Finding New Ways to Pass on the Farm
From Yes! by Liz Pleasant Carol Ptak and her husband own Blacksmith Ranch, a small grass-fed Highland Cattle operation just outside of Rochester, Wash. The farm sits on more than 100 acres halfway between Seattle and Portland. Besides cattle, Carol and her husband raise quails, chukkaras, and pheasants. They also run a horse hay business, […]
Big Land Gift in One of the Countries Costliest Areas
From the Point Reyes Light by Samantha Kinney The Marin Agricultural Land Trust this week announced a gift that could start a new chapter for the nonprofit: Corey Goodman and Marcia Barinaga’s bequest of their 823-acre ranch in Marshall. It’s the first time anyone has left a ranch to MALT, which has purchased over 46,000 […]
Small Investors Enter the Land for Profit Market
From the Wall Street Journal by Liz Moyer Investing in farmland and forest tracts is sometimes described as “gold with a coupon”—a hedge against inflation, because land prices tend to rise along with overall inflation, that also pays a steady income. Small investors have access to these markets through publicly traded real-estate investment trusts. Share […]
From the Ground Up: Keep Growing Detroit
Check out this initiative in Detroit, taking back the land and working towards food security in one of the country’s most troubled cities. Keep Growing Detroit (KGD) exists to promote a food sovereign city where the majority of fruits and vegetables Detroiters consume are grown by residents within the city’s limits. Although we are a […]
This Land is Our Land
As we forge forward, we analyze and reanalyze all of the possibilities for our farm future. In 2011, On the Commons hosted a gathering for a variety of individuals wishing to reclaim farmland as a commons. The group focused on exploring new models for land ownership and land investment, among other topics. Here is a […]
Food, Farms, Profit: Why Are Foreign Investors Buying U.S. Farmland?
These articles are just a few of the accounts of the scary trend in farmland. By Steve Holt from takepart.com The news from the Department of Agriculture this week wasn’t good. The USDA’s dour projections suggest that, after a record five-year boom in crop prices, that bubble is set to burst, potentially decreasing annual farm profits by […]
Last Chance to Submit Proposal for Historic WA Farm
PCC Farmland Trust is currently seeking a qualified tenant or buyer for the 120 acre Historic Reise Farm, located in the fertile Puyallup River Valley in Pierce County. The entire property, 66 acres farmable, will be available for lease beginning January 2015 for a negotiated lease term. PCC Farmland Trust will also consider purchase options […]
Farmland Giving Program in Iowa
Iowa’s Farmland-Giving Program could be a boost for next generation farmers in solidarity with their predecessors, but is it really getting the next generation of small farmers on the land or is it just a tax break, passed on to large or corporate farm management companies growing commodity crops for export? How can we take […]
More Theater About Succession!
From the WCFCourier.com by Sarah Strandberg When it became time to sell his family’s farm near Stanton, settled by his Swedish immigrant grandparents, Dale Nimrod and his siblings — none of whom had remained in Stanton — worked to find an appropriate owner. “We were no different from many aging landowners facing this very common […]
Applications Open for Resident Farmer: Michigan
From The Grand Traverse Insider by Kristine Morris The ISLAND (Institute for Sustainable Living, Art and Natural Design) Farmer Residency Program is looking for smart, talented journeymen farmers to participate in a farm incubator project at the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy’s Maple Bay Farm, located just south of Elk Rapids. Applications for the 2015 […]