BFRDP Projects

Land Access and Saving for Long-Term Assets: Combining Two Approaches to Addressing a Common Barrier for New and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers
[Final Report]

Award Amount: $49,104
Grant Program: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Project Director: Christi Powell
Email: cug137@psu.edu
Organization: Penn State Extension (The Pennsylvania State University)

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  • Overview
  • Results
  • Materials
  • Delivery Area
  • Comments

Project Overview

As Pennsylvania's farming population is aging, it is critical to consider how to support the transition of farmland to the next generation. The primary barriers that new and beginning farmers face is access to land and capital to even start their enterprises.  This project aimed to support these farmers by navigating the decision making involved in pursuing farmland tenure opportunities, and to support new farmers' abilities to build saving for long-term assets. Our first goal was to provide trainings on the topic of farmland access and tenure options, which proved to be very successful through a Land Access Webinar Series with 327 participants led by seven Extension Educators, amid COVID-19 planning obstacles. 79% of attendees reported increased knowledge of land tenure options, 96% reported increased confidence in navigating land tenure options, eight attendees indicated that they had plans for starting a new farm, two indicated that they had plans for expanding on existing farms, and overall attendees felt that the workshops met and exceeded expectations. Our second goal was to develop an action plan for piloting an agricultural Individual Development Account (IDA) program in PA, which has been passed onto interested organizations who might decide to pursue this program in the future. Our hope is that the live offerings of the workshops (and recordings), as well as the compiled research from the matched savings of an agricultural IDA possibility in PA will help new and beginning farmers build their own assets and profitability, access additional capital, and understand their various land tenure options. Overall data and findings from this grant's goals and deliverables will certainly be explored beyond the grant period to build upon for future workshops, research, and overall ways to help our respective clients in the new and beginning farmer realms with Penn State Extension lead efforts.

Number of Participants: 343

Results

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