American Farmland Trust
Description
American Farmland Trust is a national nonprofit that works to save America’s farms and ranches.
It protects agricultural land, promotes sound farming practices and helps farm families stay on the land. It combines on-the-ground conservation projects, research and policy advocacy. It coined the No Farms No Food message linking farmland to the food supply. It works with farmers, ranchers, scientists and policymakers across the United States.
The organization was founded in 1980 by a coalition of farmers and conservationists and is based in Washington, D.C. It was one of the first agricultural land trusts in the country and remains the only one with a national scope. It runs the Farmland Information Center together with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, a resource on farmland protection data and best practices. It also maintains regional offices covering California, the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, New England, New York and the Pacific Northwest.
Its work has helped shape federal farm bills since the 1980s, including conservation programs created under the Food Security Act of 1985 and later farm bills. It has supported the creation of state and local land trusts, launched a water quality credit trading program in the Ohio River basin, and promoted farming practices that improve soil health and sequester carbon. It also sponsors the Leopold Conservation Award recognizing voluntary conservationists.
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