This past fall, Land For Good launched the Northeast Farmland Access Network to provide a community of practice for service providers to learn with and from each other about farmland access issues. This is a peer network for early-career agricultural service providers who offer, or want to offer, farmland access support to farmers. The Network’s goal is to help service providers increase their knowledge, skills, and connections so they can better serve farm seekers. Monthly virtual drop-in sessions cover a rotating set of topics, from land tenure basics to financial readiness to the “soft issues” and power dynamics that shape every land access conversation. Sessions are designed to be interactive and include plenty of time for Q&A.
The Network is a collaboration between Land For Good, Farmland for a New Generation New York, Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association, and New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. It’s open to agricultural service providers, land access organizations, community organizers, agency staff, educators, consultants, mediators, attorneys, conservation professionals, and others who support farmland access in some form.
Since October, the network has met to discuss land tenure basics, soft issues and soft skills, financial readiness (with Jeff Cole of The Carrot Project), land search criteria and suitability assessment (with Laura Cullip of Renewing the Countryside), and methods to improve farmland affordability including conservation easements and option-to-purchase at agricultural value (with Kathy Ruhf of Land For Good, Maggie Donin of Vermont Land Trust, and Vanessa Johnson Hall of Essex County Land Trust).
Coming up next, we’ll address working with agricultural mediation, and how service providers can use, support, and refer to mediation as a tool in difficult land access situations at our April meeting (register here). In May we will focus on group farmland access; New Entry Sustainable Farming Project will present their case studies on this topic (register here).
Sessions are free and open to anyone working in or entering this field. We meet virtually on the second Wednesday of each month, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Since we started the Network, 65 individuals have registered from across the Northeast, representing farm viability planners, land trust staff, extension educators, farmer training program coordinators, community organizers, and more.
Feedback from participants has been consistently strong. Across all sessions, every respondent said they would recommend the network to others. Most respondents rated sessions as excellent or outstanding in their feedback.
What participants say they’re getting out of it:
“Getting to know the people in the network during the breakouts was the most helpful.
“It was wonderful to have an expert share their knowledge with ample time for Q&A. More of this in the future paired with the small group discussion and practice is really valuable.
“Loved having several presenters with different perspectives and topics on a similar thread alongside time for Q&A and small group discussion.
When asked what steps they planned to take after attending, participants described following up with colleagues they’d met through breakout rooms, reviewing resources and lease templates, sharing lessons learned with their own teams, and in several cases, directly applying what they’d learned to active farmer cases they were already working on.
According to one participant, the Network is valuable not just because of the content, but because it surfaces how much there is to know, and how useful it is to have peers navigating similar territory. Another noted wanting to understand “how seasoned professionals approach the problems involved with farmland access,” which is precisely what the network is designed to support.
The Northeast Farmland Access Network is free to join and open to agricultural service providers at all stages of their careers. If you’re early in your work on farmland access, or if you’re an experienced practitioner who wants to deepen your connections and stay current on emerging tools and approaches, this network is for you.
Monthly sessions meet on the second Wednesday of the month, 2:00–3:30 p.m., via Zoom. Learn more or register!
Questions? Contact Rachel Brice, Program & Development Manager.
Funding provided by the Northeast USDA Regional Food Business Center and other general supporters of Land For Good. While federal funding through the Regional Food Business Center was cancelled as of September 2025, Land For Good and partners believe in the value of strengthening this network and will continue this offering.
