Farmland Protection. A Land Link for Western Montana. The Community Food and Agriculture Coalition

Keeping land in agriculture from one generation to the next

Western Montana’s agricultural land is rapidly being developed in the wake of an increasing population and aging farmers and ranchers. The subsequent high land values make it difficult for producers to access agricultural land.

If agricultural land is to continue feeding our swelling population, farms and ranches have to survive the passage of multiple generations, each generation transferring the operation successfully to the next.

Facing similar trends, twenty states and regions, from California to Maine, have established land link programs to connect farm/ranch owners with farm/ranch seekers. These programs aim to: 1) help keep land in agriculture via connecting retiring producers to current or aspiring farmers and ranchers; and 2) bring fertile land that has been taken out of agriculture back into production via sales, leases and other arrangements between non-agricultural landowners and producers.

The Community Food and Agriculture Coalition has prioritized the creation of a land link matching service to help connect farm and ranch owners with people looking for agricultural land to expand or start production operations.

Our Mission

Land Link Montana is a farm and ranch transfer program. We aim to help agricultural land remain under the stewardship of farmers and ranchers as generations come and go.

Our Projects

Matching service

The matching service connects farm/ranch seekers with landowners who want their land to be in production. LLM will also facilitate tenureship agreements and draw on other resources to ensure the arrangement is viable for both parties.

Referral Network

We are currently building a list of professionals that may assist beginning and retiring producers with their farm/ranch transfers and business plans.

Education

We are developing some guides for navigating farm/ranch transition issues to help beginning and retiring producers explore all of their options.

To see the full report which led to the creation of Land Link Montana, click here: Land Link Research Study http://umt.edu/cfa/Land%20Link%20Study.pdf

To learn more about this project and how to become involved, contact Paul Hubbard at 543-0543 or [email protected]

For more information: http://umt.edu/cfa/New%20Web%20pages/LandLink.htm