As the nation's #farming population ages, who will replace them for our #foodsupply? Especially with the high cost of farmland? That's why this new Land Transfer Navigator program with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is so vital right now. It allows farmers and landowners to retire knowing that new, beginning, or underserved farmers will keep it as #farmland. As American Farmland Trust has reminded since the 1980s, #NoFarmsNoFood.
Nearly 300 million acres of American farmland are expected to change hands in the next twenty years. As aging farmers exit the field, the future is uncertain for about one third of the country’s farm and ranch land. The United States’ ability to sustainably produce food, steward natural resources, and support rural economies depends on ensuring greater access to land for the next generation of farmers and ranchers. Working in partnership with public and private land protection leaders throughout the country, American Farmland Trust announces a new “Land Transfer Navigators” program in partnership with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service that will help exiting farmers and landowners retire with confidence and help new, beginning and underserved farmers gain secure, equitable land access.
Landscape designer, garden communicator, artist and lover of all life
10moWe live in a world-based on consumption, comfort, and expected profits. So we continue building, exploiting, and ignoring the all the social and ecological changes we are seeing happen in front of our eyes. What will happen when the unsustainable fully collapses? Will it be as drastic as the climate changes we are only just beginning to experience from terraforming and polluting our planet for decades? What will we eat once the farms and ranches are paved out of existence by enormous tracts of profitable housing filled with hungry and thirsty people? These are not political arguments. These are realities that are way overdue. We are already discovering so many creative ideas for energy, hydroponics, carbon sequestration, etc. are far more complex than we expected. We are not yet prepared to replace systems that still work… at least not until we find viable solutions. We simply aren’t there yet.