DECORAH, Iowa — A farm tour on creative ways to get access to farmland will be held Sunday, Sept. 29, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Humble Hands Harvest in Decorah (2741 Hidden Falls Road). This Land Stewardship Project (LSP) event is free but RSVPs are required. To reserve a spot or for more information, contact LSP’s Karen Stettler by Sept. 27 at 507-523-3366 or stettler@landstewardshipproject.org.

During the tour, Hannah Breckbill and Emily Fagan of Humble Hands Harvest will share the story of the creative way in which they got access to land where they now raise vegetables and livestock. Humble Hands Harvest farmers own and farm the land cooperatively. Community member Steve McCargar will also be on-hand to tell the story of how the community rallied together to establish a limited liability company (LLC) and buy the land that Breckbill and Fagan currently farm. This story demonstrates that there is a role for everyone in helping beginning farmers get “landed.”

This tour is for beginning or aspiring farmers and landowners interested in passing their farms onto the next generation, as well as community members interested in investing in the local foods system and getting more, diverse farmers on the land. There will be an opportunity for networking with attendees during the farm tour.

“The responsibility and joy of caring for the land and growing food for our communities should be shared by more farmers, not fewer,” said Stettler, who works on farmland transition issues for LSP. “Yet accessing land is one of the most formidable barriers beginning farmers face getting started farming. Between high land prices and land changing hands often by word-of-mouth, finding farmland can seem to be an insurmountable challenge, especially for beginning farmers and farmers of color. LSP is committed to finding new, alternative, and creative solutions to secure land tenure for farmers, including cooperatives and creative community support.”

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