SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt., — The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School launched a new online resource, the Farmland Access Legal Toolkit, to help farmers and landowners affordably access, transfer and conserve farmland.
The toolkit provides a guide for farmers who need land to farm, and for farmers who seek to transition their land to another farmer as part of estate planning or for other reasons.
The toolkit explains legal arrangements that provide farmers more affordable and equitable farmland access and help landowners balance earning income for retirement with making their land affordable to the next generation of farmers.
Tools covered range from creative leasing to affirmative agricultural easements.
“One of the biggest hurdles that new farmers have to overcome is access to affordable land,” said Laurie Ristino, director of the center.
The Farmland Access Legal Toolkit assists both sets of farmers through a suite of resources that focus on innovative models of ownership, leasing, and estate planning that have worked for other farmers in similar situations.
The toolkit is free and available at www.farmlandaccess.org.
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