Website connects land owners with next-generation farmers

Access to land is among the great challenges facing next-generation farmers.

According to an organization with a mission to invest in farmers and ranches through lending, education, and access to land, the problem is compounded by unstable land tenure, increasing land costs, and constant pressure to convert farmland for development.

Yet according to the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture, 27 percent of California farmers are beginning farmers with up to 10 years of experience. The average age of the state’s farmers is nearly 60, which is two years older than the national average.

Enter California FarmLink.

The Aptos-based organization encourages farm and ranch landowners to use its new online “land portal,” at www. californiafarmlink. org, to promote the available farm and ranch lands for next-generation farmers.

“The organization has facilitated hundreds of landowner-farmer connections,” Gary Peterson of FarmLink wrote in a press release.

The land-listing service is provided for an annual fee of $25, which includes a brief land listing on its public website, a more detailed listing in its Land Portal, and promotion on social media.

FarmLink also provides support with lease agreements and education to sustain successful farm businesses, he added in the prepared statement.

California FarmLink’s portal “is essentially an agricultural dating service,” where landowners remain anony mous until they choose to either reach out to “land seekers” or respond to a farmer’s inquiry, Peterson noted.

Landowners can post land for lease or sale, and farmers can share their interests and qualifications. Typically the number of farmers exceeds the number of land opportunities by 5 to 1, “which reflects the difficulty next- generation farmers experience when searching for land and establishing secure land tenure,” he added.

When connections are made, FarmLink can support the development of land tenure agreements with the interests of both parties in mind.

Liya Schwartzman, Central Valley regional coordinator at FarmLink, said: “We’re supporting landowners who are interested in keeping their land productive while helping nextgeneration farmers to access land and maintain viable farm businesses. This is fundamental for the future of California agriculture.”

California FarmLink has developed equitable land tenure agreements, and unique lease clauses, with help from the Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford University. Optional lease clauses address the needs of both landholders and tenants includ in g soil hea lth, drought conditions, infrastructure improvements, as well as pathways to ownership, such as first rights of refusal and options to purchase, Peterson pointed out.

He said the organization envisions a healthy food system where farmers and ranchers have equitable opportunities to build wealth and conserve natural resources.