You probably already follow Texas Slim and The Beef Initiative project. In his "Harvest of Deception" piece he notes that Bill Gates is now the largest owner of farmland in the US. He doesn't personally farm any of it, but instead has others farm it. It's very similar to the "Lord of the Manor" in the Middle Ages having serfs to farm his land. Farmers in the dire straits you've outlined have sold to him at bargain prices. At 77 I'm a tad old to be farming, but I do remember growing up that most families had a small garden that contributed to their food. It's still common in the UK for residents to have an "allotment" where they can grow food, though the greens in UK have started claiming that these allotments create more greenhouse gases than conventional farms. In the Middle Ages land barons would plant grass to show the world they were so wealthy that they didn't need to grow crops on all of their land. We still do that today in just about every suburb in America, spending vast sums of money to maintain lawns that serve no useful purpose. If every lawn was replaced with a garden we could all eat healthier for less money.
Yes that is so true, too! For those that don't have the lawns because they rent or live in apartments, I am trying to share the importance of getting an acre or two for your family, still, with what's to come.
that’s laughable. Without billions of dollars, an unimaginable amount of assets tendered away and a private island somewhere to make it all happen, you’re not going to survive the coming climate catastrophe. I don’t care what your little homesteading skills
owning farmland is not exactly some nefarious hidden agenda of an investment. What a dumb fuck you’re really fucking stupid if you think any of us are that stupid
Such a great article. Our family has been wanting to homestead for some time, my son is actually a farmer, but land has gotten pretty expensive here in Oregon. I haven't heard about CRT's, I love this article because we need young farmers to think differently and start smaller. We have wanted to do something just like this. Thank you for reminding me that anything is possible.
I agree with everything you’re saying here, yet I think a lot of small small farmers back out because they’re sick and tired of the regulations. The USDA are starting to crack down on these guys, making them jump through hoops with the same requirements as a big agro
This is sort of true - New York State protects farmers against new rules / regulations. Depends where you are! But agreed, governmental overreach is a huge problem across the country.
They are definitely struggling to afford the increase in taxes and competition with overseas ag conglomerates for sure. That's why I post about entrepreneurial ways farmers/gardeners can earn more money! Like agrotourism. We have to pivot with the changes, and we need more business savvy folks to get involved with small scale farming.
Thank you for sounding the alarm on this! Farmers are the backbone of this country and unfortunately like you said, they have no one to leave their legacy to & corporations are coming and taking it all. Thanks for giving multiple options to buy farmland, I had no clue.
Oooooh, yes. This is like seller financing a small business but for farm land. It feels more doable, especially if the equipment is included. I didn't know this was an option.
The framing of “land changing hands” as some great opportunity for transformation is a red herring. Just because the demographics of landed farmers is top heavy doesn’t tell us anything about the fate of the land. The last survey of agricultural land ownership revealed that among the people said they would sell up in 5 years, 40% of that land was going to be put in a family trust, 13% sold to a relative, 12% gifted, leaving 20% planned to be sold to a non-relative.
I think the framing suggest if young farmers just put their minds to it, the food system will be changed by the next generation. But there are much deeper forces at work that shape who owns land and who gets to own property.
This is awesome information. Thank you so much for your writing and insights. I live in California, up north surrounded by farms, but I'm moving and intend to start a community farm!
With the CRTs, are the farms already in these trusts and if so, how do you find those? Or are people finding the farm first and then working with owners to create a CRT?
Allen Williams is featured in this podcast. To me, this description of his earlier days in farming is thoroughly amazing. In his particular county alone there were a couple hundred or so individual dairies. Those and other farms thrived as they supported a local economy of all sorts of businesses catering to the farms. The Main Street in the town thrived as well. Now there is one dairy remaining. Main Street has dried up.
I’m under the impression that during Reagan’s time farmers were encouraged to go big or go small. That lead to a massive scale change in farming. Farms cleared their land so big machines could move across efficiently.
Small scale regen farming is a big deal now but it’s an uphill battle. Anyone in line to inherit a farm is aware of this. You’d better already have an income, be able fix things, market your stuff, be a workaholic, etc. Don’t forget about the competition, large groceries.
It would be nice to snap fingers and go back to Allen Williams boyhood times. That’s a long process getting it back.
I’m 75 in a few weeks. Although cash poor, I’m rich. Our land is half in a flood zone. Over time, rich, dark topsoil has moved around depositing itself on our lower half. Trees grow there now but there’s gold underneath. Some around here strip mine their topsoil selling it to highway builders so grass will grow on the sides. That’s poor strategy. Amish would not do that.
My wife and I, no kids. Normally we’d approach them about continuing on here in some fashion. As it is for those like us, the land would simply get sold. Then a housing dev would come in.
Family wise there are two nieces as possibilities. One dreams of having a farm with a log cabin however her home is the Phillipines. The other is near Boston and knew what she wanted to be post high school - a horse trainer. But she was kinda forcefully encouraged to go to university.
Anyway, I’m an n=1 on land turnover while pondering things.
Need a way to connect people like me with people like you!! We’re in Sourh Carolina, but I dream of somehow finding a farm that someone wants to pass off, especially people in your situation could help the next generation (even if it’s not your family) by giving a reasonable price. Sounds like the CRT thing could work!
I would have difficulty selling our place to someone who wants to sell lots with curbed streets and all that. It’s easier for us with no kids, only remote nieces and a dog. Except a developer may be in a better position to pay a reasonable price. I may need it the $.
A long time ago I was mowing yards in a ritzy area of Dallas. Everyone who read a newspaper knew real estate had zoomed up there. My customer was griping to me about high prices squeezing her. I was puzzled by this and mentioned to her the rather high value of her real estate. She said yes but if I sell then I’ll have turn around and buy a place to live. At the time her dilemma seemed of little consequence as I had then next to nothing including my work truck.
Her argument makes sense to me 50 years later. I’ve learned that my property holds some interest to a few locals who also wouldn’t want this land turned to concrete and yard sprinklers. If I were to think of selling I would hear what they had to say. Barring that I’d listen to someone like yourselves to see what they had to say.
If y’all are ready to move on land why not start with q&a and making an offer or two? For our land I’d been searching for 3 years and was about to settle on 4 acres that were just ok but I’d grown tired of looking. Wanting a well, I’d called two well drillers for cost on that 4 acres. Both said water was deep and would cost 40k minimum. One said he knew of a property 10 miles from there on sandy soil where water was closer and the well way less$. He had bought a new rig otherwise he’d have a buyer. I closed on that, now ours, about a week later. We got lucky, I hope do too.
Have you ever tried to get Schools involved with this? field trips or classes teaching how to farm. You could make a strong case that youth knowing how to make food is a national security issue. I’m very serious about that. If corporations buy up the land and mismanagement the farms destroying soil or they just throw ugly and unneeded buildings on it we will have to import food from other countries. How can you be strong when you depend on others for food? Try to lobby for classes on how to grow food and how the food goes from the ground to your plate. Or from an animal to your plate. If these classes were not even required but suggested by schools many young people would take interest. What sounds better to an 18 year old, a guaranteed job at 18 and a loan to buy your own land, or a 100,000 dollar loan spent on a four year degree eating toxic sludge in a dorm room only to work at McDonalds after graduation? If schools taught this as a viable path I’m sure things would change for the better quickly.
In Austria school children spend a week at a local farm to learn about where their food comes from. I loved that when I was living there. Supermarkets also labeled food add as to which farm it came from so you could visit or inquire further. Would be awesome to see school kids visit farms.
In Oregon we have an Agricultural news paper The Capital Press (referred to as the Capital Depress). May I recommend that you write an article about CRTs that you could sell to papers like the capital press.
I would love to be a part of some effort that could connect families and individuals with land. Before the government and greedy investors or developers get a hand on it
A very important issue. Thanks for sounding the alarm. I'll pass it on.
As someone who's been involved in small-scale organic agriculture for 20 years, it's come to be my opinion that the current system of Ag subsidies needs to be completely changed. Big Ag doesn't deserve the breaks, and the funds should go to small-scale ops. Also, because of the stresses and vagaries of the market, all farmers should be guaranteed a minimum income. Almost every time I've seen a farmer make a bad decision (i.e., doing something ecologically harmful), it's because of money pressure. We need to remove this element.
Finally, I believe we ultimately need to move away from private ownership of agricultural land. Instead it should be in the commons and be collectively managed by small groups of people. That last one might be a little far out for you personally, but I do think it's where we need to go eventually.
You probably already follow Texas Slim and The Beef Initiative project. In his "Harvest of Deception" piece he notes that Bill Gates is now the largest owner of farmland in the US. He doesn't personally farm any of it, but instead has others farm it. It's very similar to the "Lord of the Manor" in the Middle Ages having serfs to farm his land. Farmers in the dire straits you've outlined have sold to him at bargain prices. At 77 I'm a tad old to be farming, but I do remember growing up that most families had a small garden that contributed to their food. It's still common in the UK for residents to have an "allotment" where they can grow food, though the greens in UK have started claiming that these allotments create more greenhouse gases than conventional farms. In the Middle Ages land barons would plant grass to show the world they were so wealthy that they didn't need to grow crops on all of their land. We still do that today in just about every suburb in America, spending vast sums of money to maintain lawns that serve no useful purpose. If every lawn was replaced with a garden we could all eat healthier for less money.
Yes that is so true, too! For those that don't have the lawns because they rent or live in apartments, I am trying to share the importance of getting an acre or two for your family, still, with what's to come.
that’s laughable. Without billions of dollars, an unimaginable amount of assets tendered away and a private island somewhere to make it all happen, you’re not going to survive the coming climate catastrophe. I don’t care what your little homesteading skills
owning farmland is not exactly some nefarious hidden agenda of an investment. What a dumb fuck you’re really fucking stupid if you think any of us are that stupid
You’re such an idiot.
You’re the DF if you believe in a climate catastrophe 🫵🤡😂
Such a great article. Our family has been wanting to homestead for some time, my son is actually a farmer, but land has gotten pretty expensive here in Oregon. I haven't heard about CRT's, I love this article because we need young farmers to think differently and start smaller. We have wanted to do something just like this. Thank you for reminding me that anything is possible.
I am so glad you enjoyed it!!
I agree with everything you’re saying here, yet I think a lot of small small farmers back out because they’re sick and tired of the regulations. The USDA are starting to crack down on these guys, making them jump through hoops with the same requirements as a big agro
This is sort of true - New York State protects farmers against new rules / regulations. Depends where you are! But agreed, governmental overreach is a huge problem across the country.
This is a national security issue.
This could change the world's health at the root cause. Food sovereignty & education too.
What I'm hearing is a lot of small food producers having a hard time making a profit to sustain their land/business.
Partially, our government is not aligned with farmers/ranchers.
Do you find small farmers /producers are becoming a D2C concept?
They are definitely struggling to afford the increase in taxes and competition with overseas ag conglomerates for sure. That's why I post about entrepreneurial ways farmers/gardeners can earn more money! Like agrotourism. We have to pivot with the changes, and we need more business savvy folks to get involved with small scale farming.
Thank you for sounding the alarm on this! Farmers are the backbone of this country and unfortunately like you said, they have no one to leave their legacy to & corporations are coming and taking it all. Thanks for giving multiple options to buy farmland, I had no clue.
Keep fighting the good fight.
Thank you so much!!
The typical farmer is poisoning us. Get a grip
Oooooh, yes. This is like seller financing a small business but for farm land. It feels more doable, especially if the equipment is included. I didn't know this was an option.
The framing of “land changing hands” as some great opportunity for transformation is a red herring. Just because the demographics of landed farmers is top heavy doesn’t tell us anything about the fate of the land. The last survey of agricultural land ownership revealed that among the people said they would sell up in 5 years, 40% of that land was going to be put in a family trust, 13% sold to a relative, 12% gifted, leaving 20% planned to be sold to a non-relative.
I think the framing suggest if young farmers just put their minds to it, the food system will be changed by the next generation. But there are much deeper forces at work that shape who owns land and who gets to own property.
https://open.substack.com/pub/adamcalo/p/food-system-reform-is-missing-a-coherent?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
You think correctly. No GOP constituent has any background in the truth. This is all foreign to them
This is awesome information. Thank you so much for your writing and insights. I live in California, up north surrounded by farms, but I'm moving and intend to start a community farm!
Girl, I admire your journey!...Will Take the time for exploring new paths...
Yes!! It is a path worth exploring!!
An ill wind comes arising
sweeping by farms and the plains.
With the CRTs, are the farms already in these trusts and if so, how do you find those? Or are people finding the farm first and then working with owners to create a CRT?
Thank you for this info!
They are finding them by calling the farms, or really, visiting the farms! Or they are setting them up with the farmers who are getting ready to sell!
Thank you!
https://sustainabledish.com/podcasts/sustainable-dish-episode-205/
Allen Williams is featured in this podcast. To me, this description of his earlier days in farming is thoroughly amazing. In his particular county alone there were a couple hundred or so individual dairies. Those and other farms thrived as they supported a local economy of all sorts of businesses catering to the farms. The Main Street in the town thrived as well. Now there is one dairy remaining. Main Street has dried up.
I’m under the impression that during Reagan’s time farmers were encouraged to go big or go small. That lead to a massive scale change in farming. Farms cleared their land so big machines could move across efficiently.
Small scale regen farming is a big deal now but it’s an uphill battle. Anyone in line to inherit a farm is aware of this. You’d better already have an income, be able fix things, market your stuff, be a workaholic, etc. Don’t forget about the competition, large groceries.
It would be nice to snap fingers and go back to Allen Williams boyhood times. That’s a long process getting it back.
I’m 75 in a few weeks. Although cash poor, I’m rich. Our land is half in a flood zone. Over time, rich, dark topsoil has moved around depositing itself on our lower half. Trees grow there now but there’s gold underneath. Some around here strip mine their topsoil selling it to highway builders so grass will grow on the sides. That’s poor strategy. Amish would not do that.
My wife and I, no kids. Normally we’d approach them about continuing on here in some fashion. As it is for those like us, the land would simply get sold. Then a housing dev would come in.
Family wise there are two nieces as possibilities. One dreams of having a farm with a log cabin however her home is the Phillipines. The other is near Boston and knew what she wanted to be post high school - a horse trainer. But she was kinda forcefully encouraged to go to university.
Anyway, I’m an n=1 on land turnover while pondering things.
Need a way to connect people like me with people like you!! We’re in Sourh Carolina, but I dream of somehow finding a farm that someone wants to pass off, especially people in your situation could help the next generation (even if it’s not your family) by giving a reasonable price. Sounds like the CRT thing could work!
CRT, like TLA, a three letter acronym?
I would have difficulty selling our place to someone who wants to sell lots with curbed streets and all that. It’s easier for us with no kids, only remote nieces and a dog. Except a developer may be in a better position to pay a reasonable price. I may need it the $.
A long time ago I was mowing yards in a ritzy area of Dallas. Everyone who read a newspaper knew real estate had zoomed up there. My customer was griping to me about high prices squeezing her. I was puzzled by this and mentioned to her the rather high value of her real estate. She said yes but if I sell then I’ll have turn around and buy a place to live. At the time her dilemma seemed of little consequence as I had then next to nothing including my work truck.
Her argument makes sense to me 50 years later. I’ve learned that my property holds some interest to a few locals who also wouldn’t want this land turned to concrete and yard sprinklers. If I were to think of selling I would hear what they had to say. Barring that I’d listen to someone like yourselves to see what they had to say.
If y’all are ready to move on land why not start with q&a and making an offer or two? For our land I’d been searching for 3 years and was about to settle on 4 acres that were just ok but I’d grown tired of looking. Wanting a well, I’d called two well drillers for cost on that 4 acres. Both said water was deep and would cost 40k minimum. One said he knew of a property 10 miles from there on sandy soil where water was closer and the well way less$. He had bought a new rig otherwise he’d have a buyer. I closed on that, now ours, about a week later. We got lucky, I hope do too.
Thank you! We are definitely keeping our ears to the ground!
Have you ever tried to get Schools involved with this? field trips or classes teaching how to farm. You could make a strong case that youth knowing how to make food is a national security issue. I’m very serious about that. If corporations buy up the land and mismanagement the farms destroying soil or they just throw ugly and unneeded buildings on it we will have to import food from other countries. How can you be strong when you depend on others for food? Try to lobby for classes on how to grow food and how the food goes from the ground to your plate. Or from an animal to your plate. If these classes were not even required but suggested by schools many young people would take interest. What sounds better to an 18 year old, a guaranteed job at 18 and a loan to buy your own land, or a 100,000 dollar loan spent on a four year degree eating toxic sludge in a dorm room only to work at McDonalds after graduation? If schools taught this as a viable path I’m sure things would change for the better quickly.
In Austria school children spend a week at a local farm to learn about where their food comes from. I loved that when I was living there. Supermarkets also labeled food add as to which farm it came from so you could visit or inquire further. Would be awesome to see school kids visit farms.
In Oregon we have an Agricultural news paper The Capital Press (referred to as the Capital Depress). May I recommend that you write an article about CRTs that you could sell to papers like the capital press.
I would love to be a part of some effort that could connect families and individuals with land. Before the government and greedy investors or developers get a hand on it
Great suggestion!
A very important issue. Thanks for sounding the alarm. I'll pass it on.
As someone who's been involved in small-scale organic agriculture for 20 years, it's come to be my opinion that the current system of Ag subsidies needs to be completely changed. Big Ag doesn't deserve the breaks, and the funds should go to small-scale ops. Also, because of the stresses and vagaries of the market, all farmers should be guaranteed a minimum income. Almost every time I've seen a farmer make a bad decision (i.e., doing something ecologically harmful), it's because of money pressure. We need to remove this element.
Finally, I believe we ultimately need to move away from private ownership of agricultural land. Instead it should be in the commons and be collectively managed by small groups of people. That last one might be a little far out for you personally, but I do think it's where we need to go eventually.
Anyway, thank again for sounding the alarm!