Dec 13 2021 19 mins 8
Today we're coming to you with a special episode from our Hoosier Young Farmers Chapter. The Hoosier chapter just released their own podcast series which shares the voices of farmers from across the state, farmers you might not think of when you picture the farmers of Indiana. This episode features stories about the challenge of acquiring affordable, quality land for farming, and some of the creative ways these farmers have managed to get on the land. You can listen to the rest of the Hoosier Young Farmer Podcast at hoosieryfc.org/stories.
Land access is the number 1 challenge young farmers across the country report in growing food for their communities and starting farm businesses. To address this barrier, Young Farmers just launched the One Million Acres for the Future Campaign. We are calling on Congress to invest $2.5 billion in the 2023 Farm Bill to facilitate equitable access to one million acres of land for the next generation of farmers. As part of the campaign, we created the Land Advocacy Fellowship, a two-year, paid advocacy and leadership fellowship that will resource 100 young farmers, growers, and land stewards to advocate for equitable land policy. Applications are open now through January 15th. To learn more about the campaign and to apply for our Land Advocacy Fellowship, visit youngfarmers.org/onemillionacres. And to join the National Young Farmers Coalition, visit youngfarmers.org/join.
*Brief correction to the land transition statistic Liz states in the introduction. She meant to cite this Civil Eats article which claims, "In the next decade, 400 million acres of U.S. farmland will change hands," instead of "400,000 acres." According to American Farmland Trust, “371 million acres of farmland will change hands over the next 20 years."
