Origins - Agrarian Trust

History

The History of the Agrarian Commons

The Agrarian Commons is a necessary and innovative land-ownership model that addresses the current realities of how land is owned, how tenure and equity are conveyed, and how land stewardship is carried out. This model challenges corporate and large-scale agriculture land-ownership models and offers a new, sustainable approach for the small farmer.

The first Agrarian Commons were created in 2020, and currently there are 12 Agrarian Commons in varying stages of development. Below is the history of how this new model was developed.

The Origins of the Agrarian Commons

The Agrarian Commons Creation Committees

Two Agrarian Commons Creation Committees met, the first in 2019 and the second in early 2020, to co-create documents and agreements to guide the first cohort of Agrarian Commons. These committees brought together national leaders, innovators, local and regional stakeholders, and aligned organizations to ensure that broad and diverse perspectives and experience informed the launch of Agrarian Commons. Agrarian Trust hosted and facilitated both committees, and we are grateful for the participants’ expertise and thoughtfulness.

Janelle Orsi, Neil Thapar, Sara Stephens, Cameron Rhudy, and other attorneys at Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) initiated the process of developing open source “commons” legal tools for community-owned farmland and equitable tenure for farmers in 2015, and we continued to develop those tools through committee discussions.

The 2019 committee included advisors, organizational partners, attorneys, and farmland-access and -tenure practitioners who refined SELC’s draft documents and created templates.

The 2020 committee, composed of founding farmers, community stakeholders, and Agrarian Commons Founders, localized these documents, refining legal language that covers the following topics:

Farmer equity and tenure security with equitable lease / ground lease
Agrarian Commons 501(c)(2) and 501(c)(25) bylaws
Cultural respect easements
Legal language to prohibit market-based sale of land
Options to ensure active farming and stewardship
Farm standards, forest standards, and ecological-stewardship standards and agreements

Agrarian Commons Creation Committee Members

2020 Committee

The 2020 Committee comprised attorneys and national and local stakeholders, representing the states and regions of the founding Agrarian Commons. Affiliations reflect participants’ work and location at that time.

Agrarian Trust Team: Ian McSweeney, Eliza Spellman Taylor, Kendra Johnson, David Harper, Daniel Forkner, and Megan Browning

California

Paul Muller, Full Belly Farm

Tim Mueller, Riverdog Farm

Thomas Nelson, Kitchen Table Advisors

Gwenael Engelskirchen, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, UC Davis

Cameron Rhudy, Sustainable Economies Law Center

Maine

Lana Cannon Dracup, Liberation Farms

Muhidin Libah, Somali Bantu Community Association

Kristina Kalolo, Liberation Farms

Abby Sadauckas, Land For Good

Erica Buswell, Maine Farmland Trust

Beth Boepple, BCM Environmental & Land Law PLLC

Ashley Bahlkow, Somali Bantu Community Association

Jonah Fertig-Burd, Cooperative Development Institute

Ethan Miller, Land in Common

Gamana A. Yarow, Somali Bantu Community Association

Sahal A. Jimale, Somali Bantu Community Association

Minnesota

Julie Ristau, Sharing Our Roots (formerly Main Street Project)

Susan Stokes, Farmers’ Legal Action Group

Robin Moore, Land Stewardship Project,

Josie Trople, Sharing Our Roots (formerly Main Street Project)

Andrew Ehrmann, Spring Wind Farm

Montana

Kristin King-Ries, Trust Montana

Hermina Harold, Trust Montana

New Hampshire

Deb Abrahams-Dematte, Anthroposophical Society in America and Monadnock Community Land Trust, New Hampshire

Jamie Bemis, Three Sisters Ecofarm and Bright Power Inc., New Hampshire

Jeremy Lougee, Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire, New Hampshire

Luke Mahoney, Brookford Farm, New Hampshire

Catarina Mahoney, Brookford Farm, New Hampshire

Amy Manzelli, BCM Environmental & Land Law PLLC, New Hampshire

Jeremiah Vernon, Vernon Family Farm, New Hampshire

Nicole Vernon, Vernon Family Farm, New Hampshire

Tennessee

Sam Harvey, Windy Acres Farm (formerly Free Range Farm)

Lyle Harvey, Windy Acres Farm (formerly Free Range Farm)

Dan Raines, Windy Acres Farm

Evelyn Raines, Windy Acres Farm

Miranda Christy, Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella PC

Virginia

Michael Carter Jr., Carter Family Farms and Virginia State University

Nikki D’Adamo-Damery, Maggie Walker Community Land Trust

Kim Kirkbride, New River Land Trust

Suzanne Pierce, CowanPerry PC

Cameron Terry, Garden Variety Harvests

Vermont

Brandon Bless, Bread & Butter Farm

Corie Pierce, Bread & Butter Farm

Alison Nihart, University of Vermont

Fran Miller, Vermont Law School Center for Agriculture and Food Systems

Jason Van Driesche, Front Porch Forum

Joyce Cellars, CPG Enterprises Inc.

Sheramy Tsai, registered nurse

Washington

Konrad Liegel, private practice, and Puget Sound Agrarian Commons attorney

Elizabeth Dunne, Dunne Law

Judy Feldman, Organic Farm School

Addie Candib, American Farmland Trust

West Virginia

Susanna Wheeler, New Roots Community Farm

Adam Hodges, West Virginia State University and Fayette County Farmland Protection Board

Josh Stover, Stover Heritage Farms

Mike Smith, Fayette County Urban Renewal Authority

Linda Stein, New River Health Association

Liz Campbell, Fayette County Assistant Prosecutor

Attorneys

Kristin King-Ries, Trust Montana, Montana

Amy Manzelli, BCM Environmental & Land Law PLLC, New Hampshire

Miranda Christy, Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella PC, Tennessee

Suzanne Pierce, CowanPerry PC, Virginia

Fran Miller, Vermont Law School, Vermont

Konrad Liegel, private practice, and WA Agrarian Commons attorney, Washington

Elizabeth Dunne, Dunne Law, Washington

Liz Campbell, Fayette County Assistant Prosecutor, West Virginia

Beth Boepple, BCM Environmental & Land Law PLLC, Maine

Susan Stokes, Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Minnesota

Sara Stephens, Sustainable Economies Law Center, California

Neil Thapar, Sustainable Economies Law Center, California

Jillian Hishaw, F.A.R.M.S., North Carolina

Emma Hempstead, FairShake Environmental Legal Services, Pennsylvania

Sara Dewey, Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts

Amy Laura Cahn, Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts

Rachel Armstrong, Farm Commons, Minnesota

Clark Arrington, The Working World, New York

2019 Committee

The 2019 Committee brought together national leaders, innovators, and representatives of aligned organizations. Affiliations reflect participants’ work and location at that time.

Rachel Armstrong, Farm Commons, Minnesota

Clark Arrington, The Working World, New York

Laura Bozzi, Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, Connecticut

Ted Bellinger, New Venture Advisors LLC, Illinois

Amy Laura Cahn, Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts

Miranda Christy, Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella PC, and Middle Tennessee Agrarian Commons attorney, Tennessee

Sara Dewey, Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts

Jonah Fertig-Burd, Cooperative Development Institute, Massachusetts

Zoey Fink, New Mexico

Rebecca Fletcher, Equity Trust, Massachusetts

Mike Ghia, Land For Good, New Hampshire

Jennifer Hashley, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, Massachusetts