Dear farmers, ranchers and all friends of farmland,

When American Farmland Trust (AFT) was founded in 1980, Americans were just waking up to dramatic changes in the nation’s landscape—changes happening in nearly every community, over a relatively short period of time. It’s as if we looked around one day and realized the nation’s rich land was vanishing rapidly, under pavement and concrete, from coast to coast.

In the years since, AFT has helped build a national movement to save this strategic natural resource. Nothing is more crucial to America’s landscape, environment and very well-being than agriculture. Private working lands account for nearly 50 percent of all the land in the continental United States. This vast landscape provides healthy food and water, important wildlife habitat and our country’s scenic heritage.

AFT is proud to stand at the forefront of a forward-looking conservation movement. Progress in protecting our marvelous landscape has been encouraging—27 states now have state-authorized programs to protect farm and ranch land, and dozens of local programs are active around the country. We now have federal funding to protect working lands. We should feel good about the progress that has been made, but we should not become complacent. The relentless pressure of suburban sprawl has not diminished in some of our most strategic farming areas.

It is important to remember that “it’s not farmland without farmers.” We must nurture economic opportunities for our farmers and ranchers, too. Unless farming is profitable, young people will continue to move away to other lifestyles. AFT has been working to guide states and communities in an important task: planning for the future of agriculture in the same way that we plan for schools and highways.

AFT’s work is not only about protecting land from development, but also about helping America’s farmers and ranchers meet high environmental standards. The good news is that over the past 25 years, federal conservation funding has increased more than twenty-fold to $3.8 billion. And many state and local governments, water districts and private foundations have supplemented those funds with their own.

Much more needs to be done. That’s one of the reasons that AFT has taken an active role in the 2007 Farm Bill debate—to make sure that farmers and ranchers have the resources they need to respond to environmental expectations. A revamped farm bill offers a tremendous opportunity to accelerate the nation’s conservation efforts while creating farm and food policies that better meet the needs of farmers, citizens and the land.

AFT’s work is far from over. Americans are still confronted by enormous land use pressures. Other major challenges and opportunities lie ahead. The expanding biofuels industry, for instance, could put enormous pressure on the landscape. But the focus on climate change, coupled with the search for energy alternatives, is beginning to shine a spotlight on the role that agriculture can play in solving pressing environmental and resource problems.

At AFT, we will continue to do what’s needed to make sure our nation has healthy farms, food, communities and land. We hope you will be right there with us as we lead the national conservation movement in new and vital directions.

Thank you for your support.

Ralph Grossi, President