Our programs are designed to move the needle on the three parts of our mission: protecting farmland, promoting sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on the land. Our relationships with farmers help us stay connected to the real-world challenges in agriculture, while also allowing us to test new concepts and models that can be scaled and replicated. In 2024, our staff trained and supported 31,750 farmers, ranchers, and landowners, 4,028 of whom were part of underserved communities. We trained or supported an additional 12,835 professionals, including land trust staff, agricultural educators, policymakers, and government employees at every level.
Our leadership of the National Agricultural Land Network has enabled us to provide training and networking spaces for land trusts, public agencies, conservation and farm organizations, planners, and policymakers. We share key data with the network’s more than 1,400 members and beyond.
AFT is the only agricultural land trust with a national scope, enabling us to take on projects that other groups can’t. We have protected farms and ranches in 26 states. In addition, we support the work of local and state land trusts across the nation. Our Buy-Protect-Sell (BPS) program is an innovative model that not only protects vulnerable farmland but then gets it into the hands of incoming farmers at an affordable price. Through our Farm Legacy program, farmers and ranchers around the country have donated property, knowing that it will be stewarded wisely.
Taken together, these efforts ensure the viability of agricultural operations and the affordability of land for future generations, mitigating the impact of climate change, and safeguarding wildlife habitats.
Our researchers maintain the nation’s best land-cover data, evaluate conservation outcomes, and study farmer demographics. Their assessments, forecasts, and state-specific tools are used by land trusts, universities, and city, county, and state agencies across the United States.
Our Farmland Information Center is the largest online collection for information on farmland and ranchland protection and stewardship in the United States. FIC staff provide practical information and technical assistance unavailable anywhere else to farmers, ranchers, landowners, and entities working to save farmland and ranchland for agriculture.
AFT has excelled in the role of convener since it was founded, uniting voices in support of conservation agriculture. Our commitment to federal and state policy that benefits farmers and ranchers—and their land—has driven initiatives that ensure a better future for everyone. AFT has played a significant role in federal Farm Bills since 1985. Our work has contributed to the improvement and expansion of federal agriculture programs that benefit farmers and ranchers like the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the, Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) and its successor, the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).
Since 2020, AFT has been making direct support to farmers and ranchers through our grant programs. We have awarded more than 250 grants totaling over $4.8 million.
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