An event for funders discussing farmland preservation will be livestreamed Wednesday 4/29 from 11:30am – 2pm EST
From Community Food Funders:
Farmland throughout the nation is disappearing due to more lucrative opportunities for land use, such as commercial or housing development and private estates. This is especially true in our region. Loss of land and high land prices are preventing small farmers from accessing farmable land, and creates an incentive for established farmers to sell their land for non-agricultural uses. This situation presents a problem for conservation, local food access, and farmers’ livelihoods.
Philanthropic funds, loans, and equity investments are all avenues to support the preservation of farmland in the Northeast. Programs or managing organizations that can leverage agricultural and conservation expertise to effectively deploy these different types of funds are necessary to ensure that land is best put to use with a combination of environmental, social, and financial goals in mind.
Join us for a funder briefing where we will hear from three such groups working towards these goals. This is the second briefing offered by CFF’s new Farmland Access & Preservation Working Group, following one held last November.
PRESENTERS
- Steve Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, Scenic Hudson, and Executive Director, The Scenic Hudson Land Trust
- Bob Bernstein, Manager, Chester Agricultural Center, and Managing Director, Northeast Farm Access
- Jim Oldham, Executive Director, Equity Trust, and Manager, Equity Trust Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Fund