Your Land is Your Legacy

Two young girls helping Grandpa check to see if the soybean seeds have started growing in the field yet. Grandpa is using his pliers to dig in the dirt. The older sister is helping Grandpa, while the younger sister is doing her own thing.

Many farm and ranch owners face retirement with concerns about the future of their land. These questions pose a very real threat to the future of American agriculture. Nearly 300 million acres of agricultural land could change hands in the next 20 years. This amounts to one-third of the land in farms in the contiguous U.S.

AFT’s national Farm Legacy initiative works to ensure that land remains in farming as it transitions to the next generation while improving access to land for new farmers. The initiative honors the nation’s farming and ranching legacy and secures its future.

  • Would you like to save your land from development?
  • Do you have heirs who want to farm and some who don’t, or none who do?
  • Who will farm your land? How will it be farmed?

 

We can help. Sign up below to receive more information about our Farm Legacy program.

Stories of Success

 

Sam’s Mountain Ranch
A bargain sale to honor the family patriarch
The Perricone family made a substantial gift (half of the full market value) of the family’s avocado and citrus ranch in the Pauma Valley in California to honor the legacy of the family patriarch, who was a leader in the California produce industry. American Farmland Trust intends to permanently protect the ranch with an agricultural conservation easement and sell it to another producer who will continue the strong tradition of farming in the Pauma Valley.

Charles and Mary Yeiser
A gift with a life estate to protect their beloved farm
Charles and Mary Yeiser donated their much-loved Ohio farm to American Farmland Trust because they wanted to protect it forever while supporting the future of farming in America. Upon their deaths, American Farmland Trust protected the farm with agricultural conservation easements and sold it to neighboring farmers. Their gift protected their farm while benefiting American Farmland Trust’s work around the country.