September 1st, 2020
By Beth Sauerhaft, PhD
American Farmland Trusts Thanks Tillamook for Funding Farmer Micro-grant Program
This statement can be attributed to Beth Sauerhaft, AFT Vice President of Programs.
“Recognizing 2020 as a year of financial hardship for many American Farmers, Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) has committed to fund grants to save farms and farmland, provide financial relief directly to farmers, and support sound farming practices. Partnering with AFT and farmworker advocate, Eva Longoria, TCCA will direct 10% of September sales – up to $1.6 million –through AFT’s grant program, Brighter Future Micro-Grant Program. Total donation dollars and launch of AFT’s program will be announced on October 12 — National Farmers’ Day.
“American Farmland Trust truly appreciates this incredible show of support for American farmers during this difficult period. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the challenges in our food system. Along-side supply chain disruptions, inequalities faced by frontline workers and the struggles of our farmers as they tried to pivot quickly to new distribution channels with the closure of restaurants and institutions, the U.S. is facing the alarming loss of farmland. An average 2,000 acres of rich farmland is being lost each day to commercial development, climate change is impacting growing conditions imperiling production in our most important farming regions and 371 million acres of land will be in a state of flux in the net 15 years as senior farmers retire and the next generation faces the challenges of land access.
“An important step in supporting farmers and preserving the farming way of life in America is to protect the land itself and make sure we get farming right with better farming practices. The financial commitment from TCCA will help to do just that and so much more.”
Tillamook County Creamery Association press release
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms No Food® message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.