Land Link Programs Connect Elder Farmers with Young Ones

By Kisha Lewellyn Schlegel, 9-18-07

	Caption: From the New England Small Farm Institute

In August, The Idaho Statesman published an article about Reed Stanley, a 72 year old farmer who doesn’t believe in retirement. His story of working until, “his body gives up,” is an increasingly common one for aging farmers in the United States where, according to the 2002 Agriculture Census, the average age of farmers is 55, and one in four is 65 or older.

The age of farmers has been rising since the 1950s when young people began moving to urban areas and farmers began to live and work longer. Now, as farmers age and pass away, their farms are often turned over for housing developments, particularly in the Rocky Mountain West where land prices are often so high that even a farmer’s child cannot afford to purchase the land or pay the taxes. According to the Statesman, farmland was $1,900 per acre nationwide in 2006, and $2,500 per acre in some parts of Idaho.

As older farmers die, so goes their intimate knowledge of droughts, dust bowls and weather patterns that others can only study. Beyond these large, often defining events, the daily rituals of farming and ranching are also lost.

But new farmers looking for a mentor and some assistance, particularly with sustainable farming methods, can now access programs that attempt to connect the old with the new and keep traditions alive. Land Link and Farm Link programs exist in 25 states and link beginning farmers with those facing retirement. (All are listed on the National Farm Transition Network.) Participating states run separate programs that allow young farmers to learn the craft of farming without spending large amounts of money, to avoid possibly fatal financial mistakes and at times, to develop a financial arrangement that allows a new farmer to take over an existing farm. In addition, Land Link programs are intended to curb development of farmland and provide opportunities for a new farmer.

To do so, many Land Link programs provide online databases and information services for new farmers, including important information about how to get tax breaks. For older farmers, they often provide estate planning services, which can assist them with the transition from one generation of farmers to the next. Lank Link programs also provide a list of farm seekers and farm providers on the web much like online classifieds. Others provide courses and internship or apprentice opportunities.

In Minnesota, the Land Stewardship Project runs the Farm Beginnings Program, a farmer-led education program that helps people evaluate and plan for their farm. Participants have mentors who are experienced farmers and able to teach new farmers how to use sustainable practices in real farm conditions. New farmers have used the program to develop sustainable milking operations, a meat goat enterprise and Community Supported Agriculture.

In Pennsylvania, a retiring farm couple used a similar Farm Link program to connect with young farmers who were in need of land. After putting a conservation easement on their farm, the older couple sold the land to the new farmers for a price that was significantly less than the market rate.

Even so, programs for direct mentoring between new and old farmers are rare, and fairly non-existent in the Rocky Mountain West. Only Montana has a listed farm link program with the Alternative Energy Resource Organization.

With the pending Farm Bill, Farm and Land Link programs are slated to receive an additional $25 million per year in grants to train and mentor beginning farmers and ranchers nationwide. According to the Center for Rural Affairs, a Nebraska nonprofit dedicated to strengthening family farms and ranches, this money is essential to further develop programs that will connect old farmers with new and link the land from one generation to the next.

Whether such programs will expand into the west remains to be seen.

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