Developers have purchased millions of acres of U.S. farmland and ranchland, a trend that increasingly threatens a future of sustainable agriculture and food systems. And the challenge isn’t going away. Nearly 40 percent of this land is in the hands of farmers, ranchers, and landowners who are 65 or older. In response, American Farmland Trust (AFT) has for years helped new farmers gain access to land that might otherwise transition away from the agricultural industry, at the local to national scale.

In this episode of No Farms No Future, two young farmers in New York state tell the story of how the AFT-led partnership, Farmland for a New Generation New York, played a role in them partnering with non-farming landowners who owned acres of rural land and wanted to find someone to farm it. You’ll also meet Erica Goodman, national director of Farms for a New Generation, who has a personal history that intersects with her AFT work.

No Farms No Future is a podcast created through a collaboration between Heritage Radio Network, American Farmland Trust, and The Food Voice.

Resources:

Nimble Roots Farm website

Nimble Roots Farm on Instagram

Farmland for a New Generation New York

New York Farmland Finder

Farms for a New Generation

To learn more about American Farmland Trust go to farmland.org.

Episode photo by Shawn Linehan

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