American Farmland Trust’s New England regional office is offering Farmland Access, Succession, and Transfer Support (FAST) grants to farmers for projects that facilitate buying or leasing land or passing on their farm.
Donor Name: American Farmland Trust
State: Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/31/2024
Size of the Grant: Up to $5,000
Details:
The program seeks to address some of the key barriers faced by farmers in the region: access to farmland, farm succession/transfer planning, and the adoption of regenerative farming practices.
The program’s Farmland Access, Succession, and Transfer Support Grants provide direct financial assistance to farmers for projects that facilitate farmland access, succession, or transfer. Some examples of eligible projects include: farmland purchase or leasing transaction costs, consultant and attorney fees, surveys, appraisals, agriculture conservation easement fees.
Funding Information
Applicants can request up to $5,000 under this funding opportunity.
Examples of Eligible Projects
- Hiring an attorney to develop a farm lease, provide legal representation for a farm transfer or purchase, develop an estate plan to support a farm transfer
- Hiring a business, financial, or estate planning consultant to assist with a farm transfer plan, business plan, or finance/loan plan
- Paying transaction costs associated with securing land to farm, such as costs associated with purchasing a farm, negotiating a lease agreement, or developing an agricultural conservation easement (survey, appraisal, etc.)
- Hiring a service provider to support business planning and other services necessary for farmland access or expansion, such as land search planning, property assessment, facilitation and coaching, crating agreements, land use planning, mediation
Eligibility Criteria
- For the 2023-24 cycle, eligibility for FAST grants is limited to farmers located in Maine, Rhode Island, or the Eastern counties of Massachusetts (Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Plymouth, Bristol, Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket)
- A project may involve one or more of the following: an individual farmer, a farm family, a group of farmers with a cooperative business, or a non-profit entity
- It define “farmland access” as the pursuit of finding or getting onto farmland to begin or continue a farming operation.
- It define “farm succession or transfer” as the steps involved in transferring a farm business and/or farmland from one entity to another.
- Applications prioritizing community-driven food security efforts strongly encouraged
For more information, visit American Farmland Trust.
