How to acquire land
Where Do I Start? Acquiring Land To Farm short guide/worksheet- Steps to Acquiring a Farm or Farmland diagram
- Acquiring Your Farm 2.0, an online tutorial for farm seekers (re-launched Spring 2017)
- Successfully Acquiring Your Farm, Beginning Farmer Network of MA blog post
- Finding, Assessing, and Securing Farmland, A Plain Language Guide from the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (pdf)
- New England Farmland Finder online property clearinghouse
Land access
- NEW! Farm Access Methods decision guide stands out in its organized and practical way of addressing and assessing land access methods
- NEW! Farm Access Decision Tool summarizes the methods and likely partners to help you compare methods and make informed decisions
- NEW! Farmland Access in Urban Settings guide offers practical suggestions, examples, and innovative models to help new farmers launch and sustain viable urban farms
- Public Land For Farming in The Natural Farmer (Spring 2016)
- Cooperative Holding of Land, Chapter 5 in Cooperative Farming, a Greenhorns guidebook
- Successful Farming on a Land Cooperative a farmer’s story
- Agricultural Land Tenure Curriculum, a product of the Farm LASTS Project, 2005
- Acccess to Land, an archived Farmland Advisors Project webinar
- Access to Land in The Natural Farmer (Winter 2002-2003)
Leases and leasing
- NEW! Build-A-Lease Tool, learn about and craft a farm lease; includes definitions, FAQs, sample language and fill-in spaces for the most common sections of a farm lease
- NEW! Liability and Insurance in a Farm Lease guide for landowners and tenants
- Toolbox for Leasing Farmland, resources for farm seekers and landowners
Assessing land and farm infrastructure
- Vermont Natural Resource Atlas Mapping Tutorial (VT)
- GranitView (NH) maps soils, flooding hazards and more
- RIDEM Environmental Resource Map (RI) in the RIDEM Map Room
- Using the NRCS Web Pages to Get Soils Information, A guide from Maryland FarmLINK
- Web Soil Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Area Calculator Tool by Google Maps or PlaniMeter by ACME
- Rental Assessment Checklist, UVM and Intervale Center. A checklist guide to examine a prospective farm property for lease or for purchase.
- How to Determine Land Area and Distance With Your Smartphone from On Pasture
Farm Link Programs
- NewEnglandFarmlandFinder.org free posting site for properties for sale or lease to help farm seekers and farm property holders find each other
- New England Farm Link Program Guide explains our region’s farm link programs that help connect farm seekers and farmland owners interested in putting or keeping land in active farming
- New England Farm Link Collaborative builds awareness, readiness and connections among farm seekers, farmers and landowners of all types in all New England states
- New! How to Create Effective Online Property Postings for Farm Link Websites; the guide walks you through the typical components of a farm property posting and describes key information most relevant for farmers
Related links
- Farmland Access Legal Toolkit, Vermont Law School, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems
- New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (MA) website
- Equity Trust website
- Holding Ground: A Guide to Northeast Farmland Tenure and Stewardship, purchase at New England Small Farm Institute
- UVM Extension New Farmer Project website and Land Access and Tenure Toolshed
- Finding Land to Farm: Six ways to Secure Farmland by The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service – ATTRA
- Finding a Farm to Buy or Lease (Guide to Farming in NY #1), Northeast Beginning Farmers Project
- Greenhorns Land Access Resources on finding sustainable land tenure by Cornell University Cooperative Extension
- Land resource page, NESFI
- Access to Land website of Partnership for America’s New Farmers
*Thanks to The Greenhorns, The Ohio State University Extension, the University of Vermont’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Initiative for permission to upload their documents.
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