Farm Profile: Camas Swale Farm
photographs by Jason Rydquist Amber Lippert and Jonah Bloch grow vegetables for a buyers club and some restaurants as Camas Swale Farm. Last year they grew for their 80 CSA shares. This year, through an unexpected change in land tenure, they’ve chosen to keep the operation small to have the time and attention needed for […]
New Flemish Land Access Initiative
A recently established cooperative aims to purchase or acquire usage rights over land, and subsequently renting it out to to farmland to small-scale, short-chain organic farmers in Flanders. Its main goal is to provide professional farmers with an opportunity to gain firmer footing in today’s agricultural system through durable (long-term) usage agreements. In so doing, De […]
Featured Resource: New Study on Land Access and Beginning Farmers in Coastal California
A new study published by The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development (FAFSCD) investigates land access. Read the entire study Land Trusts and Beginning Farmers’ Access to Land: Exploring the Relationships in Coastal California by Jessica Beckett and Ryan E. Galt Published online March 13, 2014 Abstract This paper examines relationships between beginner […]
FarmStart for the Next Generation
FarmStart from Sustain Ontario on Vimeo. FarmStart is a charitable organization that provides training to a new generation of farmers. FarmStart provides someone with an interest in farming with a small test piece of land to see if farming is for them. But a piece of land alone doesn’t make the farmer. In the second […]
$20.5 Million in Farmland Protection Funding Announced in NY
Governor Cuomo Announces $20.5 Million Available for Farmland Protection Grants Offered for First Time in Five Years May 14, 2014 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the availability of $20.5 million to aid farmland protection efforts and help prevent viable agricultural land from being converted to non-agricultural use. Eligible entities, including municipalities, counties, soil and water […]
Iowa Farmer Doubts National Geographic’s “Five Steps”
This article, entitled National Geographic’s ‘Five Steps’ Won’t Feed The World: An Iowa Farmer’s View was written by George Naylor and published by the Huffington Post. The brief article, “A Five-Step Plan to Feed the World” offered by Professor Jonathan Foley in the latest National Geographic magazine, clearly states the stark features of a global […]
Images of Progress – 2014 Our Land Symposium
In April of 2014, the Our Land Symposium brought together farmers, thinkers, land and legal experts and those who do it all or anything in between. See some images from the gathering here and stay tuned for what’s next!
Experience Speaks: Alternatives to Farm Ownership
Alternatives to Ownership: Land Trusts as Land Reform by Robert Swann In those countries where traditional land reform (redistribution of land to private owners as initiated by the central state – examples in Japan, Taiwan, Iran some South American countries, etc) has taken place, redistribution of land has resulted in some cases (Taiwan for instance) […]
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 […]
Agrarian Trust and Allies in the News
By Michael Levitin from NationofChange.org There’s a new currency here called Bay Bucks that’s helping businesses trade in services and get off the dollar. There’s a new agriculture-tech startup called CropMobster helping redistribute excess produce and cut down on food waste. And a new electricity provider, Sonoma Clean Power, just flipped on the switch May 1 to supply tens of […]