Advancing Food Security with a New Generation of Farmers

Taking action for local food is more urgent than ever. Every hour, 40 acres of farmland is lost to development. The losses are especially serious near cities. Many of today’s farmers are reaching retirement age, and while a new diverse, entrepreneurial generation is eager to step in and get to work, land in metro areas is often just too expensive. Farmland frequently ends up being sold to developers and is lost forever.

The Conservation Fund is working nationwide to keep America’s local farms working, protecting farmland and advancing a new generation of farmers who are growing fresh, nutritious food for their communities and beyond.

Through our Farms Fund initiative, we secure farmland on the edge of major metro areas and match that farmland to the ideal farmer who leases and stewards the land until TCF protects it forever with an agricultural conservation easement. Permanently protecting the farm means the land is more affordable for new and growing farm businesses, while keeping it a farm forever.

This patient pathway to affordable land ownership for a new generation of visionary farmers helps make communities healthier with stronger food systems, access to fresh food, cleaner air and water and more resilience against the effects of climate change.