Exploring and elevating new ideas and strategies to save America’s working land, American Farmland Trust (AFT) recently hosted a national conference in Dallas, Texas. Mike Ghia, our Vermont Field Agent, attended the conference along with other agriculture service providers, conservation practitioners, researchers, planners, farmers, and ranchers from across the country. Saving America’s Working Lands offered workshops, farm and ranch tours, discussion groups, and conference sessions that elevated successes and responded to practitioner needs for approaches to save the land that sustains us. Mike especially appreciated the opportunity to discuss emerging issues and trends, and he shared some reflections from the conference.
“I learned a significant amount about what is going on across the country, much of which has potential to enhance Land For Good’s work and provide new opportunities for exploration. A great deal of learning came from the workshops, as well as while networking in between workshops, and on the ranch tour. ”
Mike Ghia, Vermont Field Agent, Land For Good
On an immersive tour of 77 Ranch in Blooming Grove, Texas—a 2,500-acre beef ranch using regenerative practices and focused on prairie restoration—owners Gary and Sue Price shared their experiences with increasing development pressure. Gary and Sue have faced pressure from land speculators anticipating suburban expansion, from the ranch estate market and the hunting and recreation ranch market, as well as significant pressure from developers in the wind and solar industries—16 wind and solar companies have approached them to date.
77 Ranch is working with the Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT) to conserve the land. During the tour, TALT reported that Texas loses approximately 1,032 acres of farmland to development each day, driven in part by an influx of 1,100 new residents per day. Yet despite these pressures, protecting farmland is not a major political priority in the state. Because of Texas’s vast size and political dynamics, many policymakers underestimate the urgency of farmland conservation. Texas allocates just $2 million every other year to farmland protection—by contrast, Vermont allocates $4–6 million annually. As a result, it will take TALT several years to fully conserve 77 Ranch due to the challenge of securing matching funds for USDA Agricultural Land Easements.
In 1976 Gary and Sue started 77 Ranch with 272 acres. Since then they’ve purchased many adjacent properties, a number of which were purchased from families that had been passing their land down through family trusts to family members who had never seen the property. A recent 80 acre parcel they bought had been in one family for 117 years. As Gary and Sue continue to work to conserve the land, they are also beginning the succession process. Their son, Gary Lee, wants to build on what his parents have started.
Attendees from across the country commented on the agland conversion pressures in their area, particularly those from North Carolina who have experienced a similar population influx to Texas. In addition to houses and businesses, the other development pressure mentioned several times was for renewable energy, warehouse/distribution centers (Amazon and others) and data storage centers.
Back at the conference, Mike participated in two panel discussions. Confronting the Affordability Challenge was the topic of the first panel. Land ownership has traditionally been the pathway for wealth generation in agriculture. Yet land has become increasingly unaffordable for many producers. During this session panelists discussed affordability tools associated with agricultural conservation easements, and how Buy-Protect-Sell (BPS) projects can be used to provide an affordable pathway to land ownership. Mike presented on the New England experience working with the limitations and affordability of Option to Purchase at Agricultural Value (OPAV) – a voluntary legal agreement that allows landowners to sell farmland at its agricultural value, rather than its higher market value, to a limited group of buyers, typically farmers or their family members. Typically, OPAV is a component of or integrated into a conservation easement. OPAVs can keep land affordable for farmers and discourage conversion of good farmland to other development.
Fellow panelists discussed their efforts and spoke about buy-protect-sell projects, some focusing on BIPOC and underserved farmers: Hilary Aten from the Office of Farmland Preservation at WA State Conservation Commission; Alison Volk, AFT’s Director of BPS and Easement Acquisitions; and Krisztian Varsa, Conservation Fund‘s Director of Farm Funds.
“Getting out of the New England bubble was also useful for better understanding and perspective on agriculture and land access and affordability issues nationally, and to put Land For Good’s work and New England agriculture into a broader context. It also stimulated some fresh thinking.”
Mike Ghia
The second panel focused on farm transfer and succession.The panelists addressed the many issues that senior producers and landowners face in transferring their farm or ranch to a next generation producer. They also offered successful strategies that public and private service providers are using to assist them in meeting their transfer and succession goals. Along with Mike, other speakers who shared their work and resources to support transfer and succession work included Addie Candib, AFT’s Pacific Northwest Regional Director; Liya Schwartzman, California FarmLink’s Senior Program Manager; and facilitator Deb Nares, Senior Manager for AFT California.
Learn More
- Farms Under Threat: That State of America’s Farmland by American Farmland Trust
- Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future by American Farmland Trust
- Buy-Protect-Sell resources by American Farmland Trust
- How Buy, Protect, Sell Strategy Helps a New Generation Gain Access to Farmland by American Farmland Trust
- Farm Succession Guidebook by California FarmLink
- A Team Approach to Farm Transfer Planning by Land For Good
Farms Under Threat reports that between 1992 and 2012 almost 31 million acres of agricultural land were irreversibly lost to development.
