Land Access and Tenure Toolshed: Land Access and Tenure Resources
Online Resources & Webinars
Land For Good's Farm Leasing Tutorial. A New England-based nonprofit, Land for Good has developed a tutorial on Farm Leasing that introduces you to the benefits and challenges of leasing, explains types of farm leases, and explains when to use them: http://www.landforgood.org/leasing/tutorial1.php
The Vermont New Farmer Network's Resources Guide for Vermont's New And Aspiring Farmers provides a discussion of the common challenges to securing affordable and productive farmland, and ways beginning farmers can address those challenges.
Land Access for Beginning Farmers Webinar Series. Kathy Ruhf, co-director of the non-profit Land for Good, and Ben Waterman, coordinator of the Land Access program for the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture cover concepts about holding farmland and a variety of considerations for evaluating potential parcels and arramgenements. View the Land Access for Beginning Farmers Part I Webinar. View the Land Access for Beginning Farmers Part 2 Webinar.
The presentations for each of the webinars is also available as a pdf. Download the Land Access for Beginning Farmers-Part I Presentation (pdf). Download the Land Access for Beginning Farmers-Part 2 Presentation.
Online Linking Services
The Vermont Agriculture Land Access Database (LAD): An online search tool that allows farmers to search current farm, land, and employment opportunities, based on certain criteria, such as available open land acreage, location, or type of tenure opportunity. This database is currently under construction, and is expected to be online soon. Please note: VT LAD will post listings of opportunities that are available in Vermont and within 50 miles of Vermont.
New England Farmland Finder A consortium of New England organizations focused on farmland access and linking services created this site to help farm seekers and farm property holders find each other. The site’s format is similar to “for sale by owner” sites or classified listings. Because it is free, simple, region-wide, automated and constantly current, it can serve as a friendly portal for property holders and farmland seekers.
Publications
Holding Ground: A Guide to Northeast Farmland Tenure and Stewardship is a comprehensive guide, offering models and mechanisms other than outright ownership for securing tenure on farmland in any U.S. region. It is published by the Intervale Foundation and the New England Small Farm Institute, 2004 It can be ordered at the New England Small Farms Institute book store at www.smallfarm.org, or by calling (413) 323-4531.
The Legal Guide to the Business of Farming in Vermont is published in hard copies that can be ordered at UVM Center For Sustainable Agriculture, (802) 656-5459, but is also available free, online Chapter III covers legal aspects of farmland tenure and leasing: http://www.uvm.edu/farmtransfer/?Page=legalguide.html
UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture published a “Lease Agreements Guide for Land Owners and Farmers,” covering the basics of what should be included in effective farmland lease agreements: http://www.uvm.edu/sustainableagriculture/Documents/leaseagreementguide.pdf
Other Organizations and Links
The Massachusetts-based non-profit, Equity Trust, provides various resources related to making farmland more affordable and for expanding the community land trust model: http://www.equitytrust.org/Resources.html
University of Vermont Farm Family Succession Website contains articles, events, research results and other resources pertaining to helping farm families transfer the farm to the next generation. http://www.uvm.edu/farmtransfer/
Last modified June 08 2012 12:05 PM