Why land tenure and security are key to the future of food. We’ve touched on the massive issues of land tenure, access, and security on the podcast before, but never enough. In many regions, land prices have been rising steadily for the past 50–100 years, becoming entirely disconnected from the land’s productive value—especially for those wanting to farm using regenerative agroecology. This has made land increasingly inaccessible for the next generation of farmers.
Exacerbating the problem is the aging farmer population. In the U.S., the average age of farmers is 62, which means most are nearing retirement. What happens next?
With Ian McSweeney and Kristina Villa, co-founders of The Farmers Land Trust , we focus on first-generation pioneering organic and biodynamic farmers who plan to retire soon. Many have spent their lives building successful small businesses, running community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, hosting events, providing education, and feeding countless people. Then there’s the next generation—capable farmers who’ve trained extensively, spent years working on others’ farms, and now dream of having their own land. Yet, they can’t afford the inflated market prices.
What can be done? One solution lies in shifting to common land ownership. Much like CSAs, the community can own the land, enabling a new generation of farmers to steward it. This often involves retiring farmers selling their land for significantly less—sometimes less than 50% of market value—unlocking opportunities for others to step in and carry the torch. This approach isn’t reserved for hippies, socialists, or communists; it’s gaining traction across the U.S. and, in some cases, is even supported by federal initiatives.
Ian and Kristina explain why there’s suddenly so much momentum in what has traditionally been a slow-moving area.
LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION ON:
LAND TENURE AND LAND SECURITY ARE KEY TO THE FUTURE OF FOOD
Kristina highlights the challenges of affording land and the realization of the systemic issues in land access and tenure.
”I was absolutely never, ever going to be able to afford to buy a farm. And it was then that this whole new epiphany, like opening a new door to a whole new universe, is what it felt like around the inequities and disparities around land access, ownership, and tenure in this country, and how systematic land theft has happened, and how land is completely out of touch and reach for new and beginning farmers, and how existing mid-career farmers are land insecure and scared of losing their land every day. The realities around land and the prices of access to all of it were mind-blowing. And then I realized this is actually what I need to be spending my time on, because deeper than food is the crisis around land.” Kristina Villa
WHY AN AGING FARMING POPULATION IS DRIVING THIS
Kristina and Ian discuss the supply and demand of land and farmers, emphasizing the need for give and take between generations.
”There is so many aging, retiring farmers that just Ian and I talk to that say on repeat; we just can’t find anyone to come farm this land. And then every single day, within hours of that, we’ll talk with young and beginning farmers who are like, we can’t find any land. We’re farming already, but we’re not on land that is secure. We don’t have long-term. It’s such a funny thing where, you brought it up, a kind of case of humour, the supply and demand, but we see it, there is enough supply, there is enough demand, but making those pieces work is what is tricky, because I think that our culture, our westernized culture, has this idea of independence, and this thing about, I have to create my own thing, and that is a mismatch for aging, retiring farmers who are wanting to pass their legacy on; there’s a clash there.” Kristina Villa
”It’s so much harder to start with raw land and to build a farm than it is to be given an existing market, an existing farm that has had soil built over decades and fencing and roads and barns; that is such a valuable thing to transition, let alone the things that these older farmers know and the wisdom that they have to share like that is all of such value.” Kristina Villa
HOW DO PIONEERING BIODYNAMIC AND ORGANIC FARMERS RIVER AND TRANSITION THEIR LAND TO THE NEXT GENERATION?
”I just seen far too many times that it’s not that easy, that there’s challenges in the people, in the capital, in the time needed, in the details of things. And so I had tried many times that easier approach, just with the individuals, and that led me to think about creating these nonprofit common structures, to bring in this kind of neutral third party organization that is kind of aligned with and carried forward by the community at large, kind of using the CSA models community side, to value more than the annual food production, but to value the long term tenure and holding of that farm real estate and that community as kind of the connection piece between the generations of farmers that are letting go and stepping forward and so that I felt was a really needed model to buffer the different sides and to navigate the process and to support and bring capital forward in different ways.” Ian McSweeney
”It is so important to focus on exiting biodynamic and organic farms that have built communities for decades and now don’t have successors and yet have this community and this farm, then finding a way to transition that farm and carry forward the community, really so important in such rich projects. But the bigger picture, I think, is the diverse differences between these projects, geographically around the US, and the communities, the people, and the land of the agriculture served by them because it represents such distinct differences that, in so many ways, are polarized against each other because of so many systems and forces that exist in this country. But if we’re doing this all around a shared value system for these farmland commons that embed in them values for land, for agriculture, for relationships, and carrying that fort across all of these, it’s building some shared values in very polarized, distinctly different areas of the country, and that builds connection. And I think that connection is probably the most important thing we could do in our lives, in this work.” Ian McSweeney
FARMING SHOULDN’T BE DONE ALONE BUT IN COMMUNITY
Kristina talks about the importance of community and collaboration in farming rather than the traditional single-family farm model.
”That is a myth; this idea of the single-family farm being what we should do, or what will be fulfilling, or what will bring us happiness, is not real. And I think that, similar to how in the past decade, people are opening up to different ways of pairing land conservation with land production and agriculture and thinking about different ways of land ownership, I think people are also starting to realize that farming, like most things should happen in community, and that farming in this one idea of a family farm is so isolating and limiting to what you can produce and how enriched your life can be.” Kristina Villa
MANY FARMERS ARE WILLING TO SELL AND LET GO OF THEIR LAND FOR WAY LESS THAN THE CRAZY SPECULATIVE ‘MARKET PRICES’
The need for a redistribution of land to those who will use regenerative practices and the potential for public funding to support this transition.
”We only work with landowners who are willing to donate their land or give it a significant discounted bargain sale. And it works this idea, like, so many times people say this sort of thing, how do you convince people? Like, we don’t have to convince people. There are plenty of people who own land around the country who see the dire need that we are in in the face of climate collapse and dwindling resources and social inequities, and who want to use the power that they have in the form of land to do something good about it, and who are in the financial position where it’s not harmful to them to let go at a donation or a discount.” Kristina Villa
OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED
Koen, Kristina and Ian also talked about:
- The importance of investing in farmland and common structures to support regenerative agriculture and community-based farming
- What they would change if they had a magic wand
- Why there is a lot of opportunity to change these things now
LINKS:
LINKED INTERVIEWS:
- Ian McSweeney, 400M US acres will change hands soon, how to make them regenerative?!
- Wouter Veer – Trying to fix private land ownership, the root cause of all our issues
- Thomas Rippel, using a blockchain to help Farmland Stewardship Organisations grow
- Thomas Rippel, checking in on land ownership, stable coins, pensions for farmers and city folks
- Liz Carlisle – Let’s get real, regeneration is nothing new, so let’s honour the indigenous history
——————————————
Feedback, comments, suggestions? Reach me via Twitter @KoenvanSeijen, in the comments below or through Get in Touch on this website.
Join the Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food newsletter on www.eepurl.com/cxU33P
The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.
Thanks Koen for this podcast episode. This is important information to assist with the transition. In North America we need a number of policy changes and this model provides one of the key elements which is land access and tenure. Here in NA we need to end the subsidies we call BRMs ( business risk management) just like New Zealand. We need zoning changes near urban centres that would work to encourage community supported land tenure. We need changes to our taxation policies that allow large land holdings to be passed tax free, because rules allow owners to meet the definition of actively managed even when acting as a landlord rather than working the land. In general, very large farms are responsible for all the wrongs and small farms are our best hope.