Changing Lands Changing Hands

A National Conference on Farm & Ranch Access, Tenure & Transfer

JUNE 13-15, 2017 | DENVER, COLORADO

Hosted by Land For Good in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture Venue Map Welcome

Room Abbreviations An enterprising young rancher Contents PS: Prefunction South searches for secure land to grow A: Aspen his business. A senior farming K: Keystone couple anguishes over who will Conference Connections take over their farm. A landowner and her farmer-tenant negotiate over 2 conservation practices. We all know stories like these. Land access and Plenary Panels farm and ranch succession are top challenges for US agriculture. How 3 will our farms and ranches be acquired, held and passed on? What will it take to assure secure and sustainable tenure and transfer for our nation’s Concurrent Sessions At-A-Glance producers and landowners? These questions are of critical importance to 4 the future of farming, food systems and farmland in the US. Concurrent Session Formats We’re here to tackle these issues together. You are among a growing Regional Breakout Sessions group of individuals, organizations, and agencies working on land 5 access, tenure and succession issues. This conference a forum for us to discuss successful and emerging practices, programs and policies. We Concurrent Session Descriptions have much to share with and learn from one another. 6-13

Together, we will: Presenters & Moderators ‚‚ Exchange knowledge, information and research 13-24 ‚‚ Assess what’s going on in the field and what’s needed Attendees ‚‚ Build our skills and networks 25-33 ‚‚ Collect a wealth of ideas, experiences and perspectives Restaurants Transportation We are gathered here from all regions of the country, and from multiple 34 sectors and disciplines. Diversity is essential to solving the complex challenges of land access, transfer and tenure. We’ll consider all types Movie Night and scales of farms, ranches and producers. And we’ll need to address Readers Theater legal, financial, policy and natural resource dimensions, not to mention 35 Schedule family dynamics, values and cultures! Land For Good hosted the first Changing Lands, Changing Hands About LFG & USDA Tuesday, June 13 Wednesday, June 14 Thursday, June 15 conference here in Denver in 2009. Since then, program and policy 36 attention to agricultural land tenure has increased dramatically. With 1:00p | Registration Opens (PS) 7:00a | Breakfast (PS, A:1&2) 7:00a | Breakfast (PS, A:1&2) Committees & Acknowledgements burgeoning interest in farming, growing public interest in food, and a new 37 3:00p | Opening Plenary (A:1&2) 8:00a | Plenary Panel (A:1&2) 8:00a | Concurrent Session 5 Administration, the timing is right for this event. Together we’ll advance ÝÝWelcome: Land For Good & Chris Beyerhelm, 9:15a | Concurrent Session 2 9:30a | Break (PS) workable strategies for more equitable access to farm- and ranchland, Acting Administrator, USDA/FSA secure and sustainable land tenure, and successful transfer of our farms 10:45a | Break (PS) 9:45a | Regional Breakout Sessions ÝÝPanel and ranches. 11:15a | Concurrent Session 3 (See p. 5) 4:30p | Break (PS) Thank you so much for your commitment to America's farmers, ranchers 11:15a | Closing Plenary Panel (A:1&2) 4:45p | Concurrent Session 1 12:30p | Lunch & Plenary Panel (A:1&2) and landowners—and for joining us at Changing Lands, Changing Hands.  Be Social! 2:15p | Concurrent Session 4 12:30p | Adjourn Welcome, and have a great time! 6:15p | Reception (PS) Join the conversation on Hosted by Colorado Host Committee 4:00p | Break (PS) Twitter or Facebook using: 7:15p | Dinner (A:1&2) 4:30p | Plenary Panel (A:1&2) #LandChangingHands Remarks, Commissioner Don Brown, 6:00p | Dinner on the town Colorado Department of Agriculture  WIFI Access 6:00p | Excursion to Comal Jim Hafner, Executive Director Kathryn Ruhf, Senior Program Network: DT 8:45p | Movie Night (K:1) If you pre-registered for this, meet in Director & Conference Organizer Password: 2-JUNE1.5 8:45p | Readers Theater (K:2) front of hotel. Look for signs and a bus.

1 Conference Connections Plenary Panels

TUESDAY 3:00p WEDNESDAY 4:30p Picking Your Brains Historic and Contemporary Perspectives on Racial Equity Challenges in Agricultural Farm and Ranch Tenure Land Tenure Changing Lands, Changing Hands brings together national leaders like you who are dealing with land tenure issues. One of our This opening panel sets the stage for our conference US agricultural land tenure has a long and fraught his- conference goals is to collect successful and emerging program, work together. We’ll get grounded with data and tory, especially regarding farmers of color and other practices and policies on our topics. Land For Good will compile analyses from USDA. Then, panelists will share their disadvantaged groups. These panelists bring deep perspectives on the issues. This provocative session subject expertise to shed light on current challenges, what we collect and share it widely in an online report. will lay out values-based and practical challenges that and to provoke all of us to do more to promote equity Please contribute! Here’s how we’re going to gather all this guide–or thwart–our efforts to improve land access, in how all producers access, hold, and transfer farms information: tenure and transfer. and ranches. ‚‚ A scribe will take notes in every session. She or he will collect your Panelists: Neil Hamilton, Drake University Agricultural Panelists; Stephen Carpenter, Farmers Legal Action ideas, models, and practices on a form. Please help them by pointing Law Center, Lead Speaker; Dan Bigelow, USDA/Economic Group; Janie Hipp, University of Arkansas; Shirley Sherrod, out anything they should capture and by giving your name or a Research Service; Savi Horne, Land Loss Prevention Project; Southwest Georgia Project reference so we can follow up if needed. Scott Marlow, RAFI Moderator: Jennifer Hashley, New Entry Sustainable ‚‚ Videographers will be roaming the conference! If you are approached Moderator: Kathryn Ruhf, Land For Good Farming Project by someone with a smart device and an inquiring demeanor, please take a few minutes to share your work and ideas with them in a spontaneous, casual video interview that will be part of our post- WEDNESDAY 8:00a THURSDAY 11:15a conference report. Share your practices, perspectives and ideas to be Equitable partition of land is included in our compilation, with all credit to you. Public Policy Dimensions of Land Access Where to Next? the necessary basis of all self- and Transfer Indeed! These panelists will translate their conference ‚‚ Sticky notes, of course! Listen for instructions to post your practice, sustaining agriculture. This program and policy ideas and accomplishments. Public policies can help advance our land tenure experiences and observations into key takeaways that partition and use of land may objectives or pose obstacles. Where are the promising are sure to inspire and challenge us all. be in the form of ownership levers? What is realistic? What can we do from the Panelists: Poppy Davis, Univ. of Arkansas School of Law; Learning From Colleagues or in the form of right to hold field? These policy experts will talk about the policy Julia Freedgood, American Farmland Trust; Lilia McFarland, the land for a specified time. landscape at federal, state and local levels. USDA; Monica Rainge, Federation of Southern Cooperatives Attendees routinely say that networking is the best part of any The ownership may be of Panelists: Chris Beyerhelm, USDA/Farm Service Agency; Don Moderators: Jim Hafner & Kathryn Ruhf, Land For Good conference. Please take advantage of conference venue space different degrees: the owner Brown, Colorado Department of Agriculture; Cris Coffin, Land For Good; Gary Matteson, Farm Credit dedicated to ad hoc meetings and get-togethers. may have unlimited right to Moderator: Juli Obudzinski, National Sustainable Agriculture ‚‚ Hold a meeting in the Executive Boardroom (capacity 14) any time sell and to bequeath or he may Coalition during the conference. Sign up for a block of time. The sign-up sheet be bound by certain statutory is posted at the Boardroom. restrictions. Likewise, the ‚‚ Hang out with colleagues at the Amberstone Bar and Grill, located rental of land may be of across from the registration table. This casual space is reserved for WEDNESDAY 12:30p (LUNCH) different degrees and kinds, our event. Farmer Panel and in some cases it may ‚‚ The Changing Lands Library Table features resources from your Hear stories from young and beginning farmers and amount to practical ownership. colleagues. Thanks for adding yours. Please pick up your materials ranchers about land access. These inspiring operators at the end of the conference. These varying forms of land from different commodities and regions will share partition have arisen with the about their land tenure path and their perspectives on evolution of society.” what’s working and what’s needed. Panelists: Tess Brown-Lavoie, Sidewalk Ends Farm, Rhode Photo and Video Waiver Island; Harrison Topp, Topp Fruits, Colorado; Dustin Stein, By attending this conference you may be included in video and/or photographs Liberty Hyde Bailey Stubborn Farm, Colorado; Javier Zamora, JSM Organics, taken during the event. As part of your agreement to attend, you assign, transfer and CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN grant to Land For Good the right to use your image and/or voice for educational and AGRICULTURE, VOLUME IV, California CHAPTER V LAND AND LABOR, 1909 promotional purposes unless you expressly notify Land For Good to the contrary. Moderator: Adrian Card, CSU Boulder County Extension

2 3 Concurrent Sessions At-A-Glance Concurrent Session Formats

 Roundtables Tracks Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4 Session 5 TUE 4:45p WED 9:15a WED 11:15a WED 2:15p THU 8:00a Sessions are organized around six thematic tracks that are coded as follows to help you identify themes in the program: Keystone 1 1B Farmers 2B Succession 3A Role of 4A To Own or Not 5A Leases & A  Seekers & Land Access D  Non-traditional Approaches without Tools, Methods & Easements & to Own? Leasing B  Succession & Transfer E  Professional & Network Development Successors innovations Conservation C  Landowners F/G  Focus On… (a variety of key topics)

Keystone 2 1D Planning for 2D Shared 3C Public Farm & 4B Building 5C Women on the Land Access Ownership, New Ranch Lands Succession Land Formats Partners Advisor Teams  Presentation Keystone 3 1F Urban Land 2E Land Access & 3E International 4C Working with 5G Industry In a presentation workshop, presenters share information about their Access Transfer Curricula Perspectives on Non-operator Perspectives on work or program, followed by Q&A. My father worked with a horse Farm & Ranch Landowners Land Tenure plough, Succession  Discussion In a discussion workshop, the discussants share their perspectives and His shoulders globed like a full Keystone 4 1G Facilitating 2G Land & Water 3F Heir Property, 4D Incubators, 5F Land Tenure analysis of the topic to set the stage for participant discussion. sail strung Good Transactions Rights Partition Sales and Apprenticeships, Advocates Between the shafts and the Land Tenure Mentoring & Land  Roundtables (Session 4) furrow. Access These roundtable sessions are longer and more intensive than topical workshops. Here’s where you can sink your teeth into an issue you care The horses strained at his Aspen 3A 1A Seekers’ Land 2A Access to 3B Transition 4E: Farm Link 5B Technical about! The sessions are in-depth, facilitated peer-to-peer discussion of clicking tongue. specific topics leading to enhanced knowledge, understanding, practical Access Needs Capital & Financing Planning & Farm Programs Issues in I wanted to grow up and Land Access Programs Transfer Planning applications and actions. plough Assistance Each roundtable session is intended to foster: ÝÝ Greater understanding of the issues To close one eye, stiffen my Aspen 3B 1C Non-operator 2C Connecting 3D Paths to 4F Research & 5D Farmland ÝÝ Practical next steps for individuals or collectively arm. Landowners Landowners & Ownership Policy Agenda Investors ÝÝ Exposure to best practices All I ever did was follow Farmers ÝÝ Problem identification and solving Facilitators will set the stage and guide the discussion for each In his broad shadow around Aspen 3C 1E Attorneys 2F Addressing 3G Land Access 4G New Agrarian 5E Trusts, Land session. Choose a topic that resonates for you! the farm. in Access and Systemic Prejudice for Military Views on Land Access & Land I was a nuisance, tripping, Succession Veteran Farmers & Tenure Protection falling, Assistance Ranchers Regional Breakout Sessions THU 9:45a Yapping always. But today In this session you will dialogue with colleagues from your part of the county. We’ll explore how best and emerging practices, programs and It is my father who keeps policies address core land tenure values. We’ll look at how regional stumbling characteristics and needs have shaped our work, and how we can best I know this place like I know overcome challenges to achieve shared farm and ranch tenure goal– Behind me, and will not go the calluses on my hands. wherever we are. away. Aspen 1-2: CO Keystone 1: ID, MT, NM, SD, TX, UT, WY Aspen 3A: IA, MI, MN, WI Keystone 2: AR, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, VA Brenda Sutton Rose Aspen 3B: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT Keystone 3: IL, IN, OH, MO, NE, KS Seamus Heaney DOGWOOD BLUES Aspen 3C: NJ, NY, PA, WV Keystone 4: CA, HI, OR, WA FOLLOWER DC and non-USA: your choice

4 5 1E Attorneys in Access and Succession Assistance Session Descriptions Concurrent Session Descriptions  Discussants will focus on the roles and importance of attorneys’ work with seekers, landowners and retiring producers, including how to engage more attorneys, build skills and strengthen Session 1 | Tuesday 4:45p networks. Not just for lawyers! Discussants: Andrew Branan, attorney; Jerry Cosgrove, attorney; Joe Hawbaker, attorney 1A Beginning Farmers’ and Ranchers’ and Other Seekers’  Land Access Needs Moderator: Jim Hafner, Land For Good What are the characteristics and needs of beginning farmers and ranchers (stage of farming, region, etc.)? What do we need to 1F Urban Land Access know? We will discuss the implications for programs and poli-  Focus on the special practical and policy challenges around land cies to address their circumstances and challenges around land access in urban settings. Presenters will draw from research and access. recent projects. Discussants: Mary Ahearn, USDA/Economic Research Service (retired); Tim Presenters: Laura Bozzi, Southside Community Land Trust; Johanna Biello, American Farmland Trust; Holly Rippon-Butler, National Young Rosen, Equity Trust; Greg Rosenberg, Rosenberg & Associates Farmers Coalition Moderator: Tess Brown-Lavoie, Land For Good Moderator: Karen Stettler, Land Stewardship Project

1G Facilitating Good Transactions 1B Farmers without Successors  Navigating the “soft issues”–communications, goals & values–can  Many farmers and ranchers do not have identified successors. make or break land access or transfer transactions. This session This is both a challenge and an opportunity. We’ll examine re- will focus on building service provider skills to assist these trans- search and programs focused on this audience. What do we actions. know and how can we tailor assistance to their circumstances? Discussants: John Baker, Iowa State University Beginning Farmer Center; Presenters: Cris Coffin, Land For Good; Maria Marshall, Purdue Dave Goeller, University of Nebraska; Kendra Johnson, California Farm Link University; Jon Jaffe, Farm Credit East Moderator: Cara Cargill, Land For Good Moderator: Kip Kolesinskas

Session 2 | Wednesday 9:15a 1C Non-Operator Landowners  Non-operator landowners (NOLOs) play a crucial role in agricul- Remember the earth whose tural land tenure and management. This session will focus on 2A Access to Capital and Financing Land Access their needs and challenges, along with the programs that serve skin you are:  Discussants will set a framework for the relationship between ac- them. cess to public and private capital and access to land, looking at the Red earth, black earth, yellow issues, options and policies around financing land acquisition. Discussants: Chris Beyerhelm, USDA/FSA; Dan Bigelow, USDA/ERS; Peg earth, white earth My father worked on a farm - Petrzelka, Utah State University Discussants: Reggie Knox, California Farm Link; Gary Matteson, Farm and his father. They both got brown earth, we are earth Credit; Jim Radintz, USDA Farm Service Agency Moderator: Kim Niewolny, VA Tech very near to ninety, I believe. Moderator: Scott Marlow, RAFI Remember the plants, trees, They were hardy old sorts. animal life who all have their They never had a thing amiss 1D Planning for Land Access 2B Tools, Methods and Innovations in Succession and  Local and regional planners have increasingly engaged in agri- with them. They worked and cultural land use and access. Presenters will share their methods tribes, their families, their  Transfer Planning Assistance lived, and then kind of toppled and experiences. In addition, we’ll take a look at the role of local histories too. Snapshots and stories from the field of successful and innovative over at the end. governments in making land available and assisting transfers. strategies to engage farmers and ranchers in succession planning. Presenters: Misti Arias, Sonoma County (CA); Julia Freedgood, American Presenters: Teresa Opheim, Practical Farmers of Iowa; Kristine Ranger, Ronald Blythe Farmland Trust; Pete Westover, Conservation Works Joy Harjo Ag Transition Partners; Jeff Tranel, Colorado State University; Julia AKENFIELD: PORTRAIT OF AN Moderator: Reggie Knox, California Farm Link REMEMBER Valliant, Indiana University ENGLISH VILLAGE Moderator: Jerry Cosgrove, attorney 6 7 Session 2 | Wednesday 9:15a (continued) Session Descriptions Session 3 | Wednesday 11:15a Session Descriptions

2C Connecting Landowners and Farmers/Ranchers 3A Role of Easements and Conservation  Everybody’s talking about “connecting” landowners and farmers.  Easements play an important role in land affordability, availability What does that mean? What works and what’s needed? A frank and agricultural practices. Presenters will share their best and look at programs and obstacles. emerging practices around ag easements with a focus on land Discussants: Tim Biello, American Farmland Trust; Andrew Sorrell, access and transfer, including more broadly the intersection of Virginia Department of Agriculture; Jennifer Visitacion, Guidestone tenure and conservation. Moderator: Holly Rippon-Butler, National Young Farmers Coalition Presenters: Jerry Cosgrove, attorney; Suzan Erem, SILT; Kendra Johnson, California Farm Link; Jillian Hishaw, F.A.R.M.S. Moderator: Jennifer Dempsey, American Farmland Trust 2D Shared Ownership, New Partners  New and young farmers across the country seek new ways to 3B Transition Planning & Farm Programs access land, and are drawn to cooperative, group options. This  The discussion will revolve around how transition planning does session will explore multi-farmer and farmer-non-farmer land and could intersect with government and NGO programs and ownership interests–their commonalities, unique challenges and policy. Examples will be drawn from risk management, credit, emerging opportunities. conservation and mentoring programs. Presenters: Seth Jansen, Poudre Valley Community Farms; Ian Discussants: Kindra Brandner, Colorado NRCS; Scott Marlow, RAFI; Scott McSweeney, Agrarian Trust; Jim Oldham, Equity Trust; Mike Sands, Miller, Colorado Farm Service Agency; Matt Russell, Drake Ag Law Center Liberty Prairie Foundation Moderator: Cris Coffin, Land For Good Moderator: Kim Niewolny, Virginia Tech 3C Public Farm and Ranch Lands  An investigation of farming and ranching agreements on federal, state, 2E Land Access and Transfer Curricula county and municipal properties. Presenters will share strategies, and  Presenters will share their review of land access curricula and explore ways to expand and improve the role of these land holders. farmer training around land tenure, and their experiences develop- Presenters: Adrian Card, Colorado State University, Boulder County Extension; If we wish to know why ing curricula. What works for what audiences? What’s missing? Tracy Emrick, Countryside Conservancy; Kip Kolesinskas, Connecticut it is becoming more and Presenters: Julia Freedgood, American Farmland Trust; Andrew Marshall, Department of Agriculture; Les Owen, Colorado Department of Agriculture more difficult for a farmer Land For Good; Karen Stettler, Land Stewardship Project Moderator: Andrew Marshall, Land For Good to acquire the ownership of Moderator: Jennifer Hashley, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project 3D Paths to Ownership land, we must study those Through my history's despite  Land ownership is the dream of most farmers. What are forces and conditions that 2F Addressing Systemic Prejudice and ruin, I have come established and new strategies for farmers and ranchers to move enable him to buy land, and  A focus on the unique and shared challenges faced by socially to its remainder, and here toward land ownership? Examples include lease-to-own, land also the conditions that retard disadvantaged groups dealing with land access. Discussants will have made the beginning contracts, and gradual transfer of interests. What current and his making investments set the stage for lessons learned and opportunities to overcome potential policies foster a path to ownership? of a farm intended to become in land. To improve the systemic prejudice to foster land access and secure tenure. my art of being here. Discussants: Gary Matteson, Farm Credit; Jim Radintz, USDA/Farm Service conditions with respect to Discussants: Janie Hipp, University of Arkansas: Maria Moreira, World Agency; Kathy Ruhf, Land For Good; Liya Schwartzman, California Farm Link By it I would instruct the ownership of farms, Farmers; Monica Rainge, Federation of Southern Cooperatives Moderator: Bob Wagner, Land For Good my wants: they should belong some means of improving the Moderator: Jim Hafner, Land For Good to each other and to this place. 3E International Perspectives on Farm and Ranch farmer’s facilities for making Until my song comes here such acquisitions need to be  Learn from two experts who have studied farm transfer and land 2G Land and Water Rights to learn its words, my art tenure in other countries and cultures. They will share their research devised.  In some US regions, water rights are integral to land tenure. What is but the hope of song. and observations, with examples and application to the U.S. are the issues and implications around agricultural water use for Presenters: John Baker, International Farm Transition Network and Iowa Liberty Hyde Bailey land access and transfer? Wendell Berry State University; Matt Lobley, Land Environment, Economics and Policy CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE, VOLUME IV, Presenters: Aaron Clay, Attorney; Sarah Parmar, Colorado Open Lands THE COLLECTED POEMS, 1957-1982 Institute, University of Exeter, UK CHAPTER V LAND AND LABOR, 1909 Moderator: Kathay Rennels, Colorado State University Moderator: Dave Goeller, University of Nebraska 8 9 Session 3 | Wednesday 11:15a (continued) Session Descriptions 4D Incubators, Apprenticeships, Mentoring & Land Access Session Descriptions  Creative thinking about how land-based farmer training and mentoring programs address land access for trainees. This 3F Heir Property, Partition Sales and Land Tenure roundtable will draw from participants’ experiences and tackle  Heir property and partition sales present barriers to successful the synergies between farmer training and land transfer. transfer of land to the next generations of African American and Facilitators: Jennifer Hashley, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project Native American farmers and ranchers. What are the program and National Incubator Farm Training Initiative; Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, and policy opportunities to address this long-standing issue? Quivira Coalition Presenters: Savi Horne, Land Loss Prevention Project; Monica Rainge, Federation of Southern Cooperatives; Cris Stainbrook, Indian Land Tenure 4E Farm Link Programs Foundation  What are linking programs? Do they work, and how do we know? A Moderator: Cara Cargill, Land For Good clinic on program design, challenges, metrics, sustainability and effec- tiveness for those in the linking trenches and those who hope to be. 3G Land Access for Military Veteran Farmers & Ranchers Facilitators: Andy Sorrell, VA Department of Agriculture; David Haight,  This session will focus on the particular challenges faced by mili- American Farmland Trust tary Veterans accessing land for their farm or ranch operation. 4F Research and Policy Agenda Presenters: Jim Craig, Colorado AgrAbility; Matt Mulder, Arcadia Foods; TBD  A deep dive for policy and research wonks and wannabes. This roundtable will explore policy options and strategies for the next Moderator: Rachel Murray, Land For Good Farm Bill, state-level policy opportunities and research priorities. Facilitators: Cris Coffin, Land For Good; Poppy Davis, SAGE Session 4 (Roundtables) | Wednesday 2:15p 4G New Agrarian Views on Land Tenure  How can visions and models “outside the box” inform and inspire 4A To Own or Not to Own: Is that the Question? our collective efforts on equitable land access and transfer? This  What are our goals and priorities for land access and tenure in roundtable will combine creative thinking, cutting edge, real-world the U.S.? What factors need to be considered? This roundtable examples and analysis. will use the constructive tensions around land tenure toward a Facilitators: Julia Freedgood, AFT; Jean Willoughby, Agrarian Trust useful framework for our collective work. Facilitators: Chris Beyerhelm, USDA Farm Service Agency; Neil Hamilton, Session 5 | Thursday 8:00a Drake University Agricultural Law Center

5A Leases and Leasing 4B Building Succession Advisor Teams  Presenters will dive into perspectives on leasing—the types and  It takes a team to help farm and ranch families plan for succession. I should understand the land, suitability of leases, and their legal and policy dimensions. We’ll In this roundtable, practitioners will dig into how to build and improve not as a commodity, an inert address roles and skills for TA providers to assist with good farm succession planning advisor teams. Issues may include communica- lease agreements. tions, confidentiality, and coordination challenges, along with strate- fact to be taken for granted, Presenters: Neil Hamilton. Drake Ag Law Center; Liya Schwartzman, gies to recruit and train providers. but as an ultimate value, California Farm Link; Kathryn Ruhf, Land For Good Facilitators: Teresa Opheim, Practical Farmers of Iowa; Andrew Marshall, enduring and alive, useful and We abuse land because we Moderator: Adrian Card, Colorado State University Extension, Boulder Cty Land For Good beautiful and mysterious and regard it as a commodity formidable and comforting, 5B Technical Issues in Transfer Planning Assistance belonging to us. When we see beneficent and terribly land as a community to which 4C Working with Non-operator Landowners  Discussion of the hurdles advisors face with their transition demanding, worthy of the best we belong, we may begin to  Few services exist for non-operator landowners. This roundtable clients—such as entity formation, taxes, operating agreements, will brainstorm successful and emerging practices to engage, of man's attention and care... and financial viability. What are good practices and areas for use it with love and respect. educate and support NOLOs, from making land their available to improved techniques? working with USDA programs. Wendell Berry Discussants: Andrew Branan, attorney; Dave Goeller, University of Nebraska; Aldo Leopold Facilitators: Jim Hafner, Land For Good; Matt Russell, Drake University THE HIDDEN WOUND Savi Horne, Land Loss Prevention Project; Jon Jaffe, Farm Credit East A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC Agricultural Law Center Moderator: Joe Hawbaker, attorney 10 11 Session 5 | Thursday 8:00a (continued) Session Descriptions Presenters & Moderators 5C Women on the Land  Exemplary and emerging programs for women who hold or seek Dr. Mary Clare Ahearn is a Consulting Agricultural research project. He wrote the legislation that created access to agricultural land. Economist. She retired from the USDA Economic Re- the Iowa Beginning Farmer Center and the Beginning search Service in 2014 after more than 35 years of ser- Farmer Tax credit. He has lectured throughout the Presenters: Wren Almitra, Women, Food and Agriculture Network; Debra vice as a researcher and research manager, specializ- United States and in Canada, Japan, Ireland, England, Heleba, University of Vermont; Joy Kirkpatrick, University of Wisconsin; ing in policy analysis of agricultural performance, farm New Zealand and Poland. Madeline Schultz, Annie’s Project, Iowa State University structure and rural development. Since retiring, she Moderator: Laura Bozzi, Southside Community Land Trust served as Managing Editor, Choices Magazine, an out- Since January 2017, Chris Beyerhelm has served as reach magazine of the Agricultural and Applied Eco- Acting Administrator of the Farm Service Agency, over- seeing policy, programs, operations, and management. 5D Farmland Investors nomics Association and Vice-Chair, Council of Food, Agriculture, and Resource Economics, an organization It employs over 11,000 people in 2,100 offices nation-  Sharing research on and examples of farmland investors, dedicated to strengthening the national presence of wide. Concurrently, Mr. Beyerhelm has served as As- discussants will set the stage for dialogue, including concerns the profession. She provides economic consulting to sociate Administrator for Operations and Management and opportunities related to farmland investment entities. international and national organizations. She received since 2015, wherein he is responsible for overseeing FSA’s budget, management and operations. Mr. Bey- Discussants: Tim Biello, Saratoga Draft Power Farm; Mike Ghia, Land For her Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 1984. erhelm serves as the Lead of USDA’s Land Tenure Ini- Good; Teresa Opheim, Iroquois Valley Farms; Benneth Phelps, Dirt Capital Wren Almitra coordinates Women, Land & Legacy, tiative. Previously, Mr. Beyerhelm was Deputy Adminis- Partners a USDA outreach program coordinated through the trator for Farm Loans Programs, where he oversaw a Moderator: Bob Wagner, Land For Good Women, Food & Ag. Network (WFAN). She also assists $20 billion portfolio and managed the direct and guar- with WFAN’s Harvesting Our Potential program, which anteed lending programs of FSA. 5E Land Trusts, Land Access and Land Protection supports aspiring and beginning women farmers. A life-long resident of Iowa, she took a leave of absence As Hudson Valley Farmlink Network Coordinator Tim  What are the current and best strategies to engage and strengthen for a few years to receive her Environmental Studies Biello manages farmer and farmland owner program- land trusts in agricultural land protection, access and transfer? This degree from Prescott College in Prescott, AZ where ming, such as workshops and networking events, ad- session will explore successful, emerging and potential land trust she studied Agroecology, among other sustainable ministers the Hudson Valley Farmland Finder.org web- community roles, contributions and connections. Awake! arise! the athlete's arm agriculture and conservation biology courses. She’s site, and provides technical assistance to farmers and Discussants: Nellie McAdams, Rogue Farm Corps; Jim Oldham, Equity worked on small farms in Iowa and Arizona and is a farmland owners in the Hudson Valley and throughout Trust; Karen Burke, Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood; Holly Rippon- Loses its strength by too much supporting partner of The Millet Seed, a CSA urban New York. He also organizes and presents at pro- Butler, National Young Farmers Coalition rest; farm in Iowa City, IA. fessional development training programs and assists with or leads research projects in New York and New Moderator: Kendra Johnson, California Farm Link The fallow land, the untilled Misti Arias is the Acquisition Program Manager of the England. Tim has an MS in Rural Sociology with a fo- farm Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open cus on agriculture, natural resources and community Space District. The District was created and funded by development. Tim is also a beginning farmer, man- 5F Land Tenure Advocates: Individualized Support, Produces only weeds at best.  System-wide Impact local voter initiative to protect a wide variety of land aging and operating on 60 acres outside of Saratoga throughout Sonoma County, California. Since 1990, Springs, NY. Farm advocates will share their case-based experiences and the District has permanently protected over 111,000 strategies that bring a social justice lens to land tenure work Henry Wadsworth Longfellow acres. As a program manager, Misti oversees a wide Daniel Bigelow joined USDA’s Economic Research within a food system reform framework. A FRAGMENT IN IN THE HARBOR variety of land conservation efforts for wildlife habitat, Service in 2015 as a research economist in the Rural Discussants: Stephen Carpenter, Farmers Legal Action Group; Scott greenbelts, recreation and agriculture. She has over and Resource Economics Division. Dan was involved Marlow, RAFI; Shirley Sherrod, Southwest Georgia Project 20 years of agricultural land conservation experience with the initial analysis of TOTAL, a unique USDA sur- vey that provides a comprehensive depiction of U.S. Moderator: Alicia Harvey, Farm Aid ranging from the development of small scale com- munity farms to 1,200 acre agricultural conservation farmland ownership, tenure, and transfer. His current easements on privately owned land. projects include a number of policy-focused research 5G Industry Perspectives on Land Tenure applications related to land use, land valuation, and These memories are part of Attorney John R. Baker is employed by Iowa State Uni- water management. Dan holds a Ph.D. in Applied Eco-  Ag industry representatives will share their positions and my heritage, the fabric of my versity Extension. For the last 32 years his focus has nomics, with a focus on environmental and resource perspectives on land access and transfer issues faced by their been on developing researched based materials, pro- economics, from Oregon State University. constituency, and their thoughts on the political landscape to personality, and as real to me grams and presentations on the issues of farm entry, address agland tenure challenges. as the land itself. farm business succession planning and coordinating Laura Bozzi is the Director of Programs at the Presenters: Tom Driscoll, National Farmers Union; Zandon Bray, Colorado farm business owners in the development of their suc- Southside Community Land Trust in Providence, RI. Farm Bureau; TBD Karen Jones Gowen cession plans. He is a co-founder of the International There she leads programs aimed at building a food system that works for everybody: from farmland Moderator: Gary Matteson, Farm Credit FARM GIRL Farm Transition Network and the FARMTRANSFERS 12 13 Presenters & Moderators Presenters & Moderators

access and urban agriculture to beginning farmer ignated as a Centennial Farm. Brown continues that Cara Cargill is Land For Good’s New Hampshire Field and Wisconsin Departments of Agriculture. Cris is a training and aggregation/distribution. She joined SCLT pioneering spirit today through his study of the Ogalla- Agent. She also works as a facilitator and mediator graduate of the University of Massachusetts (B.A.) and in January 2015, after working across the United States la Aquifer and his work related to water conservation, covering a spectrum of areas from agriculture, food Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.), and, with – from Oregon to West Virginia to Washington, DC – in energy development and designing and implementing systems, land access/tenure/transfer, to family sys- her husband, raises pastured poultry in Bernardston, fisheries, food systems and environmental protection. technological innovations within the industry. He is ac- tems, and civic engagement including as mediator and Massachusetts. She earned Ph.D. and master’s degrees from Yale tive in the National Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado program coordinator for the New Hampshire Agricul- University in Forestry and Environmental Studies and Cattlemen’s Association, National Corn Growers and tural Mediation Program, contractor with the State of Jerry Cosgrove is a Senior Advisor and Farm Legacy a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, also from the Colorado Corn Growers Association. Brown is also NH as the North Country FAIR facilitator, NH Listens Program Director with American Farmland Trust and Yale University. a former Colorado State President of the Future Farm- Carsey Fellow, and junior associate of Essential Part- is Of Counsel at the law firm of Scolaro, Fetter, Grizan- ers of America. ners. She received her MS in Mediation and Applied ti, McGough and King, P.C. Jerry served as Associate Attorney Andrew Branan has worked with farmers Conflict studies from the Woodbury Institute of Cham- Director of the Local Economies Project of the New and rural landowners since 2002. The core of his Tess Brown-Lavoie is a first-generation farmer at plain College. Across all domains she is interested in World Foundation from 2012 to 2015, and as Deputy practice is helping families plan for the disposition Sidewalk Ends Farm outside of Providence, RI, which creating constructive conversations. Commissioner for the NY Department of Agriculture of farm assets, usually with the goal of keeping them she started with her sisters in 2011. She is the RI Field and Markets from 2007 to 2010. He was Northeast Di- producing into another generation. Areas of expertise Agent at Land For Good, and coordinates the Justice Stephen Carpenter is Deputy Director at Farmers’ Le- rector for American Farmland Trust for 15 years. Jerry include: farm estate planning and farm business suc- and Agriculture Working Group. Through these organi- gal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG), a nonprofit law firm that grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Clinton, NY. Jer- cession, conservation easements, Present Use Value zations, she works on land access, succession plan- works on behalf of family farmers. His work has cen- ry graduated from Cornell’s College of Agriculture and property tax, PACA, farm leases, farm and processing ning, and other various challenges faced by farmers in tered on discrimination in agriculture, debtor-creditor Life Sciences and Cornell Law School. business entity development and management, agri- accessing land and capital, connecting with markets issues, sustainable agriculture, direct marketing, and tourism issues, estate settlement where farmland and and resources, and addressing structural racism and contracting in agriculture. He was Senior Counsel in James Craig MA; JD; Ph.D. is a Rural Rehabilitation farm equipment are assets, heir property/quiet title; other forms of oppression. She is Vice President of the the Office of the Monitor in the Pigford case and is the Specialist with the Colorado AgrAbility Project at Good- non-profit organization and program development, and National Young Farmers Coalition Board. court-appointed Ombudsman for the In re Black Farm- will Industries Denver. Mr. Craig was raised on a Win- about any question related to farm law and rural land. ers Discrimination case. Stephen has presented to ter Wheat/Cow-Calf Operation in NE Montana. Com- Karen Burke, CSJ, Ed.D. is the Coordinator of Land farmers and advocates in about thirty states. He grad- bining 28 years of service in the United States Marine Kindra Brandner is the Environmental Quality Incen- Initiatives for the Congregation of the Sisters of St. uated from Drury College and Stanford Law School, Corps with ranch upbringing and academic degrees in tive Program (EQIP) Specialist for the Colorado Nat- Joseph, Brentwood, NY. In response to the Congrega- was a Stanford Law Review Executive Editor, and re- law, mental health counseling and psychology, he has ural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) located tion’s Land Ethic statement, S. Karen has coordinated ceived a Skadden Foundation Fellowship that brought served as a Staff Judge Advocate, agricultural lawyer, under the United States Department of Agriculture the efforts to implement new initiatives related to land him to FLAG. Judge Pro Tempore and therapist. Mr. Craig will pres- (USDA). Kindra graduated from Colorado State Univer- conservation, solar energy, landscape options, and ent information that the impaired veteran may use to sity with a Bachelor of Science in Rangeland Ecology wastewater management. The Congregation’s 212- Aaron Clay has practiced law in Delta, Colorado since improve access to farm ownership. and has worked for the NRCS since 1997. Kindra is acre property contains significant natural and com- 1980. His general practice focuses on real estate, also a graduate of the Emerging Leadership Devel- munity resources. S. Karen is leading the collaboration water, business planning, and estate planning. He Poppy Davis teaches and advises on business and opment Program sponsored by the NRCS and The with the Peconic Land Trust to protect this land that was the Water Referee for Colorado Water Court, Di- policy issues affecting family-scale farms and ranches George Washington University. Kindra is a Colorado is held in sacred trust. Most importantly, 28 acres of vision 4 (Gunnison, Uncompahge, and San Miguel Riv- and related associations. She is the Director of Entre- native from the rural agriculture community in Yuma working farms will be preserved in perpetuity through a er Basins) from 1982 to 2008. Among his clients are preneurship at the Indigenous Food and Agriculture and enjoys the opportunity to work one on one with permanent agricultural easement on our property. The Tri-County Water Conservancy District, Grand Mesa Initiative at the University of Arkansas Law School landowners around the state. farm fields that once were working farmlands are now Water Conservancy District, North Fork Water Conser- and consults for farm programs across the country. leased to six local farmers. vancy District, Grand Mesa Water Users Association, Previously she was the National Program Leader for Zandon Bray helps manage Bray Ranch. He returned to and numerous other ditch companies and water users. Small Farms and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers at this multi-generation ranch in 2008. Bray Ranch began Adrian Card serves as the CSU Extension Agent in Aaron has taught a course titled Water Law in a Nut- the USDA, and prior to that a California CPA. She holds in 1907 when Edgar Bray and his wife moved by horse- Agriculture and Natural Resources in Boulder County shell for several years, for realtors, closers, attorneys, a Juris Doctor Agriculture from Drake University Law drawn carriage from Cedaredge to Redvale, Colorado. since 2004. He has worked in local foods in Colorado and others. School, a Masters in Journalism from Georgetown, The ranch began as a small operation but grew to a for the past 20 years as a vegetable farmer in Larimer and a BS in Agricultural Economics from the University 800 cow-calf and yearling operation along with sheep County and as a student, instructor and researcher at Cris Coffin leads Land For Good’s efforts to promote of California, Davis. and an extensive hunting operation. Zandon is presi- CSU, and continues that work in his current position and strengthen state and federal policies around dent of Colorado Farm Bureau’s Monstrose, Ouray and working directly with farmers, NGOs, and the public farmland access, tenure, transfer and succession. Jennifer Dempsey is the Director of American Farm- San Miguel County District 10. He is married to Sara, a sector. Adrian’s Extension work focusses on cropping Since the 1980’s, Cris has worked at all levels of land Trust’s Farmland Information Center (FIC), a proj- school teacher. They have three children. systems, food systems, specialty crop production government on agriculture and land conservation ect of AFT and USDA Natural Resources Conservation and marketing, public ag education, beginning farmer policy. Past positions include New England Director/ Service that includes a staffed answer service and Don Brown was appointed the Colorado Commission- development, ag community development, economic American Farmland Trust, Professional Staff Member/ clearinghouse of farmland protection resources at: er of Agriculture in 2015. Brown is a third-generation development, and organizational development U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and www.farmlandinfo.org. Dempsey oversees delivery of farmer in Yuma County, Colorado. The Brown family support for the Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Forestry, Legislative Assistant and Chief of Staff/U.S. technical assistance, develops educational resources, farm was homesteaded in 1911 and has been des- Association. Senator Herb Kohl, and consultant to the Vermont and monitors farmland protection activity including an

14 15 Presenters & Moderators Presenters & Moderators

annual survey of purchase of agricultural conservation programming related to farmland protection, farmland ter on Long Island and in the Lake Ontario Watershed, sultant to the Nebraska Farm Mediation Service, Ne- easement programs. She co-authored Cultivating the transition and access, food systems, and the next gen- scale up sales of local food to schools, colleges and braska Farm Hotline and Beginning Farmer Project of Next Generation: Resources and Policies to Help Begin- eration of farmers. Freedgood leads AFT’s Farms for other institutions in NY and facilitate the successful Legal Aid of Nebraska. Joe regularly conducts legal ning Farmers Succeed in Agriculture and is co-leading the Next Generation initiative, which includes a four transition of farms to a new generation in New York’s clinics and succession planning workshops for farm- a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development project year USDA-funded project to train trainers to help be- Hudson Valley. David and his wife, Suzanne, live with ers and ranchers throughout the state. He is the au- to develop a performance-based land access curricu- ginning farmers and ranchers secure land. She also is their two children in Malta, NY, and are proud owners thor of numerous articles on topics of farm and ranch lum for beginning farmers and ranchers. wrapping up Growing Food Connections, a research, of Balet Flowers & Design, a flower farm Y interest. Joe received his BA from Grinnell College and extension and education project to build local govern- his JD from the University of Michigan Law School. Tom Driscoll joined National Farmers Union in 2014. ment capacity to sustain agriculture and strengthen Prof. Neil D. Hamilton is Director of the Agricultur- He works to ensure family farmers, beginning farmers community food systems. al Law Center at Drake University Law School in Des Debra Heleba works at the University of Vermont and youth have the educational resources they need Moines. Since 1983, Neil has lead its research, educa- (UVM) Extension as a sustainable and organic to succeed. He also represents their interests on en- Mike Ghia was a Vermont beginning farmer and land tion and extension on food policy, agricultural law and agriculture program coordinator. She was a founding ergy, climate and environmental issues. Before joining seeker from 1997-2007. Now he farms part-time while rural development. Past-president of the American staff member of both the Vermont Women’s NFU, Driscoll managed the agriculture news clips ser- working as a farm consultant, primarily as Land For Agricultural Law Association, Neil has authored books Agricultural Network and UVM Center for Sustainable vice AgToGo, wrote articles for the Agri-Pulse weekly Good’s Vermont Field Agent, and with the University of and articles on such topics as food democracy, rural Agriculture where she developed beginning farmer newsletter, and helped nonprofits apply to USDA grant Vermont Extension Farm Viability Program, where he lands, sustainable agricultural land tenure, and pro- programming, coordinated Land Link Vermont, and programs. He has also worked for the U.S. EPA, Con- assists farmers with business planning, financial man- duction contracts. He has conducted legal seminars provided educational programs on farm succession. gressman Tim Ryan, and the boutique government re- agement and farm succession. As LFG Field Agent, throughout the U.S. and in 24 countries. In 2016 he co- In 2008, she joined UVM Extension’s Northwest Crops lations firm Strategies 360. A licensed attorney in NY Mike coaches farmers and landowners on farmland chaired USDA’s Subcommittee on Land Tenure. He has and Soils Team that conducts on-farm research and and DC, he holds a JD from the University of Toledo access and tenure, and develops tools and technical a B.S. from Iowa State, and a J.D. from Iowa. He and outreach on soil health and agronomic crops. She is College of Law. resources to help farmers and landowners with farm- his wife Khanh own Sunstead Farm near Waukee. also the Vermont state SARE coordinator, providing land tenure issues, including farm succession and program outreach and professional development Tracy Emrick is Executive Director at Cuyahoga Valley transfers. Alicia Harvey is Farm Aid’s Advocacy & Issues Director, trainings on social sustainability and other sustainable Countryside Conservancy. After the passing of found- where she guides advocacy, research, issues analysis agriculture topics. er Darwin Kelsey, Tracy, who’s been with Countryside Dave Goeller began his career at the University of Ne- and policy related activities to advance Farm Aid’s mis- since 2012, was selected to serve as the new ED in braska Department of Ag Economics in 1984. Since sion and goals. She received her masters degree in Ag- Janie Simms Hipp, J.D., LL.M. (Chickasaw) is Found- March 2017. In partnership with Cuyahoga Valley Na- the late 1990’s he served as UNL Extension “Farm ricultural & Environmental Science and Policy from the ing Director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture tional Park, Countryside co-manages a unique farm- Transition Specialist” with an emphasis on beginning Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Poli- Initiative at the University Of Arkansas School Of Law. land program. In addition to this model and Country- farmer and family business transition and estate plan- cy, where she also conducted research into U.S. farm She is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. side’s other local food programs, Tracy advocates for ning as well as farm financial management. The au- household economics with the Global Development Prior to the Initiative, she served in the Obama Ad- farmers and farmland preservation across Ohio. She thor of numerous articles and publications, Goeller has and Environment Institute at Tufts. . Prior to Farm Aid, ministration as Senior Advisor for Tribal Relations to is a Political Science graduate of Kent State University, trained and presented in more than 30 States and in Alicia worked at Oxfam America’s domestic program. Secretary Tom Vilsack, and as the National Program and a proud, active member of the Ohio Farm Bureau. Canada. Recently retired, Dave continues to do con- Alicia grew up in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, with the Leader for Farm Financial Management, Risk Manage- Tracy lives in northeast Ohio on a tiny farm once be- tract work on farm/ranch transition. Dave and his wife state’s beautiful rural landscape at her fingertips. ment Education, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and longing to her grandparents. are involved in their family farm in Northeast Nebraska the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Pro- which they rent to two young beginning farmers. Jennifer Hashley is Director of the New Entry Sus- gram within NIFA. She has been a licensed attorney in Suzan Erem is president and co-founder of the Sus- tainable Farming Project, a beginning farmer train- Oklahoma for over 30 years, specializing in food and tainable Iowa Land Trust, dedicated to permanently Jim Habana Hafner joined Land For Good in 2013 ing program that assists diverse individuals to begin agriculture law and Indian law. protecting land to grow healthy food. She combines and became Executive Director in 2015. A native of farming in Massachusetts. Jennifer is also a vegetable three decades of organizing experience with her pas- western Massachusetts, Jim worked summers on and pasture-based livestock farmer and serves on the Jillian Hishaw, Esq., LL.M., is Founder and Director sion for economic justice and environmentalism in this local farms. He has over 20 years’ experience in pro- Boards of The Carrot Project and the Urban Farming of F.A.R.M.S., a legal and education non-profit that effort to revive the family food farm on Iowa’s indus- gram and fund development, outreach and research Institute of Boston. She is a farm business planning in- provides services to small farmers and rural youth in trial agriculture landscape. In SILT’s first two years, it in international agriculture, community development, structor for Massachusetts Department of Agricultural the Southeast. Hishaw has over a decade of local, state, has acquired three farms and placed next generation and public health. He has worked with farmers, NGOs Resources and is advisor to several regional food sys- federal, legal, and non-profit experience in agriculture, farmers on two. SILT is on pace to protect three more and researchers on land tenure, conservation farming, tems initiatives. She served as an agricultural Peace environmental and estate planning matters. Hishaw farms this year. SILT credits Equity Trust, Slow Money agro-forestry and watershed management, especially Corps Volunteer in Honduras and holds a Master’s in worked for the USDA Office of Assistant Secretary of and the broader land trust community for much of the in the Global South. Jim has graduate degrees in Inter- Agricultural Policy from Tufts University and a BS in Civil Rights. After leaving USDA, Ms. Hishaw provided success of its model. national Agriculture (M.S.) from UC Davis and Natural Environmental Science from Indiana University. legal assistance to small farmers in NC and Alabama Resources (Ph.D.) from Cornell University. during the settlement phase of Pigford and Keepseagle. Julia Freedgood is Assistant Vice President of Pro- Joe Hawbaker represents farmers and ranchers in Ne- Hishaw has a Biology degree from Tuskegee University grams at American Farmland Trust responsible for David Haight is New York State Director at American braska, primarily in estate, business and succession and a Juris Doctorate and Legal Masters in Agricultural AFT’s mission areas to protect farmland and keep Farmland Trust. He has helped coordinate major initia- planning, commercial transactions, debtor/creditor law from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. farmers on the land. She oversees planning, policy and tives to help farmers protect healthy soil and clean wa- law, and administrative law. He also works as a con-

16 17 Presenters & Moderators Presenters & Moderators

Savi Horne is the Executive Director of the Land Loss easements and farmland access. Kendra lives on the succession issues. With John Baker, Matt co-directs a ginning, Small Farmer Programs and Outreach. This Prevention Project, a nonprofit organization founded Russian River with her husband and three children. collaborative international project (FARMTRANSFERS) includes policy work on local foods, sustainable agri- in 1982 by the North Carolina Association of Black exploring farm succession and retirement in a range of culture, and direct-to-consumer agriculture. He fre- Lawyers to curtail epidemic losses of Black-owned Joy Kirkpatrick has worked in University of Wisconsin different social, economic and political contexts. He quently speaks to beginning farmers, training on ba- land and to provide legal support and assistance to Extension for 24 years. She began her Extension ca- is co-editor of ‘Keeping it in the family: International sic financial skills and recordkeeping. For thirty years all financially distressed and limited resource farmers reer as a county-based educator. In 2004, she became Perspectives on Succession and Retirement on Family Gary was a small farmer raising greenhouse wholesale and landowners in North Carolina. Horne develops the Outreach Specialist for the University of Wiscon- Farms’ and has spoken on farm succession at several cut flowers marketed in the Northeast and beef cattle agriculture policy initiatives to keep minority and lim- sin’s Center for Dairy Profitability. In this position she international conferences. for local sales. He has served on numerous boards ited resource farmers on the land. She specializes in collaborates with colleagues to provide educational of directors including Farm Credit, the Boston Flower minority agricultural issues, sustainable agriculture, programs and information on farm succession plan- Scott Marlow is the Executive Director of the Rural Ad- Exchange, and many non-profits. food systems policy, and environmental justice policy. ning. Kirkpatrick received both her BS and MS degrees vancement Foundation International - USA, based in Horne received her B.A. in Urban Legal Studies from from SIU-Carbondale. Kirkpatrick has extensive expe- Pittsboro, NC. Scott previously directed RAFI’s Farm Growing up, Nellie McAdams spent every weekend at Central College in New York and her J.D. from Rutgers riences facilitating farm succession discussions with Sustainability program, providing in-depth financial her family’s hazelnut farm in Gaston, Oregon. She fol- University. farm businesses and farm families. She has written ar- counseling to farmers in crisis, education on disaster lowed in her father’s footsteps as farm successor and ticles on retirement and succession planning for farm- assistance programs and access to credit, and the attorney. As Farm Preservation Program Director at Jon Jaffe was raised on a 60 cow dairy farm in upstate ers and taught seminars throughout the US on farm needs of mid-scale farmers who are increasing the the Oregon nonprofit Rogue Farm Corps, Nellie helps NY. Jon has worked for Farm Credit East for nearly succession facilitation. sustainability of their farms by transitioning to high- develop and promote resources for farm succession 34 years as a loan officer, assistant branch manager, er-value specialty markets. Scott’s specialty is finan- planning and farmland preservation. In that role, she tax specialist, and farm business consultant, providing Reggie Knox has been working on behalf of small cial infrastructure, including access to credit and risk co-wrote a report, The Future of Oregon’s Farmland, strategic business analysis, farm succession/estate farmers and sustainable agriculture for 28 years and management, and effect on food security and global with OSU and PSU. She also wrote a gap analysis for planning, tax consulting, and other consulting services. joined California FarmLink in 2004 to help beginning climate change. He has a Masters Degree in Crop Sci- the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts on working lands Jon has spoken at many seminars on farm succession and low-resource farmers access land and capital. He ence from NC State University, and a BA in Political Sci- easement holders in the state and is currently working planning, labor management, farm business training became executive director in 2011 and has facilitated ence from Duke University. with a coalition on related state policy. and business plan preparation. With Land For Good, the growth of FarmLink’s loan fund, and the organiza- he co-taught the Farm Succession School. Jon serves tion’s emergence as a Community Development Finan- Andrew Marshall is Education and Field Director at Lilia McFarland is the New and Beginning Farmer and on the Carrot Project Advisory Board, the Rhode Island cial Institution. FarmLink’s land access program helps Land For Good. Andrew spent 10 years as Educational Rancher Program Coordinator for the Department of Ag Council, Mass Flower Growers Board of Directors farmers find land, develop sound lease agreements, Programs Director at the Maine Organic Farmers and Agriculture. In this role, she works across USDA to en- and Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Board of Directors. and partner with landowners to transition farms to the Gardeners Association (MOFGA), where he oversaw sure that the programs and services that USDA offers next generation. During his career Reggie has devel- the development of their innovative and nationally rec- meet the needs of the next generation of agriculture. Seth Jansen, is interim CEO at Poudre Valley Com- oped expertise in farming, organic production, ag pol- ognized farmer education programs. Andrew has a Lilia previously served as the Acting Chief of Staff for munity Farms (PVCF) which is a vehicle for communi- icy, non-profit management, farmland lease, finance background in Agroecology and Rural Sociology, and Agriculture Deputy Secretary, and in the office of the ty-ownership of farmland. PVCF purchases threatened and ownership strategies. holds degrees from Bowdoin College and the Univer- senior senator from California, focused on the farm bill farmlands and then provides long-term (e.g., 20-30 sity of California, Santa Cruz. Andrew is also a farmer. and agriculture appropriations. Originally from Deep year) leases to local food producers. This ownership Kip Kolesinskas is a consulting Conservation Scien- He and his family operate Dorolenna Farm in Montville, East Texas, Lilia earned her degree from the University model offers a land tenure option for this, and future, tist whose current projects include assisting agencies, Maine, where they produce certified organic vegeta- of Texas in Austin. generations of farmers in our community. Seth has a NGO’s, and private individuals with farmland protection, bles, tree fruit, and poultry. background in engineering and sustainability consult- land access and affordability for new and beginning Ian McSweeney is a leader in farmland conservation, ing. He served as the President of the Board for a year- farmers, farmland restoration, and climate change ad- Dr. Maria Marshall is Professor in the Department transfer and tenure. As Director of the Russell Founda- and-a-half during PVCF’s formational period and now aptation strategies. He is a member of the CT Working of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University and tion, Ian supports sustainable farms by assisting land- oversees PVCF’s work to complete its first farmland Lands Alliance Steering Committee, and the Connecti- Director of the Purdue Initiative for Family Firms. Dr. owners and farmers through a customized approach acquisition. cut Council on Environmental Quality. Formerly with Maria Marshall has a nationally and internationally rec- to permanent land protection, farm transfer, and sus- the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service ognized integrated Extension, research, and teaching tainable ecologically diverse management. As a Board Kendra Johnson is farmland access, conservation and State Soil Scientist for Connecticut and Rhode Island, program focused on small and family business devel- member of Agrarian Trust, Ian engages in farmland stewardship consultant. She coordinated CA Farm- Kip worked extensively with farmers, educators, gov- opment. Her program thrust is to increase the viabil- transfer, access and tenure on a national scale. Life ex- Link’s Central Valley programs for 5 years, helping farm- ernment and nonprofits to help them protect farmland ity and sustainability of small and family businesses periences deeply root Ian’s focus towards the protec- ers/ranchers and landowners with tenure, succession, and wetlands, and use soils information to make bet- as they develop and mature through their life cycles. tion of farmland and support for sustainable farms. Ian and farm business and finance needs. Since 2012 she ter informed land use decisions. Her research provides relevant information and publi- works with individuals and organizations on all levels; has served on FarmLink’s board, and has consulted cations to entrepreneurs, family business owners, and including farmers, farmland owners, zoning, conserva- with a variety of groups including land trusts, National Professor Matt Lobley is a Director of the Land, So- policy makers. She received a Ph.D. in agricultural eco- tion, planning and agricultural Boards, Commissions, Young Farmers Coalition, Agrarian Trust, One Farm at ciety & Policy Programme in the Politics Department, nomics from Kansas State University. and Districts, University Extension, USDA/NRCS. a Time, and others. She has a BA from Macalester Col- University of Exeter, UK. Much of his research has fo- lege, and a MS in Community Development from UC cused on farm household behavior. One of his main ar- Gary Matteson works for Farm Credit’s trade associ- Scott Miller is a Colorado native graduating from Colo- Davis where she researched agricultural conservation eas of research expertise is in the family life-cycle and ation in Washington, DC as Vice President, Young, Be- rado State University with a degree in Animal Science.

18 19 Presenters & Moderators Presenters & Moderators

Scott has worked for the Farm Service Agency for over Education at Virginia Tech. Her work centers on the and has journalism and law degrees from the Universi- organic vegetables and small fruit in the Northeast. 32 years as a Loan Officer, Loan Specialist, and now role of power and equity in community education ty of Iowa. Teresa and her family reside in Minneapolis. She holds an MRP in community and regional planning as the Farm Loan Chief. Scott has worked in several and development with a focus on social justice and from the University of Massachusetts, and a BA from County Offices throughout Colorado. He now works food systems. This scholarship is grounded in asset- Les Owen is the Conservation Services Director with Smith College in American Studies and Economics. in the Colorado State Office as the Farm Loan Chief. based community development; critical pedagogy, the Colorado Department of Agriculture. His primary Scott has worked with many Ag Lenders and Farm Pro- action research; and narrative inquiry. Current funded duties are engaging the department in federal land is- James F. (Jim) Radintz is the Deputy Administrator ducers around the state, making FSA loan programs initiatives emphasize participatory capability building, sues that impact agriculture. He recently moved here for Farm Loan Programs in the USDA’s Farm Service work for them. Scott enjoys the outdoors and you can community food work, Appalachian community food from New Mexico where he worked for New Mexico Agency (FSA). He is responsible for leadership, man- usually find him running, biking, hiking, or camping. security, new farmer sustainability, and farmworker Department of Agriculture for the last 10 years on a agement and direction of FSA’s direct and guaranteed care/dignity. Kim serves as the Director of the Virginia variety of issues related to federal land management, lending programs. This includes over $6 billion in new Maria Moreira is co-founder Executive Director of Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition and AgrAbility threatened and endangered species, and other rules loans annually and a $24 billion loan portfolio. Radintz World Farmers Inc., (WF) a former dairy farmer, cheese Virginia, two statewide programs addressing land and regulations that affect natural resource manage- grew up on a family farm in Iredell County, North Car- maker, Extension Educator and a Mentor Farmer. An access issues. ment. He was raised near the small town of Corona, olina, graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in agri- immigrant farmer herself, she’s been mentoring begin- New Mexico where most of his time was spent work- culture from NC State University, and received an MBA ning farmers since 1984. She directs the Flats Mentor Juli Obudzinski is the Deputy Policy Director for the ing on the family ranch. in finance from Virginia Tech. Radintz’s 37-year federal Farm a program of World Farmers serving over 250 National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a nation- career includes service in USDA field offices, and over Immigrant Refugee. She is affiliated with and serves al non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Sarah Parmar is Director of Conservation for Colora- 25 years in leadership positions at USDA headquarters. on the FSA County Committee, the USDA Beginning Since 2011, she has led the coalition’s federal policy do Open Lands, a statewide land trust that works to Farmers and Ranchers Advisory Committee, the Mas- work related to beginning farmers – focusing on the permanently protect working farms and ranches using Monica Rainge, B.S., J.D., LL.M., has worked in the sachusetts Farm Bureau, 4-H, NIFI, Rural Coalition/ complex issues of how to improve new farmer access conservation easements. Sarah guides conservation public and private agricultural sectors for over 20 years, Coalición Rural, NSAC, the Lancaster Agriculture com- to capital, land, markets, and crop insurance. Previous- prioritization, transactions, and partnerships and is re- and is licensed to practice law in Florida. Experienced mission, the Worcester County Food Hub. She has ly, Obudzinski worked at the U.S. Department of Agri- sponsible for the protection of 80,000 acres of private in agricultural policy development and program man- four children and four grandchildren. She lives with her culture and also at the Leopold Center for Sustainable land in Colorado. Sarah has led research on the role of agement, she serves as the Florida State Coordinator family in Lancaster MA. Agriculture helping to develop a statewide local food land trusts in generating alternatives to meeting wa- for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land As- policy platform. Obudzinski currently serves on the ter demand that do not dry up Colorado’s productive sistance Fund. She manages regional USDA projects Matt Mulder is the Director of Operations for the Ar- USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Statistics, farms. Her educational background is in agriculture focusing on outreach and technical assistance to so- cadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture in Al- and holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and resource economics and she was the sixth gener- cially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and rural exandria, VA. Matt has spent the last 19 years work- and Tufts University. ation to be raised on her family’s cow calf operation in sustainability. She serves as a board member for the ing on environmental and agricultural programs in the Southern Arizona. Farmer Legal Action Group. She frequently advocates Washington, DC nonprofit community. Prior to Arcadia, Jim Oldham is Executive Director of Equity Trust, a and lectures nationally on food security issues and the he was the founding Director of the Accokeek Foun- small national non-profit that promotes alternative Peg Petrzelka is Professor of Sociology at Utah State preservation of agricultural land rights in the South. dation’s Center for Agricultural and Environmental forms of land ownership—for farms, housing, and oth- University. Her research focuses on the interrelation- Stewardship. He has spent the last decade working er critical resources—that balance the needs of indi- ships between the physical and social environment Kristine Ranger, M.Ed. has spent her professional ca- on programs to support new and beginning farmers viduals with the needs of their communities and the in various settings. Since 2013 she has worked with reer educating others about food and farming– from with a focus on underserved communities. In 2015, he environment. For twenty-five years, Equity Trust has American Farmland Trust researching non-operating teaching agri-science to speaking, coaching and de- helped to create and launch Arcadia’s Veteran Farmer worked to preserve affordable working farms using landowners of agricultural land—a group whose voice veloping innovative solutions for farmers of all sizes Program, which prepares military veterans for new ca- shared-equity ownership based on the community has been invisible to both researchers and natural re- and types. She has led a “Buy Local” campaign that reers in agriculture. land trust model for affordable housing, as well as affir- source agencies. Current efforts are concentrated in increased sales of fresh Michigan products by 100%; mative agricultural easements. Equity Trust also runs the Great Lakes Region of the U.S., focusing on what consulted with agri-preneurs in human resources, Rachel Murray is the Connecticut Field Agent at Land a revolving loan fund that enables lenders and donors incentives and barriers exist for these landowners (in business planning and marketing initiatives; facilitat- For Good. Rachel’s first high school job at a small fruit around the country to support local food systems, af- particular women landowners), and their operators, ed sales and management workshops; and coached and vegetable farm in Western Connecticut had a pro- fordable housing and other community investments. with the goal of developing and implementing a proj- farm families through succession planning. As an Or- found impact on her decision to pursue Agriculture ect that results in improved conservation practices on ganizational Practitioner, she addresses the soft skills and Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut Teresa Opheim is Senior Fellow for Renewing the the land. with hard core strategies to increase employee en- and afterwards pursue a Masters in Sustainable Food Countryside and for Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), gagement and retention, build effective and cohesive Systems from Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT. focusing on farm transitions. She is a Minnesota Insti- Benneth Phelps joined Dirt Capital Partners in 2016 as leadership teams, improve organizational health and As a land-seeking farmer in Connecticut, Rachel under- tute for Sustainable Agriculture Endowed Chair for this the Director of Farmer Services to develop and refine achieve transformational change. stands the challenges and hurdles many farm seekers work. She is a board member of Iroquois Valley Farms, the company’s approach to investing in land in part- face in New England. Currently, she is production man- a private company that works to get farmland to the nership with farmers. Previously, Benneth was Loan Kathay Rennels, Associate Vice President for Engage- ager at Sunny Meadow Farm. next generation, and leads its USDA-funded conserva- and Business Assistance Manager at The Carrot Proj- ment at Colorado State University, works to advance tion finance project. Teresa is the editor of The Future ect, where she spent five years evaluating loan appli- collaborative networks across the state and create Kim Niewolny is an Associate Professor in the of Family Farms (University of Iowa Press 2016). She cations and working with farm and food enterprises economic development opportunities. She has signif- Department of Agricultural, Leadership and Community served as the Executive Director of PFI (2006-2016) to plan for business growth. Prior to this she farmed icant experience fostering public and private partner-

20 21 Presenters & Moderators Presenters & Moderators

ships in regional and rural workforce development, served on the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher land, securing strong tenure agreements, exploring fi- Indian Land Capital Company, a for-profit, CDFI sub- with particular attention to Larimer and Weld Counties. Advisory Committee for 6 years. Ruhf has written, con- nancing, and facilitating farmland and business suc- sidiary of ILTF and also board chair of the Native Gov- Rennels previously served three terms as a Larimer sulted and taught about beginning farmers, land ten- cession plans. She is a frequent speaker at workshops ernance Center. Mr. Stainbrook has worked on Indian County Commissioner and is now leading the Food ure and food systems for 30 years. She holds a M.Ed. and conferences on topics of importance to beginning land issues and economic development for more than and Agriculture Key Industry Network for the State of from University of MA and an M.S. from Antioch/New and retiring farmers and ranchers. Liya was born and 30 years. He and his wife operate Heath Glen Farm and Colorado. She helped initiate the 2013 “Value Chain England. Ruhf lives in western Massachusetts. raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and graduated Kitchen in Forest Lake. of Colorado Agriculture” study, and co-authored the from UC Davis with a B.A. in Nature and Culture. She November 2014 follow-up study, “The Emergence of Matt Russell is Resilient Agriculture Coordinator now resides in America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, Sac- Dustin Stein is the General Manager of Stubborn Farm an Innovation Cluster in the Agricultural Value Chain at Drake University Agricultural Law Center. He has ramento, and enjoys all the fruits and vegetables that and Burk Beef in Mancos, CO. He cut his teeth grow- along Colorado’s Front Range.” worked on retail agriculture, land tenure, conservation, California has to offer. ing diversified produce on leased land and founded climate change, farmer veterans, rural development, Stubborn Farm. In 2012 he joined forces with Jack Holly Rippon-Butler is the Land Access Program Di- state food policy, and federal farm policy. Matt is a Shirley Sherrod serves as Executive Director of the and Patricia Burk at Burk Ranch (dba Burk Beef). He rector with the National Young Farmers Coalition, fifth generation Iowa farmer. He and his husband Pat- Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education, has since focused his efforts on their cattle: produc- where she works with policy makers and land trusts rick Standley operate Coyote Run Farm and market Inc., and the Vice President for Development for New ing high quality, grass fed and finished beef. Dustin to increase land access opportunities for the next gen- produce, eggs, and beef. He serves on the Iowa Farm Communities, Inc. In 2010, Sherrod was forced to resign is concerned with producing the best beef possible eration of farmers. She has co-authored a guidebook Service Agency State Committee. Matt received his her position as Georgia State Director of USDA Rural while simultaneously improving the quality of the soil for farmers on the process of partnering with a land B.A. from Loras College in Dubuque, studied for the Development after a conservative blogger claimed she and water he relies on. Agricultural land conservation, trust to access land and organized trainings across Catholic Diocese of Des Moines at Mundelein Semi- racially discriminated against a white farmer. The vid- transition, and maintaining access to irrigable land are the country on innovative conservation tools that help nary in Illinois, and earned an M.S. in Rural Sociology eo set off a storm of controversy and criticism that led issues that Dustin will always fight for. protect farmland affordability for farmers. In addition from Iowa State University. to Sherrod being asked to resign. Subsequent events to her work with NYFC, she farms with her parents on led to USDA apologizing and offering her another job, Karen Stettler, Farm Beginnings Program Organizer their third-generation dairy and beef farm in Upstate Michael Sands is the owner/operator of Bean Hollow which she declined. During the 1960’s Shirley and her for MN’s Land Stewardship Project has focused on be- New York. Grassfed, a pasture-based farm raising sheep and cat- husband helped to form New Communities, Inc. which ginning farmer land access for the past seven years tle in Virginia. Currently Senior Associate of the Liberty acquired 6,000 acres of land as the first Community of her 20 year tenure with LSP. Prior, Karen facilitated Johanna Rosen works with Equity Trust’s Farms for Prairie Foundation (LPF), he served as founding Exec- Land Trust in the US. Sherrod went on to work for the Farm Beginnings Courses working directly with hun- Farmers Program, leading the urban agriculture ini- utive Director. This small private operating foundation, Federation of Southern Cooperatives in 1985 to help dreds of beginning farmers. Karen works with a local tiative and helping farmers gain affordable access based in IL, is dedicated to the integration of economi- black farmers keep their land. Sherrod earned a Mas- committee of farmers and a retired banker to develop to farmland. Jo also works as the Communications cally prosperous, ecologically sensitive farms and high ter’s Degree in Community Development from Antioch workshops, services and networks aimed at facilitat- Coordinator with Food Solutions New England. She quality natural areas into vibrant working landscapes. University in 1989. She also holds an honorary Doctor- ing farm transitions and beginning farmer land access co-founded and was Director of the Mill Creek Farm, a He founded the Farm Business Development Center, ate of Humane Letters from Sojourner-Douglass Col- as well as addressing needed systemic changes. Kar- non-profit educational farm in Philadelphia. a business incubator for beginning organic farmers. lege in Baltimore Maryland. en recently returned to her family farm where the 4th, As Environmental Team Leader at Prairie Crossing in 5th, and 6th generations live and farm together. Greg Rosenberg has a consulting practice in afford- Grayslake, IL. Mike provided leadership in the design Andrew V. “Andy” Sorrell studied environmental plan- able and sustainable housing development, cohous- and management of natural resources and farm lands ning and public administration at Virginia and worked Harrison Topp is the Membership Director for the Rocky ing, urban agriculture, and community land trusts in an innovative conservation community. for rural Virginia local governments as a county plan- Mountain Farmers Union and the operator of Topp (CLTs). A founder of the National CLT Network and the ner managing governmental programs and solving Fruits in Paonia, CO. He works with a diverse spectrum CLT Academy, Greg served as the first Academy Direc- Madeline Schultz is Program Manager of Iowa State problems. Andy has managed the Office of Farmland of farmers and ranchers in Wyoming, Colorado, and tor through 2011. Prior to the CLT Network, he was the University Extension and Outreach Women in Agricul- Preservation at the Virginia Department of Agriculture New Mexico to build community driven chapters and Executive Director of the Madison Area CLT, where he ture. She is a former Co-Director of the Annie’s Nation- and Consumer Services since 2013. At VDACS he organize around local, state, and federal issues that developed Troy Gardens, an urban ecovillage project al Network Initiative for Educational Success where works to keep land in active agricultural use connect- impact agriculture. He is a first generation farmer, who featuring a working farm, community gardens, a re- she helped educators in 36 states offer Annie’s Project ing local governments, farmers, and others to resourc- began farming after college on a sugar farm in North stored prairie, and a 30-unit mixed-income cohousing and other farm and ranch business management ed- es that preserve farm land. Andy manages the Virginia Carolina. A native of Colorado, he graduated from New project. Greg collaborates with John Emmeus Davis ucation programs designed for women. Madeline is a Farm Link and Virginia Century Farm programs. Pas- York University in 2009 with a double major in Film and on www.cltroots.org (an archive of the CLT movement), family farmer who, after farming 20 years and raising sionate about rural Virginia, Andy has served on the Television Production and Anthropology. is licensed to practice law in the state of Wisconsin. five children all passionate about agriculture, earned Executive Board of the Virginia Rural Planning Caucus Jeff Tranel is an Agricultural and Business Manage- Bachelor of Science degrees in Agribusiness and Eco- since 2008. Kathryn Ruhf co-founded Land For Good as a 501(c) nomics in 2003 and the Master of Business Adminis- ment Economist with Colorado State University Exten- (3) specializing in farm access, tenure and transfer tration degree with an interest in Sustainable Agricul- Cris Stainbrook, a Lakota, is President of the Indian sion and Department of Ag and Resource Economics. in 2004, and served as co-principle and then execu- ture in 2007 from Iowa State University. Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) which provides grants His professional interests focus primarily in financial tive director until 2015. Now Senior Program Director, and services to Indian nations and individual Indian management, risk management, income tax manage- Ruhf oversees LFG’s program areas, including two US- Liya Schwartzman has been working with farmers on people focused on recovering land within reservation ment, human resources, business succession, estate DA-funded Land Access Projects. Ruhf directed the behalf of California FarmLink since 2010. She has sup- boundaries and off-reservation sacred sites to Indian planning, and end-of-life issues. He currently sits on New England Small Farm Institute (1987-2004) and ported hundreds of farmers and ranchers in accessing ownership and management. He is chairman of the the National Farm Income Tax Task Force. Jeff was

22 23 Presenters & Moderators

raised on a large commercial and purebred beef cattle and beginning farmers and ranchers. In addition, she ranch in south central Wyoming and northwestern Col- is the board president of the Rio Grande Agricultural orado. He now lives in Pueblo, CO with his wife Vanes- Land Trust. She was the editor of Edible Santa Fe from sa – CSU Extension’s military liaison. They have two 2011 to 2017 and from 2013 to 2015 she worked as adult sons. an organizer for the National Young Farmers Coalition. In her free time she enjoys visiting farms and ranches, Julia Valliant is a researcher with The Ostrom Work- helping new agrarians find their career paths, exper- shop of Indiana University. She is focused on learning imenting in her kitchen, and keeping chickens in her from farmers about their ideas for incentives for them backyard. to raise food products, biomass, and biodiversity. Cur- rent study (presented here) learns from programs and Pete Westover is Senior Partner in Conservation policies in the Midwest and Plains that aim to assist Works, LLC, a Massachusetts firm specializing in agri- with farm and ranch transfers to an aspiring farmer. cultural land protection, farm viability assistance, con- Other key words: farmer-led health movements, histor- servation and forestry land management, ecological ical ties between animal agriculture and public health, studies, and open space planning. For many years he grazing management and surface water quality, and has also provided technical support for local Agricul- documentary radio production. Doctoral training in tural Commissions in Massachusetts for the MA Dept. Public Health was with the Johns Hopkins University of Agricultural Resources. He is an adjunct professor at Center for a Livable Future. Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, currently teaching a course in Indigenous Land Rights. He is also a Mas- Jennifer Tucker Visitacion is the Executive Director of sachusetts Board member of the Conservation Law Guidestone Colorado, a nonprofit dedicated to grow- Foundation and a member of the Five College Native ing a vibrant agricultural future through education, American and Indigenous Studies Certificate Program. community building and partnerships. Guidestone Col- orado manages Colorado Land Link, a program that Jean Willoughby is an aspiring farmer on the lookout supports land access and farm succession through for the “gift of good land.” She currently lives on two connecting farmers to resources and opportunities rented acres and primarily grows culinary and medici- and deepening the networks of support. With a back- nal herbs. She is author of Nature’s Remedies: An Illus- ground in natural resources, business and leadership trated Guide to Healing Herbs (Chronicle Books, 2016) development, Jen provides strategic planning and and gained certification through the Herbal Academy business coaching support to farmers, farm business- of New England. Jean has worked for the Rural Ad- es and food systems organizations. Jen lives in Sali- vancement Foundation International for five years, da, CO with her family on their family operated farm, overseeing the Agricultural Reinvestment Fund, a Moonstone Farm & Retreat Center. grant program for innovative and entrepreneurial small farmers, and she currently serves as the organization’s Bob Wagner has worked in farmland protection and Communications Manager. Jean also serves on the farm advocacy since 1981. Through numerous posi- Board of Directors of Agrarian Trust. tions with American Farmland Trust and earlier as a legislative assistant to then-Congressman James Jef- As the owner and operator of JSM Organics, Javier fords of Vermont and a consultant to the Vermont De- Zamora cultivates over 30 acres of strawberries and partment of Agriculture, Bob has played an active role unique varieties of vegetables and flowers in Royal in the promotion and development of state and local Oaks and Aromas, CA. He earned his landscaping farmland protection strategies and programs through- degree from San Joaquin Delta College and his organic out the country. Since retiring from AFT in 2016, he production degree from Cabrillo College. Javier trained has consulted on various farming and farmland proj- at the Agriculture & Land-Based Training Association ects for Land For Good, Equity Trust, Vermont Land (ALBA) in Salinas. Javier helps other farmers and Trust and AFT. Bob chairs the Agricultural Advisory educates the community about sustainable farming Commission, Community Preservation Committee practices. He hosts workshops designed to train and Planning Board in Hatfield, MA. agricultural professionals and aspiring and beginning farmers about sustainable agriculture and conservation Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, the executive director of the practices. Quivira Coalition, has worked in food and agriculture planning for the past seven years with a focus on young

24 After-dinner entertainment guaranteed to inspire you. Restaurants Wednesday 6:00p | Dinner on the town

These farm-to-table and sustainable dining establishments Movie Night Tuesday 8:45p | Keystone 1 are among many dining opportunities in Denver. Ask the hotel Homeplace Under Fire (30 min) or look online for additional recommendations. The Farm Crisis of the 1980s drove hundreds of thousands of family farm- Beatrice & Woodsley Panzano ers into foreclosure. Yet, out of that crisis arose a legion of farm advocates 38 S Broadway, Denver 909 17th St, Denver who refused to stand idly by and watch their way of life be destroyed. As Woodsy, playful setting for New American Posh yet still casual eatery in fellow farmers, farm wives, and rural leaders, they studied laws and regu- small plates & innovative cocktails. the Hotel Monaco focusing on lations, started hotlines, answered farmers’ calls from their kitchen tables, counseled their neighbors, and went toe-to-toe with lenders – giving their Duo sustainable Northern Italian cuisine. all to keep their neighbors on the land. Thousands of farmers are alive 2413 W 32nd Ave, Denver Potager and on their land today because of them. This documentary by Farm Aid Creative local farm-to-fork New American 1109 N Ogden St, Denver celebrates these advocates and their remarkable work. cuisine in a warm, rustic, continually Rustic dining room whose organic packed space. New American menu changes Arc of Justice (20 min) Fruition Restaurant monthly to reflect what's market- fresh. This award-winning documentary traces the remarkable journey of New 1313 E 6th Ave, Denver Communities, Inc. (NCI) in southwest Georgia, a story of racial justice, Tiny destination drawing foodies for chef Root Down community organizing, and perseverance. NCI was created in 1969 by Civil Alex Seidel's refined farm-to-table New 1600 W 33rd Ave, Denver Rights leaders including Con­gressman John Lewis, and Charles and Shirley It is said that in the United American cuisine. A converted filling station is an Sherrod (a conference presenter), to help secure economic independence States we have free trade in artful, high-energy venue for creative Mercantile Dining & Provisions for African American families. For 15 years, NCI cooperatively farmed nearly land. It can be bought and sold American small plates. 1701 Wynkoop St #155, Denver 6,000 acres, the largest tract of land in the US owned by African Americans at will. But there are certain High-performance space includes a New Sazza at the time. In the face of racist attacks and discrimination, NCI lost the land weaknesses in the system even American eatery, wine library, artisanal 2500 E Orchard Rd, Greenwood to foreclosure in 1985. But 25 years later it was given new life. market & barista bar. Village today. Old Major Bright counter-serve with thin-crust Barber Farm Project (30 min) 3316 Tejon St, Denver pizzas & salads that make use of The Barber Farm Project is a movie about what happened when a local Liberty Hyde Bailey Rustic-chic restaurant specializing in local & organic ingredients. film maker tried to save her grandmother’s farm from development. The CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN Barber Farm Project follows four generations of a Vermont farm family AGRICULTURE, VOLUME IV, elevated dishes from sustainable sources The Squeaky Bean CHAPTER V LAND AND LABOR, 1909 & top-shelf drinks. 1500 Wynkoop St #101, Denver over more than a decade as they struggle to find a way to keep their land from being developed. The film addresses the intergenerational transfer The Kitchen Eclectic, farm-driven menu in a brick of farms along with the challenges of being a small farmer, and the impor- 1530 16th St., Denver space with an open kitchen, floor-to- tance of building local food systems. (entrance on Wazee Street) ceiling windows & a bar. Garden-to-table American meals & a To view other related videos after the conference, visit: popular happy hour in an eco-friendly The decline in the percentage Soybeans look like prayers  landforgood.org/our-work/changing-lands-changing-hands urban space. of landowning farmers is due bouncing off the ceiling largely to the fact that a longer When the prices on the Chicago period is required to save the Readers Theater Tuesday 8:45p | Keystone 2 Local Transportation grain market start to drop, money with which to buy a Or like your old man’s tears farm. Hence, each succeeding BY RAIL BY CAR Look Who’s Knockin’ when you tell him This unique one-act play by the Land Stewardship Project will be per- generation of farmers must The A Line runs from Central Park Parking at the hotel is formed as a readers theatre. Written by LSP’s, Doug Nopar, Look Who’s remain longer in the tenant Station to downtown Denver every complimentary. Parking downtown How much the land might bring Knockin’ is based on the stories of farm families facing transition to the class. 15 minutes (less frequently during can be a hassle. Consider the train for subdivisions. next generation. The play explores the dilemma faced by Nettie and Ger- off hours). The ride is 14 minutes if you’re heading into the city for ald, long-time conservation farmers. Should they sell their farm for top and costs $2.60. dinner on Wednesday. Liberty Hyde Bailey dollar to the largest cash grain farmer in the county? Or should they help Please see the hotel front desk or CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN Thomas Alan Orr a young farm couple enter dairying? After the performance we’ll discuss AGRICULTURE, VOLUME IV, Guest Services for details or visit: SOYBEANS how this play can be performed in your community to open up conversa- CHAPTER V LAND AND LABOR, 1909 www3.rtd-denver.com/a-line.shtml tion around the challenging topic of farm transitions. About Land For Good Committees & Acknowledgements

Land For Good (LFG) is a small organization with a region and across the country to build awareness of, big mission—to put more farmers more securely on and effective services, for land access, secure tenure Conference Planning Committee Colorado Host Committee more land in New England and beyond. and transfer. For example, we arranged for continuing ÝÝ Adrian Card, Colorado State University Extension ÝÝ Colorado Department of Agriculture Since 2004, LFG has specialized in farm access, ten- education credits for attorneys and for real estate pro- Ý Julia Freedgood, American Farmland Trust Ý Colorado State University ure and transfer. From farmers’ kitchen tables to the fessionals who attend our trainings. Ý Ý national arena, LFG helps farmers get onto, hold and Advocacy LFG’s advocacy work to improve local, state ÝÝ Savi Horne, Land Loss Prevention Project ÝÝ Guidestone Colorado transfer farms, and works to improve the conditions and federal policies is informed by our work on the ÝÝ Reggie Knox & Staff, California Farm Link ÝÝ Rocky Mountain Farmers Union for secure and equitable farmland tenure. ground and strengthened by regional and national col- Ý Gary Matteson, Farm Credit Ý USDA Farm Service Agency, Colorado We believe that farmland must be available, affordable, laborations. We work with state lawmakers and agen- Ý Ý appropriate and secure within a variety of tenure ar- cy officials, and testify before Congress. Currently, we ÝÝ Dana Richey, USDA Farm Service Agency ÝÝ USDA Natural Resources are collaborating on a scoping paper on land access rangements. Taking a systems view, we address mul- ÝÝ Holly Rippon-Butler, National Young Farmers Coalition Conservation, Colorado tiple aspects of the issue and work with all who have and succession for the next Farm Bill. a stake in the future of farming. We promote diversity, Innovation We believe that the complex challenges of ÝÝ Hilde Steffey, Farm Aid innovation and land stewardship in all our work. farmland access, tenure and transfer can only be suc- ÝÝ Karen Stettler, Land Stewardship Project cessfully addressed with creative new ideas and part- Direct Service We work directly with farm seekers, ÝÝ Severine von Tscharner Fleming, Agrarian Trust landowners and transitioning farm families. Our six ners. We collaborate with planning agencies, religious field agents help seekers explore their land tenure op- institutions, lenders, municipalities, and conservation ÝÝ Kathryn Ruhf, Land Access Project Director and tions and landowners make land available for farming. groups, for example, to open up new possibilities for Conference Organizer, Land For Good Our unique coaching method and team approach sup- land access. Two Land Access Projects, funded by the port farm families through their succession planning. USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development In 2016, our team handled over 360 new cases of di- Program (2010-13, 2015-18) have engaged over 50 Special thanks to the following individuals and groups: rect advising assistance to farmers. landowners and collaborators. Our research into farmland investment Ý community members. companies, farmers without successors, and farm link Ý Adrian Card, Bill Stevenson and all the local and regional producers and programs, for example, has generated rich dialogue. distributors whose food items grace our tables Education & Training Often in partnership with oth- er organizations, LFG regularly delivers over 40 work- Our 12-member team—most currently farm or have ÝÝ Rocky Mountain Farmers Union for printing the conference program farmed—brings a wealth of expertise and experience. shops and presentations that reach thousands each ÝÝ Colorado State University and Martha Sullins for lending AV equipment year. Our educational materials such as our online We are a learning organization that builds our skills and Build-a-Lease tool, Acquiring Your Farm tutorial and programs through our own professional development, ÝÝ Video Squad: Holly, Liya, Kerry, Kate, Tess, and Neil collaboration, and exposure to others’ good work. Our guides for farmers without successors, non-farming ÝÝ All our session scribes annual budget of under $500,000 is supported by foun- landowners and the junior generation enable users to Ý take informed action. We consult with and train orga- dation and government grants, contracts, donations Ý Laura Nelson, Chef Matt and the DoubleTree Stapleton North staff nizations and professional networks in our six-state and fees. ÝÝ Broken Banjo Photography | brokenbanjo.net ÝÝ Seth Gregory Design | sethgregorydesign.com About the USDA On May 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed USDA’s vision is to provide economic opportunity legislation to establish the United States Department through innovation, helping rural America to thrive; to nRememberance of Agriculture. Two and a half years later in his final promote agriculture production that better nourishes message to Congress, Lincoln called USDA “The Peo- Americans while also helping feed others throughout Kathy Ozer was the executive director of the National Family Farm Coalition for 24 years. Despite ple’s Department.” Through our work on food, agricul- the world; and to preserve our Nation’s natural resourc- battling the cancer which took her life at 58, Kathy served on the Conference Planning Committee until ture, economic development, science, natural resource es through conservation, restored forests, improved her death this past January. Kathy was an early champion of sustainable agriculture and a tireless conservation and other issues, USDA has impacted watersheds, and healthy private working lands. USDA advocate of family farmers. She fought for policies to keep farmers on their land. US Representative the lives of generations of Americans. USDA provides is made up of 29 agencies and offices with nearly Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said, “Kathy remains in the top tier of Americans who have made a difference.” leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, ru- 100,000 employees who serve the American people Kathy is deeply missed. ral development, nutrition, and related issues based on at more than 4,500 locations across the country and public policy, the best available science, and effective abroad. management. Thanks to these generous sponsors for supporting our national conference.

Sponsorships were used for presenter and attendee registration scholarships, travel, and lodging assistance. Sponsor contributions also underwrote registration fees for everyone, and helped with AV and other direct expenses. Without this support the conference would not have been possible.

Additional support has been provided by a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture through its Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, #2015-70017-23900.