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INVESTIGATOR: Freedgood, J.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST, INC
1150 CONNECTICUT AVE STE 600
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 20036

TRANSITIONING LAND TO A NEW GENERATION: PREPARING TRAINERS TO HELP FACILITATE TRANSFER

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The overarching goal of Transitioning Land to a New Generation is to ensure a new generation of farmers and ranchers can achieve secure land tenure to support viable agricultural operations. We propose to create an adaptable, skills-based curriculum that can be used across the country to prepare agricultural educators and service providers to be Land Transfer Trainers (LTTs) so that they can better support beginners and agricultural landowners as they confront the complex financial, legal and interpersonal issues related to land transfer. Further, we seek to grow an ever-expanding network of skilled professionals to provide technical assistance to meet growing demands to facilitate farm succession and access to land. This approach builds on American Farmland Trust's (AFT) successful 2015 BFRDP ET project, Farmland for the Next Generation.AFT is proposing this work because a seismic transition of land is on the horizon. More than 40% of American farmland--371 million acres--is owned by seniors aged 65 and older, both senior principal operators and nonoperator landlords. At the same time, access to land is a major barrier for young, beginning, and socially disadvantaged (New Gen) farmers and ranchers who want to succeed in agriculture.This project is both urgent and timely. The release of the 2017 Census of Agriculture is a stark reminder that the stakes of transfer are high. While only 16% of primary producers are under age 45, 38% are aged 65 or older--with a 15% increase of retirement age producers since the 2012 Census. More than six times as many primary producers are age 65 and older as those under the age of 35. This imbalance is especially pronounced when compared with the general employed workforce, where more than 5 times as many workers are under 35 as over 65.It used to be that land passed from generation to generation through cradle, alter, or grave. Today most farmland is acquired from a non-relative. While resources exist to support traditional farm succession situations, few are available to address transfer to a new and more diverse generation of farmers and ranchers--especially those whose production systems, values and goals differ from current agricultural landowners.Families spend years managing their farms and ranches with the hope of keeping future generations on the land. However, many operations are not profitable enough to transfer. In other cases, heirs want to manage their own--or a different kind of operation, or do not want to continue in agriculture at all. These are complex and charged issues which require empathy and emotional sensitivity along with technical knowledge to resolve.Navigating transfer issues with nonrelatives is equally--if not more--challenging. It takes extra skill to bridge cultural, demographic and production system differences. And it takes extra effort to connect New Gen producers with nonoperator landowners - including women nonfarming landlords (WNOLs), local governments, land trusts, churches, and other institutions who have suitable land and are willing to make it available to New Gen producers. However, a dearth of resources is available to address the full breadth and depth of these issues. In searching Farm Answers, we did not find curriculum or programs that take this kind of holistic, 21st Century approach to farm transfer.It has been widely reported that access to land is a pervasive challenge for young and beginning farmers and ranchers. It is especially difficult for beginners to acquire affordable land with appropriate housing and infrastructure due to farm consolidation, appreciation of land values, conversion of farmland to development, and a tight supply of land to purchase or rent. USDA estimated that only 10% of agricultural lands would change hands between 2015 and 2019, and only 2% to a nonfamily member. Whether or not New Gen producers will inherit land, they need knowledge and skills to negotiate with family members and/or nonrelatives to achieve secure land tenure.These issues are aggravated by the fact that New Gen producers are more diverse than prior generations and much more so than agricultural landowners, 98 % of whom are white. Farm laborers also are increasingly diverse. African American, Asian American, Black, Native American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic farmers are more likely to be tenants and own less land, although many want to be independent operators and are qualified to manage their own operations. Heirs' property and fractionated property rights further impede inheritance especially for African American and Native American producers. Yet few farm transfer resources address these thorny issues.At the same time, the types of agricultural landowners also are increasingly varied--from individuals to institutions. Institutional landowners often have available farmland but do not know how to find or negotiate suitable arrangements with qualified New Gen producers. In addition, 544,000 WNOLs play an increasingly important role in farm transfer. They own about 25% of the 354 million acres rented out for farming and are especially committed to farm families and farm communities. Even fewer resources are available to engage and support nonoperating landowners to transition their land to New Gen producers. FarmAnswers.org does provide valuable farm transfer resources, yet none really address relationships between increasingly diverse New Gen demographics and multiple types of agricultural landowners. Programs include Land for Good's Farm Legacy Program, National Young Farmers Coalition's (NYFC) Finding Farmland Course, California Farm Link's Farm Succession Guidebook and Renewing the Countryside' s Farmland Access Hub. Further, aside from AFT's prior BFRDP work and NYFC's Finding Farmland, these programs are regionally based in areas with robust farmer services, leaving much of the country without local expertise.AFT is filling this void. Through this Educational Team project, we propose to: 1. Evaluate existing curricula, programs and resources related to land transfer; 2. Develop curriculum and materials to fill gaps; 3. Prepare a cohort of Land Transfer Trainers to train New Gen producers, landowners and other trainer; and 4. Expand and continue to serve a network of land transfer professionals, New Gen producers and landowners through the AFT's Farmland Information Center and BFRDP Curriculum and Training Clearinghouse.Our primary target audiences are agricultural educators and service providers, New Gen farmers and ranchers, and agricultural landowners who are ready to transfer land, including senior producers and nonfarming landowners. Our geographic scope is national. We will select participants from each of the 10 USDA-ERS production regions to ensure representation from different states, agricultural production systems and demographics.Our approach is designed to prepare a network of agricultural educators and service providers to help New Gen producers and all kinds of agricultural landowners gain the knowledge and skills they need to effectively negotiate land transfer and tenure arrangements. The future of US agriculture and our food system depends on it.

OBJECTIVES: Our overarching goal is to ensure New Gen farmers and ranchers can achieve secure land tenure to support viable agricultural operations.Toward thisend,we will achieve the followingfouroutcomes:25agriculturalservice providersare certified as Land TransferTrainers;200additionalagricultural service providersarepreparedto deliver AFT's new land transfer curriculumand form the core of anationalland transfer professionalnetwork;1000New Gen farmersand agricultural landownersgainvitalbusiness, communicationsandlegal knowledgeand skillstonegotiate land transferarrangements;500additionalagricultural service providers,New Gen producers and landowners use the curriculum, materials and/orresources compiled during the project to pursue their land transfer goals.We havefourinter-related project objectives to achieve these outcomes and goals:Objective 1:Completeanevaluation ofexistingland transfercurriculaand programsto identify, collect and assess resources and gaps.Objective 2:Skills-basedland transfer curriculumisvalidatedand usedtomeet diverse New Gen producer needs,fill gaps andachievehigh adult learning standards.Objective 3:Acohort of Land Transfer Trainers (LTTs)is preparedtouse and adapt the curriculumto train New Gen producers,landownersand other trainersin the regions they serve.Objective 4:Expandednetwork ofprofessionals,New Gen producers and landownerscontinuesto beservedthrough the CTCandFIC.