Success for a New Generation of farmers and ranchers, including young, beginning and farmers of color, depends on their ability to secure suitable land to start and expand their operations. This is an emerging puzzle that the United States and numerous other countries have begun to address through policy incentives that facilitate the lease or sale of farmland to Historically Underserved Farmers.
Indiana University researchers, in collaboration with American Farmland Trust and Portland State University, are researching the inception, reach, effects, and potential of both state-level and federal Land Access Policy Incentives (LAPIs) on agricultural landowners and NewGen farmers/ranchers. This integrated research and extension project fills knowledge gaps, and establishes a Community of Practice made up of the civil servants nationwide who manage LAPI programs, to support the implementation of these promising new tools and increase their adoption. A grant from the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative funds this integrated research and extension project.
To learn more about this research and extension program and how to get involved, please contact Co-Project Director Julia Valliant (jdv@iu.edu).