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Every year, America loses 1.2 million acres of farmland, much of it our best and most productive farmland near where most Americans live. In Maine and across the nation, AFT is a vital link between farmers, conservationists and policymakers, working to protect the best farmland, direct growth away from agricultural resources, provide healthy local food to all citizens, and help communities sustain local farms and farming.
 American
Farmland Trust and Land for Good’s Farmland
Advisors program is educating agriculture service providers to help the next generation
of farmers access land and help farm families facilitate the transfer to
the next generation. Farmland Advisors started in February with a webinar for
the program’s 80
participants, from New York and New England. The program is funded by a grant from the Northeast SARE Professional Development Program
and support from a Farm Credit
Northeast AgEnhancment grant. Participants represent land trusts,
beginning farmer organizations, extension offices, lending institutions and
local and state agencies.
 The November 6 election brought welcome news for New England’s farmland owners, as
voters in Rhode Island and Maine overwhelmingly supported ballot initiatives to
finance state farmland protection programs. In Rhode Island, nearly 70 percent
of voters approved $20 million in “Environmental Management” bonds, including
$4.5 million for farmland protection. And in Maine, voters approved a $5
million bond replenishing funding for the Land for Maine’s Future Program,
which has permanently protected more than 7,300 acres of productive farmland
around the state. “Landowners continue to rely on these programs to finance
retirement, transfer the farm to the next generation or expand the farm
business,” says Cris Coffin, New England Director for American Farmland Trust. “Voters
clearly understand that these programs are good investments in our environment
and economy.”
 A recent
retreat organized by American Farmland Trust brought together more than 50 of
the region’s leading farmland protection practitioners, including state agency
staff, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationists and
program managers, and land trust representatives, to brainstorm farmland protection
challenges and strategies and discuss the federal Farm and Ranch Lands
Protection Program (FRPP). Joining the group were New Hampshire Commissioner of
Agriculture Lorraine Merrill, Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture Steve
Reviczky, and three guests from the national USDA-NRCS office, including
Richard Sims, NRCS Regional Conservationist for the Northeast, and Jeremy
Stone, the national FRPP program manager. Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust
New England Director, notes that AFT is working to make this retreat an annual
event. “This kind of regional shoptalk is invaluable both in helping to
strengthen relationships and in advancing farmland protection innovations around
the region,” remarks Coffin.
 The transfer
of farms to a new generation is one of the biggest challenges facing agriculture
in the New York and New England. Farmland Advisors is a training program to help agriculture and
conservation professionals become an effective resource in helping farmers and
farmland owners as they seek access to land and navigate the complexity of farm
transfers. “Participants will learn about everything from farm succession
planning to farm linking, lease options and land conservation as a farm
transfer strategy,” said Diane Held, Senior New York Field Manager for
American Farmland Trust. “Land access and availability are increasingly
impacting farms and food systems in the region,” added New England Director Cris
Coffin, “Working with professionals across the Northeast will help to meet
these challenges at the state level.” Applications
are now being accepted. The deadline to apply is October 31.
 A
vibrant and viable food system in New England requires a supportive public
policy environment. For this reason,
American Farmland Trust is teaming up with the Conservation Law Foundation and
the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group to identify the policy
levers that will support improved farm profitability, expanded food production
and the agricultural infrastructure needed to improve regional food
resiliency. Drawing upon expertise and
experience of leaders and practitioners across New England, this two-year project will focus on federal, state and regional policy arenas, analyzing policy
barriers and gaps in five key areas and recommending where change is most
needed, at what level and scale, and what kinds of advocacy might be most
effective.
 Building on work done
through the New England Commission on Land Conservation and its Farm and Food
Security Initiative, American Farmland Trust is bringing together farmland
experts from around New England to explore ways in which the region might work
collaboratively to keep farmland in farming. The six New England state “Chief
Agricultural Officers” and the six state USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Offices are key partners in
this effort, as is Land For Good. The
project will include a “shop talk” for farmland protection practitioners and a
convening for farm and conservation stakeholders, federal and state agencies,
and public and private funders. Cris
Coffin, New England Director at American Farmland Trust, believes that regional
collaboration is critical to retaining and growing the region’s farmland base. “Every
state in the region is in some stage of farm and food system planning and, not
surprisingly, land access and availability are emerging as key and common needs,” says Coffin. “We will be better able to tackle these challenges at the
state level if we learn and work together as a region.”
 The Northeast is home to nearly 64 million people, with a population
density five times the national average. According to a just-released Farm
Bill Agenda for the Northeast [PDF], this urban influence has made
federal conservation programs critically important in the region. The agenda
includes four major priorities for the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill,
including adequate conservation technical assistance; continued robust,
mandatory funding for conservation programs focused on working farms and
forests; appropriate conservation program flexibility to address state and local
resource concerns and priorities; and continued funding for on-farm energy
efficiency and renewable energy production. American Farmland Trust collaborated
with the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture
Working Group (NESAWG) and other state and regional farm, food and
conservation organizations on developing the Agenda’s conservation priorities.
As Congress begins the farm bill reauthorization process, we’re partnering with other New England organizations to help demonstrate how this bill affects food, the environment and communities in the region. At the recent Let’s Talk about Food event at the Boston Museum of Science, we discussed the importance of farm bill conservation programs to New England’s environment, economy, communities and public health. We also took part in Farm Fresh RI’s Local Food Forum, where we were honored to join Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME), one of four House Agriculture Committee members from New England, who talked about her Local Farm, Food and Jobs Act. This legislation, introduced jointly with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and sponsored by Senators Leahy (D-VT), Sanders (I-VT) and Shaheen (D-NH), would improve federal farm policy and programs that support local and regional food systems.
We were pleased to welcome Kip Kolesinskas to our New England office as our new Conservation Scientist. Kip
joins us from a long and successful tenure with USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service for Connecticut and Rhode Island. From 1995 to
2011, he managed the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection program in
Connecticut, which contributed $38.6 million to protect more than
10,000 acres of farmland.
Another year has come to pass and with it a list of successes—and challenges—impacting farms and food across New England. 2011 was marked by unusual weather, underscoring the need for effective policies and programs to keep farms thriving despite the inherent risks and to help support strong local food systems.
This year, we worked with a wide variety of partners throughout New England to promote the critical importance of farms and farmland to New England’s economy, environment, public health, community character and livability. Here are a few highlights from our work across the region. Read more about our accomplishments from the past year in New England and see a snapshot of what lies ahead.
 Do you help farm families address farm succession and transfer planning? If so, you may be interested in a training being offered on November 17 by the Farm Transfer Task Force of the Land Access Project. The training is intended to guide farm transfer planning practitioners through best practices, planning approaches and challenges, use of farm transfer planning teams, and farm transfer planning resources in the region. For more information or to register for the workshop, visit the Land For Good website.
After years of decline, farming in Maine is on the rise. But farmers still face challenges, and communities can help farmers address them. A new guide released by Maine Farmland Trust and American Farmland Trust, provides specific examples and suggestions of what local officials and residents can do to support farming in their communities. Read more about Cultivating Maine's Agricultural Future or download a copy of the guide [PDF].
 We recently welcomed Leah Mayor to our New England Office, where she will serve as the Working Lands Alliance Project Director and New England Project Manager. Mayor brings an extensive background in education and community leadership, as well as experience with sustainability initiatives focused on food and agricultural systems. Her work has focused on leveraging enthusiasm of a growing local foods movement to protect farmland, natural heritage and artisanal traditions. Mayor is also the founder and principal of Taking Root, an ecotourism initiative devoted to stimulating local economies, building community viability, and celebrating our connections to food and culinary history. Please join us in welcoming Leah!
 Maine Farmland Trust is pleased to announce that Conservation Transaction Grants of up to $10,000 are available through a 2011 Farmland Conservation Grant Program. Grants will support projects that will permanently protect active farmland in Maine through conservation easements (donated and purchased) and fee acquisition. Land trusts operating in the state of Maine that meet all eligibility requirements are encouraged to apply. Proposals are accepted on a rolling deadline, and Maine Farmland Trust reviews proposals at the close of every other month.
In November, Maine voters will be asked to vote on a bond referendum authorizing $7.5 million for the Land for Maine’s Future program. This valuable state program has protected over 6,000 acres of productive agricultural land and is a critical source of matching funds for federal farmland protection investments in Maine. The Maine Land Coalition — a group of over 275 organizations, including American Farmland Trust, supporting the referendum — hopes that voters will continue their strong support for the LMF program; since 1987, voters have approved four previous LMF bond measures by wide margins.
On June 25th, over 350 people attended the first showing of Meet Your Farmer, a series of eight short films commissioned by Maine Farmland Trust to highlight the vibrant farm sector in Maine. The films feature the challenges and opportunities facing farms from around the state in a variety of sectors, including dairy, livestock, potatoes, vegetables and apple orchards. The films are available online and will be shown at additional theaters this summer and fall.
 Legislation recently enacted in Rhode Island gives the Rhode Island Attorney General new authority to enforce conservation easements, making Rhode Island the eighth state in the country to give its attorney general explicit enforcement power. The statute also permits courts to award attorney’s fees in easement enforcement proceedings, providing a potential avenue for the state and land trusts to recoup legal costs incurred while defending conservation easements against violations. Initiated by the Rhode Island Land Trust Council, the statute is expected to deter violations of easements, which can be an expensive enforcement problem for land trusts and other entities that hold easements.
This spring, Maine state legislators introduced bills featuring all ten policy recommendations outlined by Maine's Commission to Study the Protection of Farms and Farmland in a November 2008 report. AFT contributed to the report and applauds the enactment of four of the recommended steps into law including:
- A pilot agricultural district program: Public Act 356 authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture to design and implement a pilot program and to report to the Agriculture Committee on progress with the program by February 2011.
- Designation of “Farming for Maine” farms: This initiative will provide a way to publicly register and recognize local farms and farmland, to build community awareness of local agriculture and to help inform local land use plans and decisions.
- Monitoring impact of estate tax changes: The Commissioner of Agriculture and the State Tax Assessor are tasked with monitoring the impact estate tax provisions have on the state’s farmland base and recommending changes to encourage farmland retention.
- Encouraging better local land use decisions through farmland mapping: This provision requires that any proposed subdivision include a map of farmland parcels that are five acres or more and contain prime, statewide or locally important soils.
Initiatives underway in Vermont and New Hampshire are quantifying the economic impact of their states' farm and food sectors and identifying opportunities for future growth. Vermont's Farm to Plate initiative has drafted "20 Big Goals for 2020" based on months of public input and data collection; the 10-year strategic plan will be finalized by the end of the year. Home Grown, a soon to be released report from the University of New Hampshire, estimates the economic impact from NH's local food system and explores how an expansion of the system could spur job creation and economic growth.
A Northeast grocery chain has become the first retailer to join forces with the New England Dairy Promotion Board and New England Family Dairy Farms Cooperative to bring the concept of “fair trade” milk to consumers. Hannaford's 71 stores will promote the benefits of local dairy farms—including stewardship of the region’s farmland—and offer shoppers an opportunity to directly support dairy farmers through the “Keep Local Farms” dairy campaign. Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust’s New England Director, is excited by the Hannaford announcement: “Educating shoppers about the value of our region’s dairy farmers will hopefully encourage them to donate to the campaign and help farmers receive a better price for their milk.”
Changes to Vermont’s "Current Use" Program—which helps promote the use of land for agriculture and forestry are likely to be considered early in the 2010 legislative session. In response to a challenge by the legislature to find ways to produce $1.6 million in savings or revenues through the program in FY2011, seven statewide farm and conservation organizations developed recommendations that are likely to form the basis for legislation debated this year. Recommendations include increasing the program’s dwelling exclusion for certain landowners, which would raise the needed state revenues.
Federal Farm Policy and the farm bill
What’s in the farm bill and why is it important? Find out what’s next for the farm bill and how we can make sure the legislation's promises are turned into programs on the ground. how much agriculture contributes to the state's economy.
More Maine News
Contact Us
New England Field Office
Cris Coffin, New England States Director
1 Short Street, Suite 2
Northampton, MA 01060-3952
(p)413-586-9330 ext. 29
(f)413-586-9332
ccoffin@farmland.org
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