We’re pleased to partner with Farm Commons, a national leader on legal assistance to farmers, as part of our effort to strengthen farmer and farm business resiliency through professional education.
Farm Commons is a nonprofit membership organization providing farmers with the proactive legal counsel they need to become the resilient base of a healthy food system. Through legal education resources that cultivate a community of learning, Farm Commons empowers the sustainable farming community with workshops, print resources and audio/visual materials that help farmers move forward on many legal subjects, including business structures, farm employment law, land leasing, land purchasing, farm financing, insurance, liability and food safety.
Farmers need skilled and knowledgeable technical advisors who can work as a team to support and guide them,” shared Kathy Ruhf, Senior Advisor at Land For Good. “Farm Commons resources are top notch for anyone wanting legal information on land access.”
Land For Good and Farm Commons hosted a workshop for agricultural service providers, who are not attorneys, on how to effectively reduce legal risk around land matters, transactions and relationships in a two-part series entitled, Practicalities and Realities in Land Law. The first day addressed selecting land, financing land purchases and leasing. The second day addressed paths to ownership, social justice and non-traditional methods, and agricultural easements. Support and resources for legal resilience were highlighted. Interactive sessions also included activities and discussions.
Agricultural communities are exploring innovative new strategies to the problem of land access, so it was especially exciting to create this workshop on the important legal aspects that influence the success or failure of new strategies,” explained Rachel Armstrong, Founder and Executive Director of Farm Commons.
Service providers left with confidence that they can help their farm-seeking clients cover all the bases. The virtual exercises stimulated networking and connected the content with real world examples and challenges. The recording is available to members of Farm Commons to view at any time. Members will also have access to many of the supporting guides and resources. Land matters issues don’t occur in isolation and membership also includes access to our Discovering Resilience workshops on broad legal issues such as liability and insurance.
“Folks came with great questions and fascinating insight, reflecting a diversity of approaches to land access,” shared Rachel.
Note, Farm Commons is a membership organization, so to access their articles, guides, and podcasts you have to pay a membership fee.
