Equipping farmers to build resilient farms and communities.
On Sunday, August 4, Practical Farmers held its second annual Next Generation Summit in Van Meter. During the summit, over a dozen landowners worked with Madeline Schultz from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Madeline, who is ISU’s Women in Agriculture program manager, walked participants through a series of goal setting and communication exercises.
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Mark your calendars: Join us for one of our fall 2019 farm transfer workshops.
These workshops will be held regionally across the state and will focus on first steps for farm transfer, including goal setting and communicating your vision for the land, and will feature Mike Downey of Farm Financial Strategies and Next Gen Ag Advocates.

An evening meal and networking time will be provided. For more information, please contact Jorgen Rose at jorgen@practicalfarmers.org.  

Workshop dates & locations (times TBD, anticipated evening):
Nov. 19 - Red Oak
Red Coach Inn, Restaurant, and Lounge

Dec. 3 - Decorah
Shirley Baker Commons Luther College
Dec. 10 - Cherokee
Cherokee Community Center Yacht Club

Dec. 17 - Oxford
Johnson County Conservation Education Center (Kent Park)
Resources for Farm Transfer
Changes include the reorganization of existing content and the addition of new content. We’ll continue to add new content and update existing content over the next few months. If you have questions or suggestions for us during this process, contact Jorgen Rose at jorgen@practicalfarmers.org .
Many farm families looking to transfer the farm to the next generation know they need to enlist the services of professionals, but are unsure where to begin.

For the Wangsness family, seeking advice from bankers, lawyers, tax pros and other experts was the next step in the process.
Lee Tesdell is proud of his farm’s long history and heritage.

As a non-farming landowner, Lee is also outspoken about the need for farmland owners to collaborate with their farming tenants (and the next generation) on conservation.
Steve McCargar’s strong connection to the community has allowed him to bring together people with a common vision to help create an opportunity for young farmers to build a farm that puts community at the center of life.
John and Halee Wepking of Meadowlark Organics are leveraging small grains and local, community-based markets to start farming and to give their farming partner and mentor Paul Bickford a next generation to manage his farm and land.

In this closing keynote from our 2019 Rotationally Raised: Making Small Grains Work conference, they share their path to farming through small grains and community connections.
As of 2017, Iowa had 86,214 farms. Of those, almost 38% were farmed under a cash rent lease, and 5.6% were farmed pursuant to a crop share lease.

Given these numbers, it is crucial that Iowa landowners and producers understand the legal implications and requirements of their farmland leases.
Find A Farmer was created by Practical Farmers of Iowa to help maintain family farms and vibrant rural communities by facilitating the transfer of land from one generation to the next.

Create a free account as a landowner or land seeker, build a profile that tells your story, search for a match and start an anonymous conversation.
Poll
Do you currently have a plan for farm transfer or succession?
No, they'll figure it out when I'm gone
No, but I need to or plan to
We've started, but it's not finished
Yes
Upcoming PFI Events
Oct. 6:  Field Day -  Extending the Vegetable Season
3-5 p.m. | Mt. Vernon

Nov. 10: Field Day - Urban Farming
1-3 p.m. | Des Moines

Nov. 19: Workshop - Farm Transfer
TBD | Red Oak
Dec. 3: Workshop - Farm transfer
TBD | Decorah

Dec. 10: Workshop - Farm transfer
TBD | Cherokee

Dec. 17: Workshop - Farm transfer
TBD | Oxford
Looking for more? Contact us!
Jorgen Rose
Habitat & Farm Transfer Coordinator
jorgen@practicalfarmers.org