Thriving Farms and Ranches

When farms thrive, America thrives

America’s farms and ranches are the backbone of thriving communities. But right now, farmers and ranchers face unprecedented challenges and an unpredictable future. When agriculture struggles, rural communities struggle. And so does the nation and the world.

American Farmland Trust’s Thriving Farms and Ranches initiative is bringing together partners from across the nation to uplift and strengthen those who steward America’s working lands and bolster the resiliency of farms, ranches, and rural communities. Through this vital work, AFT is expanding direct support, advancing policies, and leveraging conservation tools to grow markets and enhance farm viability. The result: economically resilient farms and ranches that drive community economic development and invest in sound agricultural practices. Because when our farms thrive, America thrives.

Farmers are Essential

Farms and ranches provide food – and food security – for the nation. They are essential for healthy and equitable food systems. When farms and ranches are profitable, resilient, and supported, they can implement sound conservation practices that lead to cleaner water, healthier soil, improved wildlife habitat, and expanded working landscapes. Their success ripples outwards, fueling rural prosperity and stronger communities.

Farmers Face Unprecedented Challenges

Agriculture is a tough business. Politics, climate extremes, increased costs, pressures to sell, trade wars, and market volatility add up to an unpredictable future for America’s farmers and ranchers. In 2024, more than half of farm and ranch households reported negative farm income, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service, and 90% of farm families earn most of their income off-farm. As a result, we are losing small and mid-sized farmers, the average age of a farmer is increasing, and nearly 300 million acres of cropland — about one-third of all US farmland — are expected to change hands in the next 20 years. In the face of this crisis, AFT is committed to advancing farm viability, strengthening rural vitality, and doubling efforts to save the land that sustains us.

Thriving Farms and Ranches is leveraging AFT’s unique strengths to directly reach and assist farmers and ranchers while empowering peer professionals and partner organizations. Together, we are building a Thriving Farms and Ranches movement.

AFT is also elevating the voices of farmers and ranchers through compelling storytelling to engage supporters, policymakers, and other essential stakeholders in realizing AFT’s vision of a vibrant, regenerative, diverse, and financially strong agricultural sector, where more small, midsized, and underserved farms and ranches thrive.

• Expand Direct Support to Farmers and Ranchers –
  From USDA and Cooperative Extension to the nonprofit and private sector, our nation’s system of agricultural service providers is rapidly changing. Thriving Farms and Ranches will help fill gaps and evolve this professional support system to address emerging and evolving needs of America’s farmers and ranchers.

• Strengthen, Diversify, and Grow Markets for Farmers and Ranchers –
  Farms and ranches thrive when producers have access to diverse and resilient markets. These markets – often local or regional – or other income opportunities compatible with agriculture support the profitability of farms and ranches while attracting a next generation. Thriving and Ranches will build partnerships with corporations to strengthen market opportunities and resilience for farms in their supply chains, grow infrastructure and opportunities in local and regional markets, and address business issues impacting farm viability and resilience.

• Make Farm and Ranch Land Conservation Investments to Secure Agriculture’s Future –
  AFT has been a national champion for protecting the land and promoting sound practices in ways that strengthen farm viability. Nearly 8 million acres of irreplaceable agricultural land have been permanently protected across the nation with an investment approaching $10 billion – dollars that farm families frequently reinvest in their businesses and use to bring the next generation onto the land. AFT will use innovative approaches, such as our Buy-Protect-Sell-Plus (BPS+) program, to protect agricultural land and farm viability while creating affordable access for new and beginning farmers. Under Thriving Farms and Ranches, AFT will scale these approaches for meaningful impacts on current and the next generation.

• Advance Policies to Support Agriculture Today and for Future Generations –
  AFT believes good policy is critical to vibrant and resilient agricultural operations. With Thriving Farms and Ranches, we will extend a proven track record of policy success with a special focus on state and local opportunities. This will include state programs that expand support for business technical assistance, land access, and farm to institution markets, as well as promoting planning for agriculture with local governments.