Improving Land Access Beyond the Incubator/Apprenticeship Program

Spring has sprung, greenhouses are filling up, and maybe the soil is warming and tillage is happening where you are?  Take a break from the spring flurry to mix and mingle with other incubator farm program staff and apprenticeship staff across the country to do some networking, connecting, and sharing of project updates!

New Entry Field Network’s networking sessions continue as a way to connect, learn from one another, build the network, and engage in topic-based discussions of interest (bring your enthusiasm for a topic you’d like to discuss). The next discussion on Friday, April 8 will be focused on Group Land Tenure Models:  Improving Land Access Beyond the Incubator/Apprenticeship Program.  Zachary Couture, Land and Production Supervisor at Lutheran Social Services’ Global Greens program in Iowa will kick us off with some opening questions and share their experiential farmer training program strategies and how they reconnect refugee farmers to the land as they build their live in the US.  They will also share a sneak peed at the new group land tenure decision tool they have developed with Land For Good.

We will then continue the conversation with other questions such as:  In what ways are your producers finding access to farmland in your area?  What are some of the strategies you use to overcome barriers and challenges?  What are some of the more creative land tenure models you see in your region?  How is your program supporting land access for graduates?  What are the resources or partnerships that you rely on to support land access?  How are farmers funding infrastructure on leased/licensed land?  Come to discuss these and other questions and strategies with your peers.