Farmland Community of Practice
The Problem
Land access is the biggest hurdle to beginning farmers nationwide. Beginning farmers in Indiana struggle to find and afford farmland in both urban and rural settings.
Resources: National Young Farmers Coalition Building A Future With Farmers II; Marion County Purdue Extension needs assessment;
Agricultural land loss. Agricultural lands, from row crops to forests to diversified farms, are facing development pressures while existing farm and ranch owners face challenges in transitioning land to the next generation of farmers.
Resources: American Farmland Trust Farms Under Threat 2040
Our strategy
We are bringing together a Community of Practice of 40+ Indiana professionals whose work involves farming, farmland transfer, and/or farmland conservation dedicated to regularly meeting and learning together. Here's what we're doing over 1.5 years:
Year 1 (June 2023-June 2024): Learning Intensive: this is the learning portion of the initiative. The CoP gathers for monthly Zoom meetings with guest speakers to learn what they are doing to improve farmland conservation and access. The focus is then is to explore how these strategies could work in Indiana. Speakers include land trust staff, policy makers, researchers,
Click here to access previous meetings materials and resource library.
Year 2 (June-October 2024): Strategic Doing: This is the action portion. After a year of learning, members will identify and make progress on 1-3 90-day projects. We'll be using a Strategic Doing approach under the consulting guidance of Jane Rogan.
Our partners
This work is supported by Indiana SARE. We are coordinating the Community of Practice in close collaboration with Purdue Extension.
What we've learned so far
Through these monthly discussions, we've learned that solutions are abundant and diverse!
Here are some recurring themes:
State-Wide Land Link Program: Facilitate landowners and seekers connections, networking, and farm succession planning.
Policy Support: Introduce tax credits and other financial assistance for new farmers.
Agricultural Easements: Expand eligible local ALE/ACEP partners, including land trusts, local government and state entities.
Proactive Zoning: Adopt ordinances to protect farmland from sprawling development and boost urban farming viability.
What comes next?
Starting in June, a subset of the Community of Practice will be taking on a 90-day project(s) to put what we've learned to practice. Stay tuned to learn about what these projects will be and how we'll be using Strategic Doing to guide our work!