Dear friend of Young Farmers,

We are excited to share our new report, Land Policy: Towards a More Equitable Farming Future, and accompanying land policy website.

Many of the farmers in our network report that 2020 has been the hardest season of their careers. This year has also highlighted the critically important role that young farmers and ranchers play in stewarding natural resources, advocating for policy change, and supporting food security. Yet, access to affordable, quality farmland—the key resource that these growers need—remains deeply inequitable and out of reach for many.

The challenges are real: access to farmland is the number one barrier facing aspiring farmers today, and this barrier is even higher for farmers of color. Land ownership is rooted in the dispossession of Indigenous land and centuries of stolen labor from people of color, sanctioned through policy, while the contributions to agriculture from these communities have largely gone unacknowledged. As a result, land ownership in the U.S. is vastly unequal—98% of all farmland is owned by white landowners and 95% of farmers are white. At the same time, the cost of land is rising, the climate crisis threatens farm viability, land continues to be developed at an alarming rate, and the agricultural land that remains is increasingly owned by non-farmers.

Land is fundamental to survival. Access to this resource should not be a privilege. As we work toward a future defined by racial equity, community well-being, and climate resilience, land must be centered in our policymaking and our organizing. 

This new report and website provide farmers, policymakers, and supporters with a set of tools to understand the issue of land access and to take action. The site profiles farmers from around the country who are navigating the challenges of accessing land and provides a growing library of resources and policy solutions that lawmakers can implement now to facilitate secure, equitable land access for growers. 

As millions of acres of farmland are changing hands, this moment represents an incredible opportunity to shift power and resources. But we need to take action. This new report and land policy site offer many of the solutions that can lead to the bold, systemic change required to tackle the land crisis we face today. We encourage you to share your land access stories with us and join our land campaign by taking our brief land survey.

Thank you to Clif Bar for generously supporting this work, and our respect and gratitude to the Indigenous communities and all those who have stewarded the land for many generations. We are also deeply grateful to you—the growers, land workers, and advocates—working to build solutions for more equitable land access. 

In solidarity,

Holly Rippon-Butler
Land Campaign Director
National Young Farmers Coalition

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