCB Capital Impact provides flexible financing to projects that increase healthy food access in low income California communities
- Impact Investing for Rural Wealth Creation: Investing for Financial Returns and Community Impact
- The Working World finances cooperative businesses
Community Based Financing
- Financing Alternatives for Small Farms by CA Farmlink
- UVM Guide to Financing the Community Supported Farm
- The Carrot Project provides small to medium ($5,000-$75,000) loans to farmers and farm-related businesses by partnering with banks and community loan funds. They operate in Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and the Greater Berkshires region of New York and Connecticut.
- The Farmer and Lender Project: Strategies to Sustain and Enhance Rural Development in North Carolina RAFI-USA.
- Land, Liberty, Sunshine, Stamina: Mini Compendium on Land Tenure Resources by the Greenhorns
- Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) connects local business networks and leaders to spread solutions and increase investment in local economies
- USDA Rural Development Resources offers grants, loans, technical assistance and research to help rural cooperatives be established and expand.
- USDA Rural Cooperatives Magazine
- Vermont Farm Fund
Small Business Resources
- Center for Rural Affairs’ Rural Enterprise Assistance Program (REAP) offers business planning, micro-loans (up to $50,000), and technical assistance to rural entrepreneurs
- Fast Trac New Ventures – Kauffman Foundation
- Small Business Administration (SBA)
- Provides guidelines for business planning and local offices will often help with actual plans
- SCORE a nonprofit association that helps small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through workshops and mentorship.
- The Shift Network provides various courses focused on helping Social Entrepreneurs plan for success
- Goodnik offers workshops for new social impact business in NYC
Managing Debt
- Project on Student Debt
- The National Foundation for Credit Counseling is a good and safe place to start – they connect people to community-based office that can provide credit counseling and education. Go to their site, or call 800-388-2227.
- Feedthepig.org is a cutely named campaign for public education on smart money management
- Student Loan Calculator and Amortization
Grants and Loans
Finding the Money
- The Carrot Project’s financing resources page
- Center for Rural Affairs Beginning Farmer Funding Sources
- Beginning Farmers.org Funding Resources
- Southside Community Land Trust – Urban Ag Financing Resources
- Center for Rural Affairs’ Rural Enterprise Assistance Program (REAP)
- Financing Your Farm by CA Farmlink
- Financing Alternatives for Small Farms by CA Farmlink
- Farm Service Agency (FSA)
- The FSA’s Farm Loan Information Chart is an easy access key to the different financing programs available, and their terms
- The Plain Language Guide to Applying for a FSA loan from the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
- USDA Loan Chart Fact Sheet
- Farm Credit Network is a national network of member-owned farmer credit cooperatives
- FC East program for beginning farmers
- Super Useful eOrganic Webinar, ‘NRCS EQUIP: Technical and Financial Support for Conservation on Organic Farms’ created by Oregon Tilth’s Organic Conservation Program
Alternative Loan Resources
- Slow Money Alliance
- Micro Enterprise Works
- RSF Social Finance offers loans to both non-profit and for profit enterprises, focusing on sustainable food and agriculture and ecological stewardship
- Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) – Tobacco Reinvestment Fund
- Whole Foods Market’s Local Producer Loan Program (LPLP) provides up to $10 million in low-interest loans to small, local producers
- Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) provides financing and business support services to small business enterprises in Northern New England and upstate NY
Revolving Loan Funds
- NOFA VT’s Revolving Loan Fund
- Equity Trust Fund
- Catholic Worker Farmer Revolving Loan Fund
- Grow NYC’s New Farm Development Program Loan Fund
Grants
- Guide to state and federal grants for small farmers Cornell Small Farms Program
- Guide to SARE grants (farmer research grants from the USDA) Cornell Small Farms Program
- ATTRA provides information on EQUIP grants program
- NSAC – Guide to Conservation Grants through the Farm Bill
- Oregon Tilth’s Organic Conservation Program
- Animal Welfare Approved – Good Husbandry Grants Program
Financial and Business Planning
- Farm Beginnings Hawthorne Valley offers farm planning courses and workshops.
- Cornell Small Farms Program
- Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship
- Stateline Farm Beginnings – A farmer-led training and support program designed to help people plan and launch sustainable farm businesses
- Guide for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Related Guides and Helpful Organizations
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- Marketing, Business and Risk Management Guide
- Resources for Beginning Farmers
- The Carrot Project farm business planning resources
- NE Beginning Farmers Guide to Farming in NY
- SARE’s Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses
- DACUM Occupational Profile for Northeast Small Scale Sustainable Farmer
- Holistic Management International offers training, business training, based on agriculture instead of another industry and lead in teaching management skills based four interrelated tenets: financial planning, grazing planning, land planning and biological monitoring
- Holistic Planning Manual You can request the pdf .
- Start2Farm an extensive resource catalog for financing of all types, business and legal startup and marketing
- Field Guide to the New American Foodshed – Decision Tree for farm planning
- Beginning Farmer and Rancher Blog by farmer Poppy Davis
- Rogue Farm Corps located in Ashland, Oregon
- Land Is Life
Professional Assistance
Agricultural Mediation
The USDA funds agricultural mediators in many states whose job is to help resolved disputes and mediate disagreements in agricultural deals
- CA Farmlink’s guide to conflict resolution
- Vermont Agricultural Mediation Program
- New York Agricultural Mediation Program
- Maine Ag Mediation Program
Educators
- Grange Farm School
- Sustainable Agriculture Education Association
- COMFOOD list serve has a compilation of programs via TUFTS
- Edmonds Community College Urban Agriculture Program
- Seattle Central College Food Systems Program
- Skagit Valley College Small Farm Agriculture
Succession Planning
- Guide to Succession Planning. North Carolina Transition Network
- International Farm Transition Network. Listing of Network Participants
- Estate Planning Resources by the Farm Transfer Network of New England offers great estate and retirement planning resources and links
- Estate Planning The National Agricultural Law Center
- AgTransitions is online transition planning tool
- Managing Farm Transitions. North Carolina Transition Network
- The National Agricultural Law Center’s Estate Planning Reading Room lists publications and resources on estate planning
- Ag Transitions an online transition planning tool called AgTransitions, which guides you through writing your plan and allows you to get feedback and share it
Farm Advocates and Legal Aid
- Farm Advocate Link is a new national network of farm advocates whose mission is to train and support a new generation of farm advocates
- Farm Aid’s Farmer Resource Network
- The Farmers Legal Action Group (FLAG) provides free legal advice to farmers
- Farm Commons provides legal aid and resources to farm businesses like helping farmers draft sales agreements, leases, food safety plans,employee hiring, and succession plans
- Model CSA Member Agreeement
- Model Worker Share Agreement
- Farm Interns, Employees and Volunteers Agreement Documents.
- The Food Law Firm
- The Sustainable Economies Law Center
- Offers assistance and resources for navigating the economic and legal arrangements of the “new economy” – i.e., they could help you with community-based investing, cooperative structure, bartering, etc.
- NE Beginning Farmers Guide to Farming in NY – Legal Aspects of Rural Living
- A project of the Conservation Law Foundation — www.legalservicesfoodhub.org or email legalservicesfoodhub@clf.org
Regional Organic Farming Organizations
- Listing of Organic Farming Associations by State from the Organic Consumers Association.
- Farm Start Ontario based, helps make farming accessible
- NE Beginning Farmers Guide to Farming in NY – Financing a Farm Operation
- The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s Grassroots Guide to the Farm Bill
- The FarmLASTS Project: Farm Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship
- New Entry Sustainable Farming Project – Resource Guides
- The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project offers a variety of guides geared especially towards low-literacy populations, but useful to all of us. They also offer beginning farmer training programs and workshops
- Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training, CRAFT
Farmworker Organizations
- National Farmworker Industry
- Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste
- United Farmworkers
- Coalition of Immokalee Workers
- Student Action with Farmworkers
- Rural and Migrant Ministry
- Toxic Free NC
- Farmworker Association Florida
- Sakuma Farmworkers
- Farmworker Justice
- NC Farmworker Ministry
- NC Field
Media
- Growing Farmers Documentary
- National Beginning Farmer Technical Assistance Initiative – Webinar 1: Incubators 101
- Audio Recording of Marie Cirillo, “Stories from An Appalachian Community”
- Let’s Talk About Soil Video produced by Uli Henrik Streckenbach
- To Market: Growing an Economy Around Food, The Vermont Farmers Food Center
- Fields Without Dreams: Defending the Agrarian Ideal, Victor Davis Hanson (1997)
Networking
Farming/Outdoor/Environmental Job Sources
Environmental Ed/ Conservation:
- Association of Nature Center Administrators
- Conservation Job Board
- Environmental Jobs & Careers
- Green Collar Jobs *
- Green Corps
- Green Jobs in Canada *
- NAI Interp-Net
- North American Assoc. of Env. Education
- Southeast Environmental Education
- Student Conservation Association
- Unity College Green Jobs Board
- USA Jobs
- Wisconsin DNR
Food & Farm:
- ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture Program
- Backdoor Jobs -Sustainable Living & Farming
- Beginning Farmers *
- COM-Food Jobs List-serv
- Ecological Farming Association
- Farm and Food Jobs
- Farm-Based Education Network *
- Food Corps
- Good Food Jobs
- National Young Farmers Coalition
- Sustainable Ag jobs Facebook group
- Vermont Community Garden Network
- WOOF-ing
Outdoor/Experiential/Adventure Ed:
- Adventure Jobs
- American Camp Association
- Association for Experiential Education
- Camp Jobs
- Outdoor Education Jobs Google group
Outdoor Ed. Jobs - Outdoor Ed Jobs Facebook group
- National Recreation and Park Association
- NOLS Alumni Jobs Network