Abstract
Success for young, beginning, and/or socially disadvantaged (New Gen) farmers and ranchers depends on their ability to secure suitable land to start and expand their operations. Yet this is a significant and widely reported challenge. It is especially difficult for beginners to acquire suitable land with appropriate housing and infrastructure. The U.S. federal government and several states have recognized this challenge and addressed it with various types of financial incentive policies. However, little research has been done to measure the impacts and reach of these policies, even though the biggest of them have a decade of experience, increasing participation, and investment totaling over US$210 million. In this viewpoint, we first introduce the slim evidence that exists of the impacts and reach of land access policy incentive (LAPI) programs. Next, we call for further assessment of three major types of LAPIs. At the state level, these include (1) beginning farmer tax credits and (2) easement incentives to help New Gen farmers buy and preserve farmland. At the federal level, we include the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program (CRP-TIP) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. The purpose of evaluation will be to understand more about whom LAPI programs help, what effects they have, and what recommendations can be made to strengthen policy design and program delivery.
Highlights
Success for new farmers and ranchers depends on their ability to secure suitable land to start and expand their operations
As an indication of tight supply, the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that while 10% of agricultural lands would change ownership between 2015 and 2019, only 2% would be on the open market (USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service [NASS], 2015), leaving 98% of agricultural lands inaccessible to nonfamily members
New Gen participation in agriculture and economic ranch transfer (Valliant et al, 2020) and policy outcomes (Lobley & Baker, 2012; Zagata & Sutherresponses often call for more states to emulate land, 2015), and farms that anticipate New existing state land access policy incentive (LAPI) policies
Summary
Success for new farmers and ranchers depends on their ability to secure suitable land to start and expand their operations. To focus our analysis on the policy incentives and the producers whose land access they prioritize, we use the term “New Gen” to refer to young, beginning, and/or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Acres (15,000 hectares) enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentive Program (CRP-TIP) of the USDA Farm Service Agency, through which 326 more owners are transferring operations and/or land to New Gen farmers.
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