A Guide for Connecticut Towns, Institutions and Land Trusts Using or Leasing Farmland

Land is an essential element of farming, and, after a century of significant farmland loss around the state, access to affordable, productive farmland is one of the greatest challenges that Connecticut farmers face. Farmland owned by towns, institutions and land trusts represents an important source of land for farmers and for local food production.

Whether it’s 5 acres or 100, a community’s, land trust’s or institution’s willingness to lease land to a farmer, or to create its own community farm, can make an important contribution toward growing Connecticut’s farms, food and economy. This guide is intended to help make these farmland “connections” by walking through the legal and practical considerations involved in leasing farmland and providing information and case studies of successful community farms that have been established around the state. We hope that this guide is a useful resource for both those seeking land to grow food and other agricultural products and those seeking to ensure that the farmland they own is put to productive and sustainable agricultural use.

Download the Farmland ConneCtions guide [PDF]

In the News:

• New Opportunity: Farmland Connections Outreach Service
• Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education: Dig Deeper

Informational Webinar

This webinar cover issues and topics related to leasing farmland in Connecticut, including tenure options, practical and legal considerations in drafting a lease, and issues that commonly arise in farmland leasing. We also share some examples of community farms and discuss sustainable agriculture methods that may be included in lease agreements. This presentation is intended to share much of the content of our newly-released guide, Farmland ConneCTions: A Guide for Connecticut Towns, Land Trusts, and Institutions Using or Leasing Farmland.

Download the Presentations

• Welcome and Working Lands Alliance [PDF] (Leah Mayor, American Farmland Trust)
• Risk management [PDF] (Joe Bonelli, University of Connecticut)
• Farmland ConneCTions [PDF] (Jiff Martin, University of Connecticut)
  

Connecticut Agricultural Business Management Guide

The Connecticut Farm Risk Management and Crop Insurance Program, an initiative of the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System, seeks to improve farm financial management and reduce risk.

The Connecticut Agricultural Business Management Guide [PDF] is designed primarily for the agricultural producer in Connecticut. It covers basic information dealing with developing a strategy for getting into business, setting up and conducting a business in Connecticut, and provides a primer on the various rules and regulations in Connecticut that every agricultural business owner should know. It can also be used by advisors to agricultural producers as a reference tool.

Model Lease Agreements

For additional information about farm leasing, including sample leases, please visit:

• Land for Good

For more information, contact: