New AFT Podcast on the Future of Farming Premiers

 

LANDED explores how farms and ranches transition from one generation to the next

 

(Washington, D.C.) American Farmland Trust has launched a new podcast focused on the challenges farmers and ranchers face when transitioning land from one generation to the next. LANDED features succession stories of both young and elder producers and focuses on how they plan for the future of their land. 

 

“We hope that this new series will reach farmers and ranchers across the country, as well as urban and suburban people who may not understand the challenges facing agrarian communities,” said AFT Special Advisor for Strategic Communications and co-host Brooks Lamb. “Over the next two decades, more than 300 million acres of American farmland will change hands as current owners retire or die. How that land transfers, and to whom it transfers, will determine the future of rural communities and our food system. This podcast explores these land transitions through grounded stories.” 

 

The series takes listeners from pick-up trucks and packing sheds to cattle pastures and kitchen tables. Each episode introduces the audience to the people who tend the land and sustain our country -- young farmers who are just getting their start, aging ranchers who are ready to slow down, and advisors who support them all. One episode features a fifth-generation farmer who returns to family land with a vision to start a new regenerative grazing business. Another highlights a first-generation vegetable farmer who navigates a long-term lease with herlandlords. Others share moments of triumph - and heartbreak -- that illustrate just why succession planning and generational transitions are so important. 

 

LANDED released its prologue episode on May 19. The podcast will publish its full-length episodes once per week for six straight weeks, starting in early June. For the podcast’s creators, the launch feels like a long time in the making. 

 

“We are so excited for LANDED to air,” said AFT Outreach and Resource Senior Manager and co-host Megan Faller. “We created this series because we see the challenges farm families face and wanted to show them that they are not alone. There are resources and people available to support them. Hopefully this show can reinforce that - and show listeners of all backgrounds why succession planning and farm transfer matters.” 

 

To learn more and listen, visit www.farmland.org/landed-podcast or search for LANDED on your favorite podcast platform. Radio stations are welcome to contact AFT about airing this show at no cost. Get in touch at landed@farmland.org.

 

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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.