Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County

Name, Pronouns: Kathleen McCormick, she/her 
Organization: CCE of Erie County 
Title: Agriculture Educator 

1. Where in the Great Lakes region do you work? 

I work in the Lake Erie watershed, in Erie County, NY. Our county includes Buffalo, the second largest city in New York State, and is a mix of urban, suburban, and rural land. We are fortunate to have prime soils, ample water, and a climate moderated by Lake Erie. 

2. What brought you to this work? What is your connection to agriculture or to the watershed? 

With family roots in the cornfields of Iowa and the ranch lands of Wyoming, I have a keen appreciation of those who make their living from the land. I didn't grow up on a farm, but I have lots of extended family who did and such happy memories of visiting them — watching my cowboy cousins wrestle calves at Uncle Carl's place, going for a ride with Uncle Dave in his big John Deere, collecting eggs with Aunt Irene, cranking the ice cream maker for Aunt Virginia. I want to help ensure that farming continues to be an option for families who want to do it. That means keeping land in farming and encouraging its careful stewardship. 

3. What is your area of expertise? In what ways do you typically work with farmers and farmland owners? 

Kathleen assists next generation farmers in search of land and farmers preparing for retirement by 

connecting them with one another, and to the tools, educational resources and technical experts they need to achieve their goals. 

4. How are you hoping to grow from your experience as a Great Lakes Farm Navigator? 

Knowledge is power. Pooling knowledge, skills, and expertise with others who are passionate about keeping land productive and in production will energize our work, bring new perspectives, enhance problem solving, and grow the network of farmers and landowners CCE Erie can reach. 

5. What is one piece of advice you have for farmers who are looking to transfer their farm to a new generation? Or do you have advice for farmers entering agriculture and seeking access to land? 

Start early, keep an open mind, and be willing to experiment. 

Genesee Land Trust Inc.

Name, Pronouns: Amanda M.S. Grisa, she/hers 
Organization: Genesee Land Trust 
Title: Farmland Protection Manager 

1. Where in the Great Lakes region do you work? 

Located along Lake Ontario and centered on the City of Rochester, Genesee Land Trust serves Monroe and Wayne Counties and portions of adjacent counties. This region is a mix of urban, suburban, and rural communities. 

2. What brought you to this work? What is your connection to agriculture or to the watershed? 

I grew up on my family’s small beef cow farm in the Finger Lakes Region of New York and always helped in our home garden. These experiences stuck with me throughout my undergraduate and graduate education and ultimately inspired me to start a vegetable market farm with my partner. As a small farmer, I quickly saw how difficult it can be for folks to have access to land and how farmland and open space is disappearing in New York, which led me to pursue this position with Genesee Land Trust. 

3. What is your area of expertise? In what ways do you typically work with farmers and farmland owners? 

Our focus at Genesee Land Trust is to protect farmland with conservation easements. Collectively, we work with landowners and farmers to protect their land through the donation or purchase of development rights, resulting in agricultural conservation easements. These conservation easements permanently ensure that the land will forever be available for agriculture and reduce the cost of the land, making it more affordable for other farmers to purchase. 

Through one-on-one conversations we assist farmers looking for land to identify potential opportunities and connect them with landowners. Some of these lands are protected with a conservation easement by Genesee Land Trust, while others we simply know the landowner is interested in agriculture through conversations and community connections. 

4. How are you hoping to grow from your experience as a Great Lakes Farm Navigator? 

I am hoping to grow as a Great Lakes Farm Navigator by expanding my knowledge on farm transition and to become a better resource for farmers looking to sell their farms to family members, farm employees, a neighboring farmer, or new and beginning farmer. Our organization specializes in farm conservation via conservation easements, but that is just one piece of the puzzle. Many of our farms that we have protected are now starting to consider retirement. I would like to better assist those farmers know what questions to ask, have the resources they need, and feel comfortable making the decision to retire and trust that their farm will be viable for the next generation. 

5. What is one piece of advice you have for farmers who are looking to transfer their farm to a new generation? Or do you have advice for farmers entering agriculture and seeking access to land? 

Make connections within your community. It can be very difficult for farmland seekers to find the right opportunity, with more relationships (neighbors, local farmers, realtors, service providers) the better your chances are to secure access to land and have support in your agricultural operation. 

Genesee Valley Conservancy

Name, Pronouns: Matthew Halladay (he/him)
Organization: Genesee Valley Conservancy  
Title: Land Conservationist  

1. Where in the Great Lakes region do you work? 

   Our organization works within the Genesee River Watershed with a focus on the six-county region south of the Monroe County line ( Livingston, Wyoming, Ontario, Genesee, Allegany and Steuben). It is a region rich in agricultural histories and the fertile flood plains of the Genesee river have created impressively healthy and productive soil.   

2. What brought you to this work? What is your connection to agriculture or to the watershed? 

   Like many others here, I think deep down there are genetics within me from ancestors of yesteryear who farmed lands from all over the world -first as sustenance and then for livelihoods. While not romanticizing the hard work that true farming takes, I think this work allows me to stay connected to that yearning in a way that is helpful, challenging and fruitful for my family. I grew up at the south end of Canandaigua Lake in Naples, New York surrounded by vineyards, creeks, hills and farms and made a pact early on with myself to do what I could to preserve the beautiful and stories that imparted so much to me early on.  

3. What is your area of expertise? In what ways do you typically work with farmers and farmland owners? 

   I’ve become a student and follower of Wendell Berry over the years and he says that “The crisis of community has its source in the corruption of character.” Our communities are in fact made up of individual characters who are more connected than we know and belong to the same story. I really try to deeply connect as much as possible to people when working on conservation projects and through that connection and shared understanding, great things tend to happen. My educational pursuits created an intersection of food systems and climate adaptation problem solving through the lens of social systems and human-centric approaches to conflicts.  

4. How are you hoping to grow from your experience as a Great Lakes Farm Navigator? 

   This work was undertaken with the hopes that our organization could build upon the 33,000 acres of land we’ve worked hard to protect and take our stewardship of that land base and the network of people within it to the next level. Through the navigator lens and focus on three areas of interconnected assistance, we hope to merge goals and leverage resources to help bridge gaps previously unseen and go deeper with the conversations we have with landowners.  I hope to build the capacity and demonstrate demand for the services the Navigator program seeks to provide as a long term component of what our organization can provide.  

5. What is one piece of advice you have for farmers who are looking to transfer their farm to a new generation? Or do you have advice for farmers entering agriculture and seeking access to land? 

   I don’t think there is anything novel here, there are lots of experts out there and many success stories and the common denominator amongst them is that they all began with a shared vision cultivated from family values.  

Providence Farm Collective

Names: Mahamud (Mo) Mberwa & Beth Leipler 
Organization: Providence Farm Collective (PFC)  
Titles: Farm Mentor and Farm Director 

1. Where in the Great Lakes region do you work? 

We work in Western New York.  Most of the farmers we work with live in and around Buffalo.  Providence Farm Collective (PFC) has a 37-acre farm and offices in Orchard Park, located 30 minutes South of Buffalo. 

2. What brought you to this work? What is your connection to agriculture or to the watershed? 

Mo – I have background in farming back home in Somalia.  In 2017 I cofounded the Somali Bantu Community Farm to help my community get reconnected with land and agriculture.  We farm so we can get fresh, traditional foods to our community.   We grew into Providence Farm Collective in 2020 to reach more communities who wanted to farm. 

Beth – Since my youth I have loved gardening, traveling, and spending time outdoors.  For the last ten years I have worked in the agricultural sector, working as an agricultural Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar, working and managing various organic vegetable farms in Western New York, and eventually starting my own farm.  Through starting my own operation, I experienced the struggles of accessing land and capital so can empathize with farmers struggling to start their own farms.  I am honored to work with the incredible farmers at PFC and hope to support our farmers in achieving their farm dreams! 

3. What is your area of expertise? In what ways do you typically work with farmers and farmland owners? 

PFC works with a diverse range of farmers, primarily farmers from immigrant and refugee backgrounds with agricultural experience in their home countries.  PFC provides access to land for its farmers on its farm in Orchard Park, but many farmers are interested in accessing additional land.  We are working with our farmers to learn more about their farm visions and dreams.   

4. How are you hoping to grow from your experience as a Great Lakes Farm Navigator? 

Through the Great Lakes Farm Navigator program PFC hopes to connect farmers with the resources needed to realize their farm visions.   

5. What is one piece of advice you have for farmers who are looking to transfer their farm to a new generation? Or do you have advice for farmers entering agriculture and seeking access to land? 

For farmers seeking land, don’t give up and be patient!  It takes a lot of energy, time, networking, and persistence to access farmland that meets your needs!  

For farmland owners we would encourage them to be flexible and understanding with beginning farmers.  Take the time to create fair, and long-term leases.     

We feel it is important to think creatively about land access and to try out new land access ideas and models that better serve beginning farmers.  Everyone eats!  A strong local and resilient food system and a healthy local economy are key to the well-being of all of us, and an essential component of this is equitable land access.