Farmland Commons - A Legacy of Sustainability

Speaker A: Hey, this is Kate. Welcome to the Taproot project. Any conversation about the future of farming eventually hits the issue of land access. Land is expensive and in the marketplace it will typically sell to the highest bidder, making farmland susceptible to development. But taking land out of private ownership can stabilize farmland and ensure it serves the community for generations to come. A land trust model designed specifically for agriculture is starting to take hold across the country. Today we will learn about the farmland commons model and what it looks like on the ground in southeastern Ohio and east Knoxville, Tennessee. Ian McSweeney is the co founder and co director of the Farmers Land Trust, the organization that is stewarding the farmland commons land trust model. Here's their mission. To work nationally to transact farmland into community ownership through the farmland Commons, which are local land holding nonprofit entities that then give 99 year secure, affordable, affordable and equitable lease tenure to next generation farmers who are using chemical free regenerative agriculture. End quote. So there's a lot of words there, but I asked Ian to break it down.

Speaker B: Yeah, happy to. So really the Farmers Land Trust is a national nonprofit land trust that is focused on farmland ownership, farmland equity and farmland tenure in the belief that uh m farmland ownership is best served by a community that is connected to part of the farmer, but is broader than just individual farmer as a person, as a family, as a collective of farmers that really farms thrive when they're uh, connected to, support from and supporting to the community. So how that kind of connection is made is a lot of our work. And so our work with the Farmers Land Trust is creating these community centered localized land holding structures, these farmland commons, to own, uh, fee title of the farm real estate and then share in stewardship and equity and, and convey out, uh, long term secure lease tenure to farmers.

Speaker A: So legally, is there something different about the farmland commons model that sets it apart from other land trusts?

Speaker B: Yeah, the farmland commons model really is distinctly different than most other land trusts. Most land trusts that people are familiar with around the country or in the region are conservation land trusts. And they're focused on the protection of natural resources, open space, uh, conservation of the land against, uh, development, against extraction, aggregation type uses. And primarily they use a, uh, conservation easement. Where they are, the land trust is taking through donation or through purchase a conservation easement that limits the ability to develop that land, to extract from the land and so forth to protect it in those ways. The land itself stays in private property in all those cases though, and it's bought and sold on the markets, it's just restricted from Certain uses, it can no longer be developed, extracted, exploited. So the conservation land trusts primary use of the conservation easement is protecting land, but it's not addressing ownership, equity or tenure in land. We're not alone in our focus on ownership, equity and tenure. Uh, the probably best well known land trust in the region would be Silt Sustainable Iowa Land Trust that they have been practicing both protection of land, but also ownership of farms to provide long term security. And that is, you know, their work, that is their focus. They're, they're limited in geographic focus and their structure still holds the ownership control within their primary entity. Silt as an organization where. So we're similar to them, but we work nationally in scope and then the uh, control, the ownership of the land for us is nested in these community structures, these farmland commons. So it's not all sitting with us as an organization holding this land, making decisions. Instead we are part of where one of the organizations, three or more nonprofits that come together to create these farmland commons. So really prioritizes community and community for us is kind of foodshed region, but it prioritizes that in the decision making, autonomy, uh, holding that equity in the land in connection with us in different ways. So we're different than other land trusts in that, uh, two entity structure. Like we, the Farmers Land Trust are a 501c3 nonprofit land trust. These farmland commons are 501c25 nonprofits. So it's a different legal structure, they're connected in different ways. But um, we are unique in using this two entity structure to accomplish this goal.

Speaker A: M. Okay. And the two entity structure is what allows the ownership to be nested in the community and not nested within the farmer's land.

Speaker C: Correct?

Speaker B: Yeah. The two entity structure, the ownership is in that 501C 25 structure. And that 501C 25 structure is created state to state where we operate. So we have farmland commons in development in Tennessee and Ohio and Michigan and Wisconsin. And each one of those are their own entity in that state within a region of that state. And they're a partnership between local non profits, regional non profits, and then us as a national nonprofit.

Speaker A: Got it. So the places where you do have farmland Commons in development, was there why, I guess why those places is there? Was there some sort of, um, you know, kind of like magical combination of factors that allowed a commons to develop there? Um, how are you getting communities interested in this model?

Speaker B: Yeah, totally. So really the interest for this model comes from a lot of great, uh, storytelling, awareness building, outreach. We've done over the last handful of years, um, and it comes from kind of doing projects on the ground, people being aware of them, sharing them out. So that kind of organic, uh, growth of awareness, uh, over time, but really all in the last handful of years. But for us, like being a national organization, we can really be very selective as to where we work and who we work with and what we work on. And so for us, all of the projects, these farmland commons are things that are coming to us, asking to collaborate and then we're exploring, you know, is it viable? Do we have aligned values? Are there the pieces in place to make it successful? Pieces? Pieces being community partners, other nonprofits, farmland farmers. So much of this work, uh, in our belief system is that, um, the decisions that the elder exiting farmers make, those farmland owners determines the future. Every project needs land and every land is owned by someone. So it takes farmland owners who are willing to let go of ownership by donation or discounted sale. And we have farmland owners from 28 years old to 89 years old who are making those decisions. So it's not just the elder exiting farmer. Some are value aligned where they don't want to own the land, they just want to hold a life estate or lease tenure. And they want to make sure their life work is then carried forward after they pass. And they're being very proactive and doing that at 28 years old. Others are doing it as a life transition piece at end of life, wanting their farm to carry forge for next generation. So it really depends. But it all takes that owner of this asset farmland to decide that they want to do something different than just sell it on the market.

Speaker A: Folks who are in agriculture in any way have probably, you know, heard about how we're in a pivotal moment of great, massive impending land transfer as older farmers retire or pass on. And the tricky part of that dynamic is that so many of them have their land as the thing that they wanted to give to their kids or the thing that's going to pay for their retirement. Um, are you, how do you have conversations with people who are in that position?

Speaker B: Well, and again for us, kind of that, uh, conversation around donating land, um, benefits because we work at a national scale. And the reality is that this is not the right fit for many. Like there are financial constraints on so many people and the donation or discounted sale of land and the time needed to fundraise to purchase at a discounted price, like it's not feasible for a lot of people. Most people, um, and that's the reality, unfortunately, like the, you know, the systems, the way they are put farmers into such significant debt that some, many, the only way out is to exit their farm, sell for as much as they can simply to pay off debt and find a way to refund retirement. And that's, that's a systematic failure on many levels and that's nothing we can fail fix. So our focus is on those farmers that can donate or provide discounted sale with the understanding that many of the farmers we work with, like they need money because they need to exit, because they need to retire. And if they don't have to leave and move somewhere else, which many don't want to, like they don't want to leave their farm and move to retirement community somewhere, like they want to stay on their farm, many want to be buried on their farm. We have a project now where they're retaining a life estate, they're retaining the right to be buried on their farm. And, and that's the wish of many farmers if there was structures to allow for that. And that can change the need for financial uh, compensation for the sale of their property. Like they may still need some to pay off debt, but they may not need any to move somewhere else if they can have a life estate, live in the house. So it, it can work for more people than you would think. But there are many that the financial barriers make it impossible to be a solution for them. But the reality is like with organic agriculture, you know, it's the acres in organic agriculture are such a small percent of the total acres in active farmland now. Um, and if that was just increased two to threefold or something, it would be a huge success like for the planet, for us, for communities everywhere. And so really for us the same thing for farmland owners to think about owning land in a community centered farmland common structure, like with the massive amount of farmland in transition, even if 1%, 2%, 3%, you know, of those landowners decide this is an option because most financially can't or have uh, families going to take over, there's all these other scenarios that are real and important. But if it's 2%, 3% decide this, that's a huge impact on the ground. And if we've built examples of these farmland commons in you know, majority of states or all states around the country over the next five years from now, like then they can see this example and learn about it and be aware. And if that just impacts that small percent, that's a lot of acres and that's a lot of communities that will benefit.

Speaker A: I spoke with people from two different communities who are actively moving land into a, uh, farmland commons. First up is Annie wormke, A farmer based in southeastern Ohio who has decided to move her farmland into collective ownership. Annie and her husband Jay, have operated blue rock Station, a 38 acre farm and sustainability center, for over 30 years. The land was recently appraised at $400,000. But Annie and Jay are contributing the land to the blue rock farmland commons for just $250,000. They are also leaving behind equipment, propagation stock, and intellectual property that probably brings the actual value of the land and business closer to $750,000. I spoke with Annie about her decision to move the land into the commons.

Speaker D: Well, I made that decision probably from the very beginning of owning the land in a general way, because we had. We would never sell. So in the beginning, then when I began to think about being older, I was always going to die there.

Speaker A: Blue rock station is many things. A goat farm, sustainability education center, and beloved gathering place for the hundreds of people who have attended workshops or lived on the farm as interns.

Speaker D: So right around Covid time, I pulled together 15 of my former interns, and I said, uh, and a friend who's an attorney, who'd been a student and a big supporter of us, and I said, let's form a farm board. I need you to give me direction. And of course they have. They're young, they have new ideas, they have new, uh, they challenge me. And we know each other and care for each other. So that was a big deal, which I couldn't have even known how big that deal was because they had been super involved in the transition m as well. So I was always building this sort of infrastructure that would be a safety net and security.

Speaker A: Annie had already met Ian mcsweeney at an event long before the farmers land trust existed. And after forming her advisory board, she remembered about his work.

Speaker D: I asked him to come and be online during COVID with my, uh, advisory, uh, board, my new advisory board. And we started to talk about what it would take to make sure the land was safe. And of course, there were a lot of tears that day. Not from me, but others thinking, oh, you're going to die. And I'm like, well, not today. So let's, you know, let's take care of this. So we talked about what would happen, and we had several times during the year, we met and talked about other options. We visited some other farms to see what they were doing. And then I kind of forgot about it for a while. It was Covid, and we were Struggling

Speaker A: amidst the chaos of COVID and scrambling to reinvent their business. The farm succession conversations were put on a pause until Annie had a terrible accident and was bedridden for months, being cared for by neighbors and former interns and friends.

Speaker D: It was humbling. It was really humbling. Kate. I am always the person who shows up with the food, with the diapers, with the, you know, the extra whatever. Um, it was humbling. Anyway, uh, so I had to learn to walk again. And that, uh, was really amazing because, um, Christina Villa came in across my path. And by then she and Ian had created the Farmers Land Trust. I didn't know her, but she was speaking at a Women Food and Agriculture, um, online webinar. And I'm trapped in bed. And I was like, oh, wait, that's what I'm going to do.

Speaker A: Was it ever, um. I mean, it sounds like on your end there was never doubt about how you wanted this land to be stewarded into the future. Did. Did your partner or other people in your network kind of push back on the idea of, um, passing this land along for so much less than it was worth?

Speaker D: Well, my partner, who's been with me for 45 years, has been the, um, the victim or the rewarded one with all of my crazy ideas. And, you know, well, what. What I like to say is that I do this work with the support of the men who love me. Mhm. And, um, that's how I'll put it. And so he. He didn't understand it at first, but he didn't say, oh, that's stupid or anything like that. We just did, like, we do everything that we've done. You know, we've been pioneers in the field of, um, resiliency and sustainability. And, um. And so we put ourselves out there all the time, people think we're nuts, and then suddenly it all becomes mainstream and they're like, oh, it's nothing. And that's what I think this is about. So I'm sure there were people, people who are close to us that thought this was a very stupid thing. But that's coming from a capitalist standpoint. And for us, we feel that the land is sacred. And, um, you know, it's sacred, and so it needs to be treated as such. It should not be a commodity to be swapped and traded and raped and pillaged.

Speaker A: So the land transition was set in motion, and it's still going. Annie and Jay still hold the deed for their land, but three nonprofits have organized to form the Blue Rock Farmland Commons and are actively fundraising. The $250,000 needed to purchase the land from Annie and Jay. This money will help them establish a new home without going into debt. The payments will come to them in installments, and once the first payment is received, the deed will officially transfer to the Blue Rock Farmland Commons. Meanwhile, a new farm family was selected from 14 applicants to enter a long term lease and take over stewardship of the land. Annie and Jay have moved to Marietta, Ohio and are building a new life there. But Annie stresses that this has not been an easy transition.

Speaker D: This has been a, uh, really harsh experience for me personally because it's sad. I have a great deal of grief. I thought I would die here. It never occurred to me that I would leave. So the grief has not ended well.

Speaker C: It'll never end.

Speaker D: But then there's this happiness. You know, Jay calls it my happiness grief, um, which sounds so contradictory, but it is.

Speaker A: So did you have to leave your land as part of the transfer? Was it an option?

Speaker D: No, I didn't. No, no, I could have stayed. I could have, uh, but that would not have benefited the land. Um, but I could have stayed sitting there with my dogs and my pea fowl and uh, whatever else. Um, but the thing is, and the reason that I left that I, once I made the decision, I started looking for people to vet to be the next farm family, um, because I felt like I had to be out in time for them to come in in late summer because I couldn't do it any more quickly than that. Um, so they could begin to get ready for the next summer. I could have had an agreement that said I stay there till I die or I want to leave. But that didn't make sense to me and I wasn't being a good steward if that was how I viewed it. And it's been a gift to work with the Farmers Land Trust because not only are they really so smart and clever and creative in what they're doing, but also I was able to bring in some of my former interns who sit on the board that will manage the lease that this farm family has and make sure that 70%, at least 70% is agriculture in, uh, how it's being used. I feel like it's all in good hands. And everybody would say, you could sit on the board. And I just look up in a total quandary and know, why would I do that? This is a new day. Is youth coming in? I'm an old fart. I, you know, I, uh, I don't think of myself that way. I know my husband Asked me when I couldn't walk, how old do you think you are mentally? And I said, 45. So I think that's pretty much, you know, where I am, um, a stubborn 45. So.

Speaker A: And how old are you actually?

Speaker D: 74.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker D: So I can claim to be an old fart. Do you have any tips or ideas

Speaker A: for other farmer land owners who might be thinking about the next step for their land?

Speaker D: I think they should get in touch with people like me and talk about, first of all, this is really hurtful. And anybody who's thinking in terms of, I don't have anybody to pass my land onto, um, uh, or I don't have anybody who cares enough about it, or I don't have anybody. These are all kind of lonesome places to be. And on the flip side of that, for most of us, the land is our heart. And it may not be spoken of in the same way I'm speaking of it, but people have connection to the land in a way that most people don't, you know, generally in life. So it's a. There's a need to bring us together. I've been going to these meetings and talking to people, and, um, whenever I say what I'm doing, I will invariably have an older man come up to me and ask me to explain more and why I'm doing what I'm doing. And he will tear up and say, I stay awake nights trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my land because nobody wants it. And I think that this work inspires us. A lot of us stay inspired. We just have to keep reconfiguring how we do the work in a culture that doesn't value it.

Speaker A: Check out the link in the show notes to learn more about the Blue Rock Farmland Commons. As the land transfer draws to a close in Ohio, another Farmland Commons is getting off the ground in East Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2022, Famika Elliott, a local activist and community member, learned about the Farmland Commons model at a conference. Since then, four different local nonprofits have collaborated to create the East Tennessee Community Housing and Farmland Commons to hold land for the growing number of small farmers and gardeners. I spoke with Fumika about the need for Farmland Commons and what it's been like to get it off the ground.

Speaker C: I started out being a chef, um, ended up adding food education, uh, more so community education to teach community the complexities of their food ways, how to grow their own food, how to preserve their own food, uh, storytelling. So being a food historian, in addition

Speaker A: to being A former social worker, chef, doula for New Mothers and Foodways activist Famika is also one of the organizers behind Rooted East, a collective of organizations and individuals dedicated to food sovereignty in East Knoxville.

Speaker C: Our mission, um, we are restoring black food sovereignty by cultivating community care and the co management of land. This is an area where black residents were displaced, um, and were disenfranchised through urban renewal. We call it black removal here in Knoxville. Um, and it's still going on, but we are working to preserve lands and preserve safe spaces and third spaces for black and brown people and marginalized and oppressed people. Um, black Knoxville as a whole sits 47% below the poverty line. And that's Knoxville as a whole, uh, making at or less than $18,000 annually here in East Knoxville, period.

Speaker A: Rooted east got rolling after a conversation Fameke had with Christopher Battle, a black farmer in East Knoxville who established mobile produce delivery as part of his farm. There are no grocery stores within an hour of public transit in East Knoxville. Christopher wanted to see more being done for East Knoxville residents.

Speaker C: And he was like, well, we should probably ask the community, you know, um, if, you know, they want to learn how to grow their own food. And I was like, who's gonna do it? You know, like, we don't have full time jobs. I'm doing full time job. You know, I'm working one full time job. I have a business, a non profit. Like, I'm doing community work. I'm going to city council meetings. Like, who's going to do this? Um, and so we still went out, we surveyed community. Not really paper surveys, but we literally just went out to have conversation like we normally do. Right. Community building. And a lot of them said, yeah, if somebody, you know, had the patience to teach me, I would love to learn how to grow my own food. And wait, what? I can grow my own food. I thought I have to have land. And I was like, no, no. And, um, all, everybody, it was just literally everybody wanted to learn how to grow their own food. But the issue was, is that we, um, didn't have a community garden within the, uh, East Knoxville community. Also, a lot of the residents were beginning gardeners, avid gardeners. You know, they had some traumatization, you know, in regards to being in the soil, you know, equating that to slavery. So there were a lot of conversations that need to happen, a lot of reframing, decolonization of the mind and healing, um, you know, via, you know, all the post traumatic slave syndrome and things like that. And. But they were uncomfortable with being, uh, working communally and learning communally on the land in a community garden settings. And I said, you know, I think that we should scale back and meet people where they are and start at home. And then while the community gardens are being built in East Knoxville, um, we can transition and try to phase people out. So. Yes, you can.

Speaker A: The people of East Knoxville can now get garden beds, compost seeds and technical support for, for their home gardens. And at the same time this program was being built, a larger vision about land access was taking shape.

Speaker C: I met Christina Villa, um, one of the founders of the Farmland Commons, um, and I met her at the Tennessee Local Food Summit. So this was our fourth year going, um, but the first year we met her, she was with another organization at the time doing land preservation work, um, and also, uh, like reparations work. Right. Um, around preserving land and transferring land and transitioning land to the people who have been historically disenfranchised from holding it. Right. Um, and I thought that it was really interesting. Didn't really know what she was talking about, but I was like, hm, this sounds like something that's super important. 75. Yeah, I think it's 75% of the, um, residents in East Knoxville own their home. And that was very problematic for me. Our only black urban farmer with actual land that's not at his house is Christopher Battle. And when I learned about the structure, I was like, oh, this works. Because at the time, shortly after I first I met Christina for the first time, there was a conversation that was happening within the, uh, East Knoxville community around a land trust, but it was just centered around housing. And I wanted to offer a suggestion around housing and agriculture in terms of, like, food access, to increase the food access in East Knoxville. They weren't ready to have that conversation. So I left.

Speaker A: After more conversations with Christina, Famika felt that a Farmland Commons was what her community needed. This was back in 2022, and since then Famika has had a lot of conversations with, with fellow organizers, gardeners and potential landowners about contributing to the East Tennessee Community Housing and Farmland Commons.

Speaker C: And so I have a lot of conversations with a lot of elder farmers, a lot of people with generational, you know, land that they're holding, but also having the conversation, um, and get them to understand that sometimes transferring of wealth is not going to look like you. Like, that person may not look like you. They may not be your direct lineage or bloodline, but they have a deep respect for the work that you have done. Um, and, you know, we're like People like me are trying to be in relationship to the land, uh, with the land. I'm not trying to use the land, I'm trying to be held by the land. Transferring wealth by way of land. Um, it's overdue, right? And we know that the USDA is not going to give that to us. I need people to understand that there's different ways of, uh, like, reparations can look very different. It does not have to look like money. And in my view, it doesn't look like money. It doesn't.

Speaker A: Where are you at right now in your Farmland Commons model process?

Speaker C: Like, are there, uh.

Speaker A: Is there land that has already been donated and transferred into collective ownership?

Speaker C: What is the.

Speaker A: Where are you at and what's the

Speaker C: vision for the next few years? So, um, with the Farmland Commons, we are actually, um, creating the leases, right? And so leases can look different, um, within the commons model. And so we're creating leases for organizations, leases for independent farmers, um, beginner gardeners, things like that, um, even people, you know, with, uh, structures that are looking to, uh, put those into the comments. And so that's where we're at right now. There, um, is a potential, um, we are in, um, communications, um, with a, um, family that is interested in donating, um, a pretty big portion. Um, and so, yeah, it's going to be a lot of fundraising to talk about, like, the sustainability, um, of all of the parcels that are going to come in. I imagine that. And I project that once this hits, like the actual news and mainstream media, um, that the spotlight is going to be on Knoxville and that when people find out, particularly, particularly farmers who have been holding on to their land to transition and how they see fit, um, that's really just been holding on. People with, you know, city lots that they just been holding on to and, you know, they're just looking for the right opportunity for investment, um, that the floodgates are really going to open in a really good way. So, you know, we have. All these organizations have come together to work, you know, have already set the foundation as far as making sure that we have home growers, uh, um, beginning farmers ready. That way, you know, when, you know, the land comes in, all it is is, hey, who's interested?

Speaker A: I asked Vamika to say more about the interpersonal aspects of getting a Farmland Commons established and coordinating across so many groups.

Speaker C: We have our days. We're not perfect, but we understand what solidarity is. And not one person is more important. Like, you're not bigger than the program. Like, the reason why we are here and why we are successful in doing so is because community has individually trusted us to do said work, you know, prior to coming together. And now that we are together even more, they're going to trust us more. Right? So there's more. There's a high level of respect because you don't see a lot of community based organizations and non profits, period, coming together, let alone in Knoxville coming together on the same page, legally binding structure, entity, document, going through the ebbs and flows and like building something, uh, where we have been playing the long game for four or five years now, you know, staying community, like a bigger picture, like a lot of community based organizations and non profits that partner. Like it's like a one off thing and it's temporary. Um, you know, it's short term, but this is really, it's long term. Like so we're looking for longevity and sustainability because like it's something that East Knoxville and Black East Knoxvillians desire. Right. And so I'm super excited. I'm really super excited about it.

Speaker A: Foreign. Thank you to Ian, Annie and Fumika for their time. You can read more about the Farmers Land Trust and the Farmland Commons getting started across the country at the links in the show. Notes. The Taproot Project is produced by me, Kate Cowie Haskell. The Taproot Project is an initiative of the Midwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program, a project funded by the USDA National Organic Program to support transitioning and organic producers with mentorship and technical assistance and to grow the greater organic community. Learn more at organictransition. Org.