findingfarmland.youngfarmers.org
Fall is when farm work, done under the glow of the sun, gives way to farm planning under the glow of a computer screen. If your farm planning includes a search for—or even just a dream of—land of your own, NYFC has a tool for you.
This fall, NYFC launched Finding Farmland, a website designed to help farmers and ranchers across the country make informed financial decisions during the process of accessing land. The site was created in partnership with Fathom Information Design, a renowned firm that partners with clients to understand, express, and navigate complex data through visualizations, interactive tools, and software.
The main feature of the website is a Land Affordability Calculator, which you can use to compare financing costs for two different farm properties, or to compare different financing scenarios for a single property. The site also contains an interactive case study of one farmer’s land access story, which highlights important resources and partners that may play a role in your land search.
The calculator is designed to be useful during any stage of your land access journey—whether you have a specific property in mind or are just beginning to consider options. If you are just starting to think about accessing land and are unfamiliar with real estate finance, you can use the calculator to explore several concepts that are important to understand when working with lenders. If you have a property or two in mind, the calculator will help you determine the monthly financing costs for each parcel under different scenarios, as well as the total cost of financing each property. We hope that you will return again and again to Finding Farmland as you plan your business and access land.
Finding Farmland is in beta mode. NYFC encourages your feedback on this version so that we can develop it into a valuable tool for beginning farmers and ranchers. If you have questions, feedback, or suggestions, please email Mike Durante, NYFC’s land access program associate, at findingfarmland@youngfarmers.org. We will incorporate your feedback into our next version of the website. In addition to the Finding Farmland site, NYFC will offer a series of in-person trainings around the country and additional online resources over the coming year.
Finding Farmland is supported by a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture through its Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program [award #2016-70017-25498].