Land Transfer Navigators - American Farmland Trust

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Land Transfer Navigators

Supporting Transition and Access on Agricultural Lands

Forty percent of the country’s agricultural land – 370 million acres – is owned or operated by seniors. As aging agricultural landowners prepare to retire, the future of the land they steward is at a critical turning point. How and to whom they transfer their land will have an enormous impact on the next generation of farmers and ranchers and the opportunities available to them.  Regional food systems, local economies, and climate change solutions all depend a new generation’s ability to access and steward the land well.

In response, American Farmland Trust, with support from NRCS, has developed a multi-year, multi-faceted program to address challenges affecting:

  • Senior landowners grappling with transferring their land and operations.
  • A diverse, new generation of farmers and ranchers looking to access land.
  • The next generation within farm and ranch families involved in a transfer.
  • Organizations interested in providing land access and transfer support.

The goal of the Land Transfer Navigators program is to dramatically increase the transfer of farm and ranch land to a new generation of producers. The program will catalyze practitioners from across the country to support equitable farm and ranch transfers that work for both entering and exiting generations. Through a four-year program, AFT will provide training along with technical and financial assistance to support easement-holding entities and the farmers, ranchers, and landowners they work with.

Learn more here: Land Transfer Navigators Program Overview

Applications are Now Open

AFT seeks applications from land trusts, public PACE programs, and other entities – that hold easements through USDA’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program – to participate in our Land Transfer Navigators Program.

Land Transfer Navigators Application

Are you an ag service provider who would like to be involved?  

While Navigator applications are currently reserved for Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program easement holders, we are also engaging all farm and ranch transfer service providers through regional forums.

Regional forums bring together local professionals to support farm and ranch transfers. Service providers such as attorneys, appraisers, lenders, mediators and others who specialize in agriculture gather to create robust networks, share resources and learn from each other.

Land Transfer Forums are followed with the option to join the National Agricultural Land Network’s online community platform. The platform is a place to continue networking and to connect to a national farm and ranchland protection community.  

Contact us to learn more about the program.

For general inquires contact Corey Thomas. For regional forums contact Chantel Welch. For media or communications, contact Brooks Lamb.

This program is made possible with support from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.