RELEASE: In Wake of Rising Farmland Prices and Loss of Farmland, National Young Farmers Coalition, Land Trusts, American Farmland Trust, and New York Farm Bureau Back the Working Farm Protection Act
Albany, NY (May 2, 2018) – The National Young Farmers Coalition, along with its New York chapters, New York Farm Bureau, American Farmland Trust, and land trusts from around the state, celebrate Assembly member Didi Barrett (D-106) today for taking a stand for farmers with the introduction of the Working Farm Protection Act. The Act would strengthen the New York State Farmland Protection Implementation Grant Program by funding conservation easements that make farmland permanently affordable to working farmers.
“Farmland ownership is the foundation of a successful farm,” says Lindsey Lusher Shute, Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition and co-owner of Hearty Roots Community Farm in Clermont, “but in today’s real estate market, selling vegetables or raising livestock doesn’t pay the mortgage. If we want working farms in this state, we must take action to ensure that the price of protected farmland is affordable to the farmers who need it. Without addressing farmland affordability and the needs of the farmers working the land, the farmland protection program will not fully realize its intended purpose. As non-farmers buy these parcels and bid up the price for land, the farmers will leave and our farm communities will be lost.”
RELEASE: Young farmers go to Albany to urge legislators to address the state’s farmland affordability issue with working farm easements
Young farmers find land access to be top roadblock to careers in farming; Will urge NY legislators to direct farmland conservation dollars towards working farm easements to keep land available and affordable for working farmers
Albany, NY (March 12, 2018) – National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) farmer members from across New York State are meeting with New York State legislators in Albany today to discuss the challenges young farmers face in finding available and affordable farmland to own—a crucial step in pursuing a farming career and building a successful farming business.