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Toolbox for Farm Seekers

Welcome to a toolbox for farmers looking to access farmland. If you’re a beginning farmer exploring your options to get onto land, or an established farmer ready to expand, relocate or rethink your land situation, this toolbox offers guides, worksheets, articles and other resources to inform your decision-making and guide your planning and search for farmland. If you are not yet farming, you’ll want to prepare and develop a plan before you even begin searching for land. Materials are most relevant to farming and farms in New England, but many may apply elsewhere

Resources are organized by topic:

Where to Start if you don’t have (much) farming experience – important first steps for new & beginning farmers
Develop your land access plan
examine your farming goals & current situation
Explore strategies to access farmland – methods to examine before starting your search
Consider leasing, purchasing & financing options – is owning or leasing right for you?
Search for land using farm link programs – customize your search area & connect with landowners
Assess land & farm infrastructure – how to sort through & determine your needs

Key: 
LFG-Favicon  indicates Land For Good authored resource

 

Where to Start if you don’t have (much) farming experience

  • AgPlan.
    Powerful website to help you generate a draft business plan with customized templates and sample business plans for ideas. University of Minnesota.
  • New Farmers Discovery Tool.
    Personalized search for new farmers, women in agriculture, young farmers, veterans, and new generation seeking land. USDA.
  • FarmAnswers.org.
    Programs, resources and comprehensive library to help you get started farming, as well as tools to help more seasoned producers succeed. University of Minnesota, funded by USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Grant program (BFRDP).

Develop your land access plan

Explore strategies to access farmland

Consider leasing, purchasing & financing options

Search for land using farm link programs

  • New England Farmland Finder.
    Free website to post or search for farm properties for sale or lease, covering all six New England states.
  • New England Farm Link Program Guide.
    Guide explains New England’s four farm link programs – Vermont Land Link, Maine Farm Link, Connecticut Farm Link and New England Farmland Finder – and what they offer.
  • New England Farm Link Collaborative.
    Organizations helping build awareness, farmer and landowner readiness, and connections among farm seekers, farmers and landowners of all types in all New England states.
  • LFG-Favicon Additional Strategies To Find Farmland.
    Tip sheet for preparing for your land search. Your chances of success are greater if you use a multi-pronged approach.
  • LFG-Favicon Webinar: Conducting a Farmland Search.
    Understand the process, strategies, and tools available as you search for farmland including farm linking sites, soil analysis, affordability calculations, and methods for evaluating land and infrastructure.

If you are looking for property outside of New England, visit American Farmland Trust’s national list of farm link programs.

Assess land & farm infrastructure

 

Need more help? Contact us.

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