As ecological instability rocks the globe and the cost of living in urban centers skyrockets, the concept of land stewardship has never been more vital – or more appealing. The post-pandemic trend of seeking a slow-paced life – and the current barrage of social media imagery featuring brightly colored vegetables and bountiful meadows – means scores of people are ready to sign up for farm life.
There’s only one problem: the age-old question of land access.
Over 70% of U.S. farmland is owned by individuals 55 or older, and it’s estimated that over 50% of the country’s farmland will change ownership over the next two decades. The agricultural landscape is on the precipice of real change. The question is how to bring equity into the process.
To that end, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) is hosting a webinar series on alternative land access to help would-be farmers figure out how to get creative.
If creativity thrives on limitations, folks looking to try some alternatives to traditional models of land ownership have plenty to work with. Between 2003 and 2023, the U.S. lost 58.2 million acres of farmland, often to real estate developers, with the remaining land more remote and often of lower quality. And even if you have access to land, you need access to capital, which is bad news for those without generational wealth.
While those working in farm advocacy are looking to address these issues in the upcoming Farm Bill, there are plenty of examples of cooperative farm efforts to look to in the meantime.
In the first webinar of the series, representatives of the Quebecois cooperative farm La Ferme Tourne-Sol recommended starting with renting land, to work out the kinks of the business and make a name for yourself. Long term, however, the investment of purchasing land allows a group to build a more permanent legacy, which in their case meant owning the land collectively.
In 2016, their farming co-op purchased 12 acres while renting another five. By removing goals surrounding capital gains and financial investment, the co-op prioritized living wages for their members so they could build wealth individually outside the co-op, with the business remaining a source of stability for its members. Membership involves an initial investment of $6,000 and it comes with health benefits, a seniority-based salary scale, a chance to participate in the co-op’s development and shares in the profits.
While all this sounds simple enough on paper, the need for a governing structure will help keep communications smooth and interpersonal discord out. La Ferme Tourne-Sol uses a model called holacracy, which operates according to the principles of decentralized management and distributes decision-making through self-governing teams. Instead of focusing on individuals, holacracy focuses on working roles and responsibilities and is organized through nesting circles of decision-makers, such as a vegetable production circle, a sales and marketing circle and a facilities management circle. These circles nest amongst each other and are trusted with the authority to make decisions, except on occasions when the group needs to make decisions together.
Meeting processes are designed to find the sweet spot between efficiency and mutual understanding. The result of their carefully constructed cooperative governance structure is that La Ferme Tourne-Sol is an entity that successfully provides opportunities for individual enrichment through collective support, all through a healthy and reciprocal relationship with the land they tend.
As the Tourne-Sol folks would be first to admit, their path to land ownership was a lucky one. Having rented the land for years, when the owners ultimately decided to sell it was to the individuals having already shown their success. While the land was pricey, they only had to buy the minimum allotment their business required; they could continue renting adjacent land as needed. The sellers also threw in equipment and other assets in exchange for 20 years of vegetables. That kind of deal is hard to beat, and few get so lucky, as the founders of Porter, Maine’s La Finca Cooperative can attest.
In the second session on alternative land access, Antonio LaSalle and Amara Watkin-Anson shared their firsthand experiences with severe obstacles to land access. Though both are experienced farmers, and LaSalle has a personal connection to the land they were looking to purchase, their application for a loan was denied – an occurrence which is statistically likelier for applicants of color. Fortunately, the organization Land in Common stepped in – a “knight in shining armor,” LaSalle said.
An organization whose stated mission is to remove land from speculative markets and place it in a member-run trust, Land in Common saw La Finca as perfect partners for their project. They share a belief that the very concept of land ownership is flawed, and that the future of farming rests in our ability to move toward a structure that favors communal stewardship over private equity.
Leading by example, Land in Common offers land access opportunities for BIPOC farmers who would otherwise have been shut out. At La Finca, they are putting up sweat equity for a 90-year stewardship agreement for the ground itself while still owning their own business and structures. Half of any annual profits made are reinvested into the business and the remainder are distributed among co-op members.
For Megan Browning, farm services program facilitator for NOFA, the thriving farm cooperatives featured in the series offered as much a learning experience for her as for the webinar attendees. She’s quick to say it’s the co-op members themselves who are the experts. But since the topic of land access is one of the most pressing issues in agriculture nationwide, her mission was clear.
“There’s a real hunger in our community,” said Browning. “People are yearning to create more values-based community farm projects.”
However cherished the farm life dream, it’s the nitty-gritty details that can make or break a project. Fraught interpersonal dynamics, piles of paperwork, a strong business plan – fail to think these elements through and it’s unlikely a farm will last long. But hearing from the people who have been through the process and come out the other side is a great opportunity to calculate the right strategy while still getting excited about the possibilities.
“Our goal with the series is to get all the people in the room interested in this to nerd out about it,” Browning said. She was delighted to report the plan was a success.
“We were really validated that there was this overwhelming interest. The reach was across 20 states and four Canadian provinces – folks who have land, folks who don’t, just a huge range of folks who are really interested in this.”
If you’re one of them, stay tuned for the next installment on Sept. 9, and monthly through the end of the year. Find information on the full series at nofavt.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/nofavt/event.jsp?event=524&.
by Holly Devon
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