AFT success stories are born from our commitment to support healthy farms, healthy food and healthy communities —now and for the future. Read below about our recent successes and watch the video to learn more about our work and our history.

Helping to Grow Federal Conservation Efforts
Our efforts helped conservation funding in the 2008 Farm Bill increase by over $4 billion, supporting farmland protection and environmental stewardship on farms, along with cleaner water, reduced soil erosion and greater wildlife habitat across America.

Getting a Seat at the Table for Local and Healthy Food
For the first time, the farm bill provided more than $1 billion in new funding for farmers who grow specialty crops (fruits, vegetables and nuts), while increasing programs that support local farmers, farmers markets, fresh fruits and vegetables in schools, and access to healthy foods for seniors and low-income citizens. Our 2008 Farm Bill Campaign worked to usher in these provisions.  

Ushering in Effective New Programs for Farmers
A new federal pilot program developed and championed by American Farmland Trust called Average Crop Revenue Election, or ACRE, better protects farmers from risk, reduces market distortions and uses tax payer dollars more efficiently, while paving the way for more reform in the future.

Finding Ways to Sustain Urban-Edge Farms
A report co-authored by American Farmland Trust, Sustaining Agriculture in Urbanizing Counties, studied urban-edge counties across the country and uncovered the evolving mix of conditions needed to keep farms near metropolitan areas healthy and viable.

Helping Farmers Improve Environmental Stewardship
With the help of American Farmland Trust’s “BMP Challenge,” corn growers in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic were able to reduce their fertilizer rates while maintaining or improving profits (applying, on average, 23 percent less nitrogen on their fields). The challenge helps farmers implement conservation tillage to reduce soil erosion and fight climate change.

Leading the Development of Ecosystem Services Markets
In Washington state, new American Farmland Trust-supported legislation will help develop ecosystem markets that allow farmers and forest landowners to “sell” environmental services. We are working in the Pacific Northwest and around the country to implement such markets, which hold immense promise for improving the environment and the profitability of agriculture.

Protecting Critical Watersheds
Our Mid-Atlantic Clean Water Initiative, launched to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, began work with farmers in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia to reduce nutrient run-off. We also launched efforts to improve water quality and strengthen agriculture in the Ohio River basin (which covers portions of 14 states) and Minnesota’s Sauk River watershed, through the creation of regional water quality trading systems.

Spreading the “No Farms No Food” Message
To spread the message about the importance of our nation’s farms, we've distributed more than one million “No Farms No Food” bumper stickers online and around the country at farmers markets, state capitols, and the Farm Aid concert.

Promoting Conservation on the Local Level
American Farmland Trust led tours of officials and conservationists to the east end of Long Island, New York, to demonstrate how an urban-edge farming area under threat of development can protect farmland and support its source of local food.

Helping Communities Plan for Local Farm and Food Systems
In California, our work with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Bay Area Urban Rural Roundtable helped city and agricultural leaders design a plan that expands markets for local farmers and improves the connection between farms and consumers.

Advancing State-Level Farmland Protection Programs
American Farmland Trust launched a new campaign to protect Wisconsin’s working lands in 2008, achieving an important early success when Governor James Doyle endorsed a crucial set of farmland protection strategies at the end of the year.

Winning Funding to Protect Farmland and the Environment
Great news for farmland and the environment in Ohio: the American Farmland Trust-backed campaign to pass the Clean Ohio Bond Fund succeeded when nearly 70 percent of Ohio voters approved the bond, which pays for farmland preservation, brownfields cleanup, green space projects and recreational trails.

Boosting Preservation Efforts
In New England, key legislative priorities of American Farmland Trust were enacted, including increased funding for farmland protection in Massachusetts and an important change raising the cap on funds that may be paid to landowners participating in Connecticut’s farmland preservation program.

Promoting Smart Growth that Saves Farmland
In California, the passage of Senate Bill 375—backed by American Farmland Trust—fundamentally changed the rules for land development in favor of smarter growth. By encouraging more efficient urban development, the law cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions from auto travel while reducing the loss of farmland.