Land Access Policy Incentives

"For us it's important to give a beginning farmer a chance, and not just make a big farmer bigger. It's really a joy to help someone get started."

- Nebraska Beginning Farmer Tax Credit participant

Success for a Next Generation of farmers and ranchers of all kinds depends on their ability to secure suitable land to start and expand their operations. This is an emerging puzzle that the United States and other countries, and states within them, invest in through policy incentives that facilitate the lease or sale of farmland to Underserved Farmers and Ranchers.

Indiana University researchers, in collaboration with American Farmland Trust, are researching the inception, reach, and effects of both state-level and federal Land Access Policy Incentives (LAPIs) on agricultural landowners and NextGen farmer/ranchers. Our integrated research and extension projects aim to assess and evaluate these promising new tools and inform their effectiveness as well as their implementation and adoption. The USDA has supported this work through grants and cooperative agreements with the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education division, and Farm Service Agency.

Our research and extension explores the following questions:

  • What values are guiding the creation and passage of Land Access Policy Incentives (LAPIs) and how do they work?
  • Who do LAPIs help? What kinds of farms and farmers are served versus going unserved?
  • How do LAPIs affect landowners’ and NextGen farmers’ interactions with each other and with the land?
  • How should LAPI design be improved and what opportunities to invest in NextGen farmers do they reveal?

 

From 2021-2026, our methods learned from over 1,500 people who were centrally involved in LAPIs - learning from about one person per day - and included:

  • Interviews with LAPI program creators, advocates, policy champions, and administrative leads to understand their origins and appeal
  • Surveys and interviews with farmers, ranchers, and landowners enrolled in LAPI programs
  • Mapping patterns of LAPI enrollment and reach
  • A 6-year practice of engaged research and education initiatives to integrate our national understanding and build a dialogue of progress
  • Presenting findings to scientific, policy, public, and professional audiences
  • Advising on draft and proposed LAPI legislation
  • Convening nationwide Communities of Practice and Advisory Teams surrounding LAPIs

Land Access Policy Incentives send a message to landowners that this is something the state encourages. And they send a message to beginners that they are valued by the state and are encouraged to get into farming. The publicity end of that is at least as important as the actual cash that changes hands.

Nebraska stakeholder in LAPIs

Read about the values and intentions inspiring state LAPI programs

From American Farmland Trust:

State Leaders Set Aside Differences to Support Land Access

In Agriculture and Human Values:

Bipartisan creation of US Land Access Policy Incentives: states’ efforts to support beginning farmers and resist farm consolidation and loss

Federal LAPI

Conservation Reserve Program - Transition Incentives Program (2008 - 2025)

Under the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), landowners agree to more or less fallow their land for 10-15 years, for which they earned between $10 and $300 per acre per year. As the land is exiting CRP, the Transition Incentives Program (TIP) provided payments for an additional two years to participants who sold their land, or leased it for at least 5 years, to a NextGen farmer or rancher.

CRP-TIP Resources:

In the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development:

An evaluation of the federal Transition Incentives Program

More coming soon on the Farmland Information Center

To learn more about this project, please contact Co-Project Director Julia Valliant (jdv@iu.edu).

This work is facilitated and supported by the following partners, collaborators and advisors around the country:

Delane Atcitty, Indian Nations Conservation Alliance
Hilary Aten, Washington State Conservation Commission
Angela Babb, Indiana University
Tim Back, Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
Karla Bahm, Nebraska Department of Agriculture
Russell Bean, Bean Education and Advocacy Network Foundation, Inc.
Alyssa Bentele, Colorado West Land Trust
Marcus Bernard, Kentucky State University
Analena Bruce, University of New Hampshire
Sarah Campbell, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust
Cheryl Cook, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Kate Delavan, Washington State Conservation Commission
Isabella DeMarco, Indiana University
Suzanna Denison, American Farmland Trust
Corinne Elliott, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Holle Evert, Nebraska Department of Agriculture
Megan Faller, American Farmland Trust
James Farmer, Indiana University
Ashley Fehr, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Burney Fischer, Indiana University
Julia Freedgood, American Farmland Trust
Erica Goodman, American Farmland Trust
Kate Haarmann, Missouri Agriculture and Small Business Development Authority
Jenny Heck, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Megan Horst, Portland State University
David Howard, National Young Farmers Coalition
Nicki Howell, Iowa Finance Authority
Neil Imes, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Shoshanah Inwood, Ohio State University
Christine Jacoby, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Jan Joannides, Renewing the Countryside
Kristal Jones, JG Research and Evaluation
Katie Kauzlarich-Stockman, Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Quail Forever
Dan Knudsen, Indiana University
Amanda Koehler, National Young Farmers Coalition
Jimmy Kroon, Delaware Department of Agriculture
Brooks Lamb, American Farmland Trust
Billy Lawton, Texas Coalition of Rural Landowners
Kelly Leatherman, Indiana University
Stu Lourey, Minnesota Farmer's Union
Brad Lubben, University of Nebraska
Matt McDevitt, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Steven McHenry, Maryland Agriculture and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation
Milton Melendez, Delaware Department of Agriculture
Tammy Nebola, Iowa Finance Authority
Jessica Neff, Ohio Department of Agriculture
Katie Nelson, Indiana State Department of Agriculture
Marie O'Neill, Indiana University
Sal Palazzolo, Idaho Dept of Fish and Game
Melanie Pavlas, Pines & Prairies Land Trust
Robin Reid, Kansas State University
Amanda Robertson, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Allison Roe, Maryland Agriculture and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation
Antonio Roman-Alcala, California State University
Justin Ross, Indiana University
José Sánchez, Victus Puerto Rico
Dan Schilling, Washington State Housing Finance Authority
Ada Smith, Oregon State University
Samantha Smith, Nebraska Department of Agriculture
Kathi Spangler, Delaware Department of Agriculture
Shellye Suttles, Indiana University
Corey Thomas, American Farmland Trust
Julia Valliant, Indiana University
Jim Wabindato, USDA Office of Tribal Relations
Daniel Waldvogle, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
Ashlee Westerhold, Kansas State University Extension
Andrew White, Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Quail Forever
Madeline Wilson, Colorado State University
Wesley Zebrowski, Loyola University Chicago

"Everybody dreams about passing the farm to the next generation. In our case, the next generation just isn’t directly related to us, and that’s just fine."

- Nebraska Landowner 2019