Linking Farmers with Land: Overview

Thu, 05/06/2010 - 13:36 — Web Editor

Introduction | Background | How Do Linking Programs Work? | Learn More

Farmer and rancher linking programs connect new farmers with retiring landowners. When the new and retiring generation match up, they can work out mutually beneficial arrangements to transfer ownership while maintaining a small farm’s legacy and promoting good stewardship.

New Farmer/Rancher Benefits

gain access to land

find help with financing

learn from experienced landowners

Landowner Benefits

ensure the continuity of a farm’s operation and legacy

bring fresh energy and strong hands to work on the farm

ease transition into retirement

New farmers have different needs than established farmers and ranchers. Beginning farmers often lack the capital and the scale of operation required to make profits with the high-cost technologies and production systems that are the focus of many research and education programs. By working with established landowners through land linking programs, new farmers can access the resources and support they need to become successful.

Find a program:

Land Link is the Center's Linking Program
Listings of linkage programs nationwide

Background

Right now, the American farming population is aging, and new farmers aren’t getting in:

Half of all current farmers are likely to retire in the next decade

U.S. farmers over age 55 control more than half the country’s farmland

The number of entry-level farmers has fallen by 30 percent since 1987

New farmers make up only 10 percent of farmers and ranchers

Without cooperation between the retiring and the new generations of farmers and ranchers, farmland continues to concentrate in larger and larger farms, causing the permanent loss of opportunity for family farms, ranches, and rural communities and squandering the chance to shift to a more sustainable system of agriculture.

Land linking programs work against this loss of small family farms. Land linking programs preserve the existence and legacy of the small family farms that form the backbone of thriving rural communities. When beginning farmers and established landowners work together, they ensure that the American independent farmer is here to stay.

How Do Linking Programs Work?

Linking programs compile lists of new farmers/ranchers and lists of landowners. A few programs list their participants online so both landowners and new farmers can see their options for linking people and land. For nearly all of these programs, it is the responsibility of the new farmer or rancher to look through the list of landowners to identify locations, situations, and property that fits their goals. Then, the new farmer or rancher can contact the landowner to get to know each other and start a conversation about linking possibilities.

Most programs offer or require application forms that ask about participants’ assets, experience and goals. It’s helpful for both landowners and beginners to work through these subjects and know what they want to get out of a linking relationship before starting a conversation about transitioning. While flexibility is important in working out an agreement, a participant who doesn’t know what he or she wants will turn away potential partners.

Most programs focus on specific states or regions, so beginning farmers and ranchers interested in a particular area should look for a local linking program. The Center for Rural Affairs’ linking program, Land Link, works with farmers nationwide.