|
Every minute, America has been losing more than an acre per minute - much of it our best and most productive farmland near where most Americans live. In Rhode Island and across the nation, American Farmland Trust 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.
 Voters in Rhode Island have a chance to support farmland
protection when they head to the polls on November 6. Question 6 is a referendum for
$20 million in Environmental Management bonds, including $4.5 million to
protect farmland. This funding will help the state leverage an equal
amount of federal funding through Farm
and Ranch Lands Protection Program funding, as well as municipal and
private funds. With only one-fourth of the state's farmland permanently
protected, the funding addresses one of the key goals identified by farmers in
the five-year Vision for Rhode Island
Agriculture– stopping the loss of productive farmland. Says American Farmland Trust New England
Director Cris Coffin, “Our studies show that investments in farmland
protection are typically plowed back in to the local economy by farm families
who use the proceeds of the sale of development rights to expand their farms,
grow their businesses and add jobs. A YES on Question 6 is good for the
environment and the economy.”
 The transfer
of farms to a new generation is one of the biggest challenges facing agriculture
in 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.”
 Rhode Island voters will have the chance to help protect the state’s farmland when they head to the polls in November. Earlier this month, Rhode Island lawmakers agreed to place an “Environmental Management” bond referendum on the November ballot. The referendum includes $20 million for a variety of different programs administered by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, including $4.5 million for the state’s Farmland Protection Program. Cris Coffin, New England Director for American Farmland Trust, is pleased with the strong show of support for farmland protection by Governor Lincoln Chafee and the legislature, which addresses one of the key goals identified by farmers in a recent statewide strategic planning process. “The Vision for Rhode Island Agriculture calls for stopping the loss of productive farmland. This state investment in permanent farmland protection will keep farmland in farming, encourage reinvestment in agriculture, and help a new generation of farmers get started.”
 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.
 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!
 Before lawmakers adjourned for the year, the Rhode Island General Assembly took the first steps to implement A Vision for Rhode Island Agriculture: Five Year Strategic Plan. House Resolution 6287 directs the state’s Department of Environmental Management to work with other governmental and non-governmental entities to review current laws and policy innovations from other states. They will then develop a suite of policy recommendations that expand Rhode Island food production and agricultural operations. House Bill 5707, approved by the state legislature and awaiting final approval by the governor, addresses an issue identified in the Strategic Plan—limits on agriculture imposed by local zoning ordinances—by allowing plant agriculture in all zones by right.
 Last winter, we were hired by the Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership—a collaborative of farmers, food producers, farm agencies, commodity organizations, agricultural non-profits, and state and local agencies in Rhode Island—to facilitate the development of a five-year Strategic Plan for the state’s agricultural sector.
At Rhode Island's Agriculture Day on May 12, we helped to present A Vision for Rhode Island Agriculture: Five Year Strategic Plan to Governor Lincoln Chaffee and state lawmakers. Thanks to the leadership of the Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, Rhode Islanders now have a plan that lays out how consumers, communities, lawmakers and state agencies can build a stronger and more resilient food system and agricultural economy. We are pleased to have been part of this process, and look forward to working with our Rhode Island partners and members in the months and years ahead on implementing its strategies, helping to make their vision a reality.
Read more about A Vision for Rhode Island Agriculture.
 USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Senator Jack Reed and Governor Donald Carcieri headlined a September 10th ceremony in Tiverton, RI to celebrate the protection of the 179-acre Ferolbink Farm in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Owned by the Peckham family, the farm markets all-local “RI Royal” potatoes and was protected with a combination of state and federal funds and private fundraising efforts by The Nature Conservancy, Champlin Foundations, Tiverton Land Trust, and Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust. Citing the loss of 14 million acres of prime farmland to development between 1983 and 2007—a loss of about 4 percent of all prime farmland in the U.S., or an area almost as large as West Virginia—Deputy Merrigan spoke about the importance of the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program and its cooperative approach to land conservation.
The Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership [PDF] is a new collaborative of farmers, food producers, farm agencies, commodity organizations, agricultural non-profits, and state and local agencies in Rhode Island formed to build on recent success to help sustain and grow the state's agriculture sector and local food system. The partnership is dedicated to addressing the lack of a cohesive, integrated support system which has resulted in a fragmented infrastructure for Rhode Island farmers and food producers.
The partnership has hired AFT to facilitate the drafting of a five-year strategic plan to provide a vision for the future, identify needs and recommend a path of action for agriculture in the state. As part of our Growing Local campaign, AFT is working across the country to help create the vision, road map and policies needed so local agriculture can grow to meet increasing public demands for local food, energy and ecosystem services.
 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.
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.”
FACT: New England has approximately 1,880 dairy farms; dairy farmers are currently receiving about .97 cents per gallon of milk while it costs about $1.80 a gallon to produce.
Thirty-six conservation groups, farm organizations, local governments and others across the Northeast have joined together requesting that Congress and the Obama administration take quick action to address the crisis facing dairy farmers. Dairy farmers in the Northeast and around the country are facing severe and prolonged low milk prices—prices that are well below the farmers’ costs of production. This sustained price slump has caused the loss of some dairy farms already and threatens the future of thousands more in the Northeast.
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.
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
|
