Success for small, beginning, young, and socially disadvantaged producers depends on their ability to secure suitable land to start and expand their operations. This is a major challenge, however, and governments are working to address these issues with several types of financial incentives to facilitate the lease or sale of farmland to beginning farmers.
Indiana University researchers, in collaboration with American Farmland Trust and Portland State University, are researching the inception and effects of these public Land Access Policy Incentives (LAPIs) on agricultural landowners and beginning 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.