land & resource access

Access to land is deeply connected to multiple issues –

• Society needs farmers to grow healthy food, fiber, and other crops.

• Access to land is the number one challenge facing the next generation of farmers in the United States (National Young Farmers, 2023).

• Land access is key to supporting positive public health outcomes and social equity as it impacts what is grown, where, and by whom.

• Access to land is particularly important for marginalized communities as it can be one of the largest forms of generational wealth (Gilbert, Wood, Sharp, 2002).

Data on who owns and farms Iowa’s land clarifies why this is an issue.

• Two thirds of Iowa farmers are over 65 years of age – retirement age (Tong and Zhang, 2023).

• 84% of Iowa farm ground is owned debt-free and is increasingly owned by non- farmers who like fixed cash-rent contracts and are highly unlikely to sell their ground to someone outside the family (Clayton, 2023).

• Agricultural land value in Iowa has seen sharp increases in recent years (29% from 2020 to 2021), putting land ownership out of reach for most young and beginning farmers and farmers of color with less generational wealth (Chandio, 2023).

Corbin Scholz
Farm Director at Seed Savers Exchange, cscholz@seedsavers.org

Zac Couture
LSI Global Greens, Zachary.Couture@lsiowa.org

To achieve our goal to improve food farmers’ access to the land and resources necessary to build viable businesses, we have determined the following strategies and actions are urgently needed.

Strategy 1: Develop a portfolio of low-barrier funding that bridges gaps for farmers to access land, capital, and other farm resource needs.

Strategy 2: Expand innovative pathways to land ownership and land tenure beyond the traditional pathways of family transfer or financing, loans, or generational wealth.

Strategy 3: Improve farm linking services between land seekers and landowners.

Strategy 4: Ensure diverse, small, urban, and mid-sized farmers have equitable opportunities and services at USDA and other financial and business institutions.

Read this chapter in its entirety >>

• Lutheran Services of Iowa, Global Greens Program

• Iowa Valley Resource Conservation & Development

• Practical Farmers of Iowa

• UNI Center for Energy & Environmental Education

• Sustainable Iowa Land Trust

• Women Food and Agriculture Network

• Feed Iowa First

The Land & Resource Access team meets virtually. Email Corbin Scholz at cscholz@seedsavers.org.

Interested in partnering to advance a thriving, equitable food system in Iowa? Fill out our Partner Interest Form here.

Relevant resources for practitioners across this priority area.

• SILT Farm Seeker Survey (Sustainable Iowa Land Trust)

• Farmland Access Tools (Marbleseed)