The Farmers Land Trust

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The Farmers Land Trust

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06/15/2026

Approximately 40% of farmland in the US is owned by non-farmers and investors, who then lease it to active operators.

The people who grow our food are increasingly disconnected from ownership of the land they steward.

For many farmers, renting isn't just expensive, it's uncertain. Short-term leases can leave farmers vulnerable to changing landowner priorities, rising rents, and the constant risk of losing access to the land they've invested years of labor, care, and stewardship into. They build soil, infrastructure, and community, yet often build little or no equity in return.

The Farmland Commons offers a different path.
Through 99-year inheritable leases, farmers gain the long-term security needed to invest in their farms, their businesses, and the health of the land.

The model is designed to keep land costs low, shift power toward farmers, and create opportunities for equity-building without requiring farmers to take on crushing land debt.

Because the future of farming depends on more than access to land. It depends on security, stewardship, and a system where farmers can put down roots that last for generations.

06/11/2026

BIG NEWS! Our Farmland Commons partner in Maryland, Backyard Basecamp, has received official approvals to launch their Outdoor Nature Preschool at their main campus, BLISS Meadows!

After 4 long years of advocacy, planning, and an arduous application process, they are ready for implementation this fall to accompany all of their other robust and incredible programming and agriculture production. 🎉

Their classroom includes a native meadow, gardens, trees, and open skies, and children will learn through exploration, discovery, and connection with the natural world. Every day, they will build confidence, resilience, creativity, and curiosity while immersed in nature-based learning experiences that nurture the whole child.

They have launched a fundraiser campaign to support the new Outdoor Nature Preschool, and you can learn more and support it at backyardbasecamp.org/nature-preschool

🌼 We are searching for land to add to the Chesapeake Farmland Commons in Maryland that will allow Backyard Basecamp to expand their farming and food and flower production. We are looking for 5+ acres within an hour of BLISS Meadows. Help spread the word! 🌼

Backyard Basecamp

06/10/2026

On average, 37 mid-size farms close every day, and over 2,000 acres of farmland is lost from agriculture every day as ⅓ of all farmland in the United States transfers ownership over the next 15 years.

Economic conditions and land prices put farmland out of reach of all but the wealthiest individuals or corporations.

Upwards of 70% of the farmers that feed and steward farmland are people of color, yet they own less than 2% of the farmland.

Most farmland in this country is used for industrial agriculture, contributing to climate collapse, hunger, and inequities.

With the innovative Farmland Commons model, we are removing the primary obstacles of land access and tenure and economic barriers to support farm viability, food production, soil and ecosystem health, and equity around the country.

Learn more at thefarmerslandtrust.org

06/09/2026

Your chance to go visit Blue Rock Station - the first Earthship east of the Mississippi and the founding farm of the Blue Rock Farmland Commons!
One weekend, two different events!

Farm-2-Table Fundraising Dinner
Friday July 10th 4pm - 5:30pm

Support the transition of Blue Rock Station Green Living Center into the Blue Rock Farmland Commons. Dine with us and learn more about Blue Rock Station and the work The Farmers Land Trust is doing here. With a donation of $75 or more, you will enjoy dinner, dessert, and mocktails sourced from Blue Rock Station and other local farms.

Get your tickets here:
https://www.thefarmerslandtrust.org/events/ or by emailing us at [email protected]!

Goat Stock
Saturday, July 11th 12pm-5pm

Join us for a celebration of Blue Rock Station! The afternoon will include a potluck, games, music, a collaborative art project, and a scavenger hunt.

RSVP through Facebook Event:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BbATUTDRm/ or by emailing us at [email protected]!

06/08/2026

This is so different from your standard lease.

"Lease" is the name of the legal tool used to give farmers and stewards long-term, secure and affordable tenure to land through the Farmland Commons model, but it is not at all like a typical market lease.

👉🏽 This lease is for 99 years

👉🏽 The "rent" cost is the property taxes, insurance, and $600 annual ($50/month) voluntary tax paid to local Indigenous communities

👉🏽 The farmer or steward gets to co-create the terms of the lease

👉🏽 It can be passed on to the farmer or stewards' children if they want to care for the land in the ways that the Farmland Commons ensures

👉🏽 There are equity building components

👉🏽 Rights of Nature are brought to the table

"Ownership" is not the only way to gain land access and security. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS.

Find out more at thefarmerslandtrust.org

06/05/2026

Landowners have the power to decide who and how their land is owned after them.

This work starts with, and is only possible with, willing and aligned Landowners who are able to donate land into a Farmland Commons, or who are able to take a significant discounted bargain sale, and also wait the time needed to build, launch, and achieve a fundraiser for the land acquisition.

Gifting farmland, farm, or other real estate to the Farmland Commons to decommodify the land and place it in community control to be used for regenerative agriculture by people who would not be able to have access and tenure to land otherwise is a powerful way to create systematic change that benefits land, people, and Earth.

Donating your farmland, farm, or other real estate for food, agriculture, community, ecosystem health, farm business viability and land justice through the Farmland Commons is one of the most impactful and transformative legacies a person can leave to the future.

We are so grateful for the land donors who have already gifted land for Farmland Commons around the country, for the ones we are working with to do so, and to the ones who will make this incredible decision next.

Learn more at thefarmerslandtrust.org

06/04/2026

In real estate, "highest and best use" is the reasonably probable, legal, and financially feasible use that yields the highest value for a property. It is the foundation of property valuation and is determined by evaluating four key tests: legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible, and maximally productive.

But best for who?

Not farmers.

Not communities who want and need food access and sovereignty.

Not future generations who will depend on healthy soil and productive farmland.

The Farmland Commons is creating a different standard for value. One that recognizes that the highest and best use of farmland is to keep it in farming, in active stewardship, and in service to people and communities for generations to come.

06/03/2026

We are deeply informed by the lived experiences of communities who have witnessed the extractive and destructive nature of industrial agriculture.

We are deeply motivated by the regenerative nature of small farming communities organizing to heal the land and change the story, and we know that for them to be able to do that
THEY NEED LAND.

Land needs to be permanently removed from the market so that it is no longer caught in the cycle of having its price increased every time it changes hands and its affordability being available to fewer and fewer people.

Land needs to be kept in community and in the hands of people who will use it for its real highest and best use: GROWING GOOD FOOD.

06/02/2026

A tripartite board is the cornerstone of a Community Land Trust (CLT). It is designed to prevent gentrification and ensure fair, democratic representation by dividing the board of directors into three equal, one-third segments:

1. Residents / Leaseholders: Individuals who own homes or lease land directly from the CLT.

2. Community Residents: Members who live in the surrounding neighborhood or geographic area served by the CLT, who do not lease land directly from the trust.

3. Public Representatives: Stakeholders such as local government officials, housing experts, non-profit leaders, and financial or real estate professionals.

This unique governance model democratically balances power to protect long-term affordability and prevent any single group from dominating the trust's decisions.

The Farmland Commons board is also a tripartite board, and is just one example of how the Farmland Commons are modeled after community land trusts, but on a national scale, and focused on agriculture. 🙌🏽

Read articles and blogs, watch videos, see more illustrations, and find out about the people and land involved at thefarmerslandtrust.org.

06/01/2026

Land is at the heart of power and wealth, and colonization and privatization create and perpetuate land injustices.

When land is transitioned - bought, sold, inherited, or gifted - power and wealth are then transitioned, too.

We have an opportunity this decade and next to create a positive impact on the transition of some of the 400,000,000 acres of farmland, which represents upwards of 70% of the total land transferring in the US, and is amongst the largest wealth transfers the world has ever seen.

Land transition is inevitable.
Land justice is not.
Let's change that.

Address

PO Box 195
Cookeville, TN
38503

Telephone

+18334327658

Website

http://thefarmerslandtrust.org/

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