Access to Land & Capital

While the sparkly vision of the pastoral family farm still dominates greenwashed grocery stores and idyllic political ads, across the country farmers are in crisis. The average age of a farmer continues to climb, and many do not have family interested in joining the difficult profession. At the same time, a new generation of young farmers (including many women and POC farming experts) are eager to grow food for their communities and cultivate land, but find access to land and funds exceedingly difficult. No matter how eager a young farmer is, to even begin farming, farmers need access to land, and capital to buy that land. In this article we’ll take you through our current farmland crisis in the US, how difficult it is for farmers to access financial resources, and what you can do to support farmers on issues like these (that can feel very out of our control!). 

Corporate/Federal Land Grabs

While access to land does involve financial limitations (we’ll get into that next), it is also limited by many factors outside of agriculture. In our land grabs article, we discussed how agricultural land can be seized by major corporations or governments without the consent of indigenous populations around the globe. While this article is framed within an international context, the loss of agricultural land to corporations or other use is very common, further reducing options for farmers trying to break into the industry. According to the American Farmland Trust, every day 2,000 acres of agricultural land are paved over, fragmented, or converted to uses that jeopardize farming. Often, when land is up for sale, developers  contributing to urban sprawl can simply bid higher than farmers, and thus threaten vital farmland. 

The American Farmland Trust also estimates that in the next 15 years, one-third of America’s farmland and ranchland will likely change hands, as current landowners age and sell. This land is most at risk of being converted to a non-agricultural use when it is sold.

Loss of Viable Land

At the same time, land that is currently lying fallow or even currently under cultivation is at risk for losing it’s viability as farmland. Viable farmland is classified by soil type (A-1 is the best!), but soil types are subject to change depending on how the land is treated. If land is not cultivated or managed, soil can be subject to erosion and degradation of quality. Even soil that is under cultivation can be subject to degradation as conventional agriculture does not focus on soil health in the same way that management styles such as regenerative agriculture do. The amount of viable farmland is threatened by degradation in addition to development.  

Unstable Renting Conditions

There are many landowners who are interested in leasing their land to farmers, who can grow on the land while paying rent rather than buying. This can be a fantastic opportunity for some young farmers, but, as we all know, landlord-tenant relationships can be tense. From my research experience with interviews with farmers in upstate New York, I’ve heard stories of many landlords having expectations about how the farm will look, which can be an issue with sustainable production practices such as no-till, that don’t get rid of every weed. Also, renting the land can limit what farmers are comfortable growing, as their lease could potentially end at any time. Investing in perennial crops requires a high upfront cost and years of waiting before plants mature enough to harvest. If you’re a farmer who is not sure if you’re going to be on the land in four years, you would have less of an incentive to plant those types of crops.   

Once farmers find a property to purchase or rent, there can be many barriers to getting a loan. Farming is not seen as a very secure business venture and banks are often not interested in taking a risk on giving a young farmer a loan. Farming requires huge investments at the beginning of every season (seeds, inputs, etc.) and the payout at the end of the season can be very dependent on Mother Nature — who is getting a bit more moody thanks to climate change… 

Discrimination

While Black farmers face racism at every step of farming, loans and access to capital are a place where Black farmers are disproportionately affected. Like housing loans, discrimination against Black farmers looking to start, expand or save their business is rampant. The number of Black farmers in America peaked at 949,889 in 1920. Today, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Black farmers make up only 1.3%, of the country’s 3.4 million total farmers (95% of US farmers are white). They also own only a mere 0.52% of America’s farmland. The Black farmers who have managed to hold on to their farms barely make a living, ($40,000 annually, compared with over $190,000 by white farmers) which can likely be at least partially attributed to their lack of access to land. On average Black farmers own acreage about one-quarter of the size of their white counterparts. 

Beyond a loan for land, many farmers also are looking for capital for improvements on the farm and investments to help them grow. Like all other businesses under capitalism, farmers and ranchers need an influx of capital to grow.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers loans and grants to farmers, depending on what they are looking for. Many loan options are available for improvements of on-farm infrastructure, and some grants exist for sustainability or other improvements that are a priority for the USDA (depending on the political party currently in office of course!). The USDA has an extremely racist history and is actively working to remedy the deep roots of racism in the centuries-old history of the department. 

Side note: in 2017 the USDA decided to change the way they were counting farmers to increase the number of Black farmers in their data by 5%. It is unclear if this is actually a more accurate way to count farmers, or if it’s a way to increase their numbers… 

Bureaucracy

Even if farmers do get grants or loans from the USDA, the process is notoriously difficult and slow. Documentation is lengthy, convoluted and time consuming. Once submitted, response time from the department can take months, and it can be many more before funds hit the bank account. When farmers barely have time to run the farm, taking the time to apply to a USDA grant can feel overwhelming, especially with complicated forms with language that does not cater to laypeople. With a profession that inherently changes with the season, the time spent applying and waiting can simply not be worth it when responding to a crisis on the farm. 

Solutions

The USDA is currently in the process of working on equity and accessibility in all of their programs, which has led to some improvements in how grants and support are administered, but many of their efforts have been slow to implement, and many specific reparations for Black farmers have been caught up in courts. 

Some farms seek non-profit status through programs on the farm for underserved communities or education and land stewardship programs. This non-profit status allows organizations to apply for grants and additional funding opportunities that can support the organization as a whole while also producing food and other products for their communities. 

Steward Regenerative Capital is a unique regenerative farming capital program that matches regenerative farmers with a community of funders. As a funder you can invest anything between $100-5,000 and then as the farmer pays back the loan the lenders receive their money back plus a small percentage for their investment. It’s a lot faster than loans through conventional lending channels (often campaigns are funded in less than a few weeks!) and their requirements for sustainability are really motivating for many lenders looking to invest directly in farmers changing their regional food systems. Personally, I have invested a small amount of money through their platform and I have really been impressed by the whole process! 

If you’re looking to get involved in supporting farmers investing funds in platforms like Steward and supporting organizations like American Farmland Trust are really positive things you can do today. They are white-dominated organizations, and many small BIPOC led actions may exist on a more local level. You may be able to find organizations to support in your area through our Resource Guide for Supporting Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Resource Guide for Anti Racism Food Systems Work. Actions at a local level may have a higher impact than national campaigns, so it’s definitely a good thing to keep an eye out for. As we approach Farm Bill 2023, there will be lots of opportunities for all of us to push lawmakers to support policies that grant more equitable access to land and prioritize farmers in zoning practices.