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Kristina Villa and Ian McSweeney of The Farmers Land Trust share about the organization, their journey to this work, and a little about the Farmland Commons work happening across the country. 

>>> Listen to 12 min segment here

In an era of skyrocketing land values and systemic barriers in agriculture, two visionaries, Ian McSweeney and Phil Taylor, are leading transformative efforts to reshape the future of farming. In this thought-provoking interview, moderated by Jonnah Perkins, Ian and Phil delve into the complexities of land ownership, the challenges facing emerging farmers, and the innovative solutions their organizations bring to the table. From Ian’s work with The Farmers Land Trust to Phil’s mission at Mad Agriculture, their stories reveal a shared commitment to creating resilient, community-centered agricultural systems. Together, they explore the philosophical and practical drivers of their work, painting a compelling picture of what a more equitable and sustainable agricultural future could look like.

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"The Farmers Land Trust sees this symbiosis between farms and community as an essential part of preserving the legacy and viability of farms in a modern world that has increasing barriers to farming success. They see the power and stability that comes from community support and intend to take this even further by encouraging communities to deepen their relationship with the farm and land by holding the land in common. The Farmland Commons is a new land tenure model that provides the legal and practical structure for this relationship."

>>> Read full article here

"Growing food in communion with the natural world is a gift, and not just when the fruit comes in. To be so deeply intertwined with life is an illuminating experience. Choices made and actions taken in the garden have visible effects that spread throughout the landscape. Abundance can be called upon by supporting the seeming endlessness of biodiversity from the subsoil to the atmosphere. Connection becomes tangible and a sense of community and belonging takes root at the living intersections of the six kingdoms of nature."

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“The three biggest hurdles to implementation and success in the U.S. are land access, knowledge transfer, and access to all types of capital, including funding, resources, and support,” says Ian McSweeney, co–executive director of The Farmers Land Trust. 

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Land access is particularly challenging for younger and mid-career farmers, notes Kristina Villa, a biodynamic farmer and co–executive director of The Farmers Land Trust. “Prices are extremely out of touch with reality: They’re so incredibly high that no farmer can afford them.”

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“Moving at the speed of trust means engaging in productive conflict, holding each other accountable and focusing on the results that we’ve committed to,” Smith-Brubaker said.

The challenges for agriculture and the planet at large are daunting but surmountable, she said.

“There has been so much happening this past year, including losing entire crops to flooding, masking in the fields due to the Canadian wildfires and, according to USDA, 2023 has shaped up to be a year where we had the biggest decline in farming income in 93 years.”

>>> Read full article here

According to the Young Farmers Coalition, the vast majority of the next generation of farmers want to use regenerative practices but face barriers to land access. Tennessee Local Food board member and co-executive director of The Farmers Land Trust, Kristina Villa, says that in addition to land access, farmers need land security. 

“Typically when the movement talks about land access they’re talking about needing farmland to grow food. I feel like the conversation should shift to land access and tenure,” she said. “Most farmers in this country are paying too-high prices for short-term land access, which doesn’t allow farmers to practice regenerative methods that we know can build soil, heal earth and feed communities.”
>>> Read full article here

In an era of rapid urbanization and expanding human infrastructure, the unrelenting loss of land exacts a profound toll on our natural world. It’s a sobering fact that, according to the Center for American Progress, every 30 seconds we witness the equivalent of a football field’s worth of precious green space disappearing beneath the relentless tide of development.  This persistent destruction threatens the quality of life in our communities and the ecological balance that sustains life on our planet. 

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The new paradigm that we are committed to means imagining a different model of land ownership. Building upon the conservation land trust and community land trust models that have been around for 100+ years, The Farmers land Trust is going beyond solely conserving land, and is helping to push forward a new way of protecting land that addresses ownership, access, use, and tenure.   >>> Read full article here

Our relationship to land is based on our cultural context. Land can represent seemingly opposite concepts simultaneously: unchecked power and community justice, reparative equity and wealth hoarding to name a few. Many experience and witness our disconnection from the land and from each other through the global and local impacts of colonization and privatization.  >>> Read full article here