Tika Bharand, LSI Global Greens program graduate, speaking to a crowd at PFI Field Day Photo courtesy: Practical Farmers of Iowa

land & resource access

SUPPORTING FARMERS FROM THE GROUND UP

Stylized icon of a scarecrow, two crops, and a field with plowed and planted sections, on a green circular background.

< Back to Plan

Read This Chapter

Goal: To improve food farmers' access to long term land tenure and the resources necessary to build viable businesses, especially for those who have been historically and systemically marginalized.

  • 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 >>

  • 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 Form here.

  • Relevant resources for practitioners across this priority area.

Jump To

Tika Bhandari, LSI Global Greens program graduate, speaking to a crowd at PFI Field Day. Source: Practical Farmers of Iowa