The Shared Landscape

This episode explores how a New Jersey-based nonprofit provides experienced farmers long-term access to land through affordable leases. It focuses on (1) how farmers are matched to the program and how land is allocated through an application process, (2) SAgE's efforts to learn how it can support its farmers beyond land access, (3) how the organization is financed, what the farmers pay and have av...

This episode examines how a queer led cooperative farm in New York’s Hudson Valley has built a decade of shared governance, diversified revenue, and community rooted production on leased land. It focuses on: (1) the farm’s land tenure model, a ten year rolling lease negotiated to base payments only on infrastructure assets rather than land value, allowing Rock Steady to farm 5.5 acres while mainta...

This episode explores how a Black led urban farming collective in Birmingham is transforming abandoned neighborhood lots into a community rooted food system that blends land stewardship, cultural connection, and cooperative practice. It focuses on: (1) the cooperative’s land strategy, which has grown from a backyard garden into 11 farmed lots across Fountain Heights, acquired through neighbor rela...

This episode explores how a Hispanic led cooperative farm in western North Carolina emerged from a community food distribution effort and is now building long term land security, shared governance, and culturally rooted agricultural production. It focuses on: (1) the cooperative’s land journey, beginning with informal shared space on a flood prone field, followed by a small leased church plot, and...

This episode examines how a long standing rural homestead community in western Wisconsin uses a land based condominium structure to share more than 300 acres of woods, fields, and common infrastructure while allowing each household to privately own a five acre parcel and home. It focuses on: (1) the origins of the land based condo model, beginning with a single family purchasing the land in the 19...

This episode explores how a Nashville nonprofit is expanding land access for immigrant, refugee, and beginning farmers through two shared land production sites, one on church property and one in a city park, while navigating the complexities of insecure tenure, intensive staff support, and evolving program design. It focuses on: (1) the dual site land access model: a long standing one acre lease w...

This episode examines how a young, mission‑driven nonprofit in Baltimore is working to expand land access for Black and Brown communities through urban farming, nature‑based education, and a developing Farmland Commons partnership. It focuses on: (1) the organization’s origins in stewarding a 3‑acre parcel BLISS Meadows and managing an adjacent 7‑acre city‑owned forest, transforming both into comm...

This episode traces how a long‑running teaching farm in southeastern Ohio is transitioning into a Farmland Commons to secure its land in perpetuity and pass stewardship to a new farming family. It focuses on: (1) the Warmkes’ 30‑year evolution from private landowners hosting more than 100 interns into founders of a Farmland Commons, including their decision to transfer 38 acres and 17 structures i...

This episode explores how a nonprofit in southeastern Massachusetts manages a large, privately owned property as a shared‑land site for multiple independent farm businesses, balancing farmer autonomy with the complexities of stewarding conserved land owned by a family trust. It focuses on: (1) the origins of the farm’s shared‑land model, including the 10‑year master lease between the landowners an...

This episode highlights how a nonprofit-led co‑farm in Georgia is expanding land access for BIPOC and immigrant growers through shared infrastructure, coordinated stewardship, and long‑term land protection. It focuses on: (1) Global Growers Network’s partnership with the Conservation Fund’s Working Farms Fund, including a lease‑to‑purchase arrangement that enabled the nonprofit to acquire 22 acres...

This episode examines how a multigenerational group of organic growers in Georgia built a cooperative farm business on leased‑to‑own land while navigating the complexities of shared governance, community investment, and long‑term land security. It focuses on: (1) the farm’s partnership with the Conservation Fund’s Working Farms Fund, including a 5‑year lease‑to‑purchase agreement shaped by regiona...

This episode explores how a small, cooperatively owned farm in rural Iowa has built a long‑term, community‑rooted model of shared land stewardship, cooperative governance, and diversified production. It focuses on: (1) the multi‑year, community‑supported pathway through which farmer Hannah Breckbill gradually acquired the land from 20 neighbors who purchased it to prevent a CAFO; (2) the cooperati...