Nevertheless, land trust says that the demands of preserved farmland are flooded. Jess Lagis, who leads conservation at the Southern Highlands of Appalachia, a land trust in Asheville, North Carolina, said her queue has been in five years. Most of the farmers she works with are older, with some dead before the storage process ends.
“We are trying to be as liberal as possible in imagining what the future of agriculture will look like, because we acknowledge that we don’t know,” Lagis said. .
In Washington, Short said it was tough for months after leaving the farm. He moves into a new home and feels good about his retirement fund, but he misses the land. As far as they can, he and Sandy visit three young farmers working on it now.
“I talk to them, I can guide them and see how they’re doing,” he said.
One of them is 46-year-old Martin Frederickson, who raises cattle on an adjacent farm. He is now leasing a short 75 acres of property to increase the space to roam to animals. Frederickson said he wanted a long-term arrangement that allowed him to grow the land and that the ownership of the port authorities felt would provide it. However, buying the entire location was never financially viable.
Many farmlands “although they have conservation easements, they are valued beyond their capacity,” Frederickson said.
The 54-year-old Kristalkistler grows organic grains that can withstand the rapidly warming climate on a nearby 150-acre farm and leases 17 acres from the port. She agreed that easements could be useful for smallholder farmers, but said, “It’s not like magic beans you plant, and then everything’s fine.”
Port authorities are leaving the farm comfortable remaining as a landlord, even though it may not be profitable and for another two years, Berg said. He is still happy with the acquisition, and “by running around a few horses, owning it and keeping it on the farm, we can meet the easement requirements.”
There are no plans to sell it.
“We don’t want to send soybeans across the country,” Berg said. “We want to feed ourselves and perhaps some of the people in our community.”