But what they found instead were newcomers, mainly from the city, who wanted a version of the story about the farm, eliminating manure and noise, and a version that would fit the show and their own schedules, Ms. Morley said. Many of them offer a “one-year trial run” – a timeframe that couldn’t be shorter for a business like theirs – and they just seem to underestimate the sights, sounds, and smells of the farm. camp.
“A good pasture-based livestock operation is not the same as a well-manicured lawn, and that is the sticking point for many of the landowners we spoke to,” Ms. Morley said. “Or we will hear, ‘I want to see goats in the pasture.’ But the thing is, raising goats is difficult to make money.” One site they visited included a barn that the proponent suggested could be used for both pets and for weddings, depending on the season.
Sophie Ackoff, CEO of National Union of Young Farmers, a nonprofit that supports the interests of beginner farmers, is no stranger to this issue. “We have seen a spike in interest from non-farmer buyers in the Hudson Valley,” she said, adding that such bidders often have an advantage over buyers over farmers. people just started. That includes access to faster loan options, while beginner farmers rely primarily on slow loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Access to affordable farmland is a major challenge nationally, especially for people of color, who today make up 2% of farmland owners. To address the issue, the coalition has begun the One Million acres for the Future campaign, calling on Congress to invest $2.5 billion in the 2023 Farm Bill to facilitate single access to land. fair way.
According to Holly Rippon-Butler, the coalition’s land campaign manager, farmland near cities is especially desirable for smallholder farmers and fruit and vegetable growers, as green and green supermarkets are nearby and farm-to-table restaurant. Competition is worst in “places where money is abundant and farmland is of high quality and aesthetically appealing.”
The Hudson Valley topped the list of areas where beginner farmers had the hardest time getting a foothold, along with suburbs of Atlanta and Austin, Texas, the Bay Area in California and parts of Washington State. .
