According to the American Farmland Trust (AFT), nearly 300 million acres of farmland in America are expected to change hands in the next twenty years. As aging farmers exit the field, the future is uncertain for about one-third of the country’s farm and ranch land, making this a critical turning point for the land they now steward.
So AFT, in partnership with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), has announced the new “Land Transfer Navigators” program. It will help existing farmers and landowners retire with confidence and help new, beginning, and underserved farmers gain secure, equitable land access.
“Farmland is most at risk of conversion during generational transition,” says AFT President and CEO John Piotti. “With the wave of transfers coming, we risk losing far too much farmland to low-density housing, subdivisions, and strip malls.”
Land Transfer Navigators will build bridges between incoming and outgoing farmers, leveraging land protection as a strategy to facilitate successful and affordable land transfer.
Click here to learn more about the Land Transfer Navigators program.