America has been losing more than an acre of farmland per minute - much of it our best and most productive farmland near where most Americans live. In Vermont and across the nation, American Farmland Trust is a vital link between farmers, conservationists and policymakers, working to protect the best farmland, direct growth away from agricultural resources, provide healthy local food to all citizens, and help communities sustain local farms and farming.

Farmland Advisors Spring into Action in the Northeast

American Farmland Trust and Land for Good’s Farmland Advisors program is educating agriculture service providers to help the next generation of farmers access land and help farm families facilitate the transfer to the next generation. Farmland Advisors started in February with a webinar for the program’s 80 participants, from New York and New England. The program is funded by a grant from the Northeast SARE Professional Development Program and support from a Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancment grant. Participants represent land trusts, beginning farmer organizations, extension offices, lending institutions and local and state agencies.

Farmland Protection Retreat Focuses on New England Opportunities & Challenges

A recent retreat organized by American Farmland Trust brought together more than 50 of the region’s leading farmland protection practitioners, including state agency staff, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationists and program managers, and land trust representatives, to brainstorm farmland protection challenges and strategies and discuss the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP). Joining the group were New Hampshire Commissioner of Agriculture Lorraine Merrill, Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Reviczky, and three guests from the national USDA-NRCS office, including Richard Sims, NRCS Regional Conservationist for the Northeast, and Jeremy Stone, the national FRPP program manager. Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust New England Director, notes that AFT is working to make this retreat an annual event. “This kind of regional shoptalk is invaluable both in helping to strengthen relationships and in advancing farmland protection innovations around the region,” remarks Coffin. 

Farmland Advisors Training Program Now Accepting Applications in Northeast

The transfer of farms to a new generation is one of the biggest challenges facing agriculture in New York and New England.  Farmland Advisors is a training program to help agriculture and conservation professionals become an effective resource in helping farmers and farmland owners as they seek access to land and navigate the complexity of farm transfers. “Participants will learn about everything from farm succession planning to farm linking, lease options and land conservation as a farm transfer strategy,” said Diane Held, Senior New York Field Manager for American Farmland Trust. “Land access and availability are increasingly impacting farms and food systems in the region,” added New England Director Cris Coffin, “Working with professionals across the Northeast will help to meet these challenges at the state level.”  Applications are now being accepted. The deadline to apply is October 31.

Regional Project Seeks to Foster Supportive Public Policy Environment

A vibrant and viable food system in New England requires a supportive public policy environment. For this reason, American Farmland Trust is teaming up with the Conservation Law Foundation and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group to identify the policy levers that will support improved farm profitability, expanded food production and the agricultural infrastructure needed to improve regional food resiliency. Drawing upon expertise and experience of leaders and practitioners across New England, this two-year project will focus on federal, state and regional policy arenas, analyzing policy barriers and gaps in five key areas and recommending where change is most needed, at what level and scale, and what kinds of advocacy might be most effective.

New Project Aims to Keep New England's Farmland in Farming

Building on work done through the New England Commission on Land Conservation and its Farm and Food Security Initiative, American Farmland Trust is bringing together farmland experts from around New England to explore ways in which the region might work collaboratively to keep farmland in farming. The six New England state “Chief Agricultural Officers” and the six state USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Offices are key partners in this effort, as is Land For Good. The project will include a “shop talk” for farmland protection practitioners and a convening for farm and conservation stakeholders, federal and state agencies, and public and private funders. Cris Coffin, New England Director at American Farmland Trust, believes that regional collaboration is critical to retaining and growing the region’s farmland base. “Every state in the region is in some stage of farm and food system planning and, not surprisingly, land access and availability are emerging as key and common needs,” says Coffin. “We will be better able to tackle these challenges at the state level if we learn and work together as a region.”

Northeast Farm Bill Agenda Highlights Importance of Working Lands Conservation

The Northeast is home to nearly 64 million people, with a population density five times the national average. According to a just-released Farm Bill Agenda for the Northeast [PDF], this urban influence has made federal conservation programs critically important in the region. The agenda includes four major priorities for the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill, including adequate conservation technical assistance; continued robust, mandatory funding for conservation programs focused on working farms and forests; appropriate conservation program flexibility to address state and local resource concerns and priorities; and continued funding for on-farm energy efficiency and renewable energy production. American Farmland Trust collaborated with the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) and other state and regional farm, food and conservation organizations on developing the Agenda’s conservation priorities.

Hannaford Supermarkets Joins New England’s “Keep Local Farms” Dairy Initiative

A Northeast grocery chain has become the first retailer to join forces with the New England Dairy Promotion Board and New England Family Dairy Farms Cooperative to bring the concept of “fair trade” milk to consumers. Hannaford's 71 stores will promote the benefits of local dairy farms—including stewardship of the region’s farmland—and offer shoppers an opportunity to directly support dairy farmers through the “Keep Local Farms” dairy campaign. Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust’s New England Director, is excited by the Hannaford announcement: “Educating shoppers about the value of our region’s dairy farmers will hopefully encourage them to donate to the campaign and help farmers receive a better price for their milk.”

FACT: New England has approximately 1,880 dairy farms; dairy farmers are currently receiving about .97 cents per gallon of milk while it costs about $1.80 a gallon to produce.

FederAl Farm Policy and the farm bill

What’s in the farm bill and why is it important? Find out what’s next for the farm bill and how we can make sure the legislation's promises are turned into programs on the ground.

More Vermont News