Amy Stratton is the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Rural Communities Organizer. She works to find viable solutions to economic and environmental challenges rural communities face. "In the Field" is Amy's blog from her travels throughout the Midwest.
We've talked with many young folks who desire to become farmers, and they often share this same concern. It also comes up when rural communities examine challenges to their local food system. And, from New Americans who want to own their own farm, rather than continue renting. The concern: the high price of farm land.
This challenge is compounded by land purchases for tax purposes whereby people from outside the community, and often outside the state, purchase land at prices often times higher than young beginning and new farmers can afford, driving the land prices higher. People also purchase land for hunting and recreation, in turn often causing land prices to escalate higher. Other factors too, keep land prices high. How do we find workable solutions and opportunities for these young beginning farmers to purchase farmland? Join us for that discussion with our young beginning farmers at the Rural Youth Summit in Ames, Iowa October 26-27.
For further reading:
Farmland value up in North Dakota
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