Farm viability network outlines land-access and transfer supports, cites gaps in legal capacity and funding

Liz Gleeson, program director for the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board's Farm and Forest Viability Program, told the House Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry Committee the state benefits from a broad network of service providers that help farmers with business planning, transfer and land access. She urged sustained and expanded funding for those services and for affordability tools such as conservation easements.

Gus (program staff) and Jake Claro, director of the Farm to Plate program at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, joined the presentation to outline specific gaps: a statewide shortage of attorneys and tax accountants familiar with farm transfers; pressures on federal conservation funding; and affordability challenges as farmland prices rise.

Why it matters: succession and land access shape whether farms remain in production. Witnesses said many Vermont farms are reaching transfer decisions: the average operator age is high, and a large share of acreage lacks an engaged producer under 35, creating urgency to fund advisory capacity and affordability tools.

What the presenters said

- Network and services: Gleeson described a network of organizations that provide direct transfer and land-access assistance (Center for an Agricultural Economy, Intervale Center, Land for Good, Liberation Ecology, NOFA, UVM Extension, Vermont Land Trust, VHCB's Farm Viability Program and conservation dollars). She said Farm Viability contracts with those partners, funds client enrollment and professional development, and matches farms to appropriate service providers.

- Scale and outcomes: Gleeson said Farm Viability enrolls roughly 100 to 150 businesses annually and that clients accessed about $5.5 million in capital last year. She said roughly one-third of program clients are considering or working on a transfer; about 10% come seeking land access help. VHCB staff reported the board conserved 78 farms since 2020 and that easements on average reduce a property's market value to conservation value by about 60%, making conserved farms more affordable to farmers.

- Gaps and recommendations: witnesses highlighted shortages of attorneys and tax accountants with agricultural experience, concern about potential reductions or increased competition for NRCS/Inflation Reduction Act funds, and persistent affordability issues. Jake Claro summarized recommendations from the Farm to Plate strategic plan: establish dedicated funding mechanisms for transfer financing and program staff, expand funding for existing programs (including Vermont Land Link), and consider state-level financial tools (for example, linked deposit/low-interest mechanisms) keyed to farmland access.

- Staffing and costs: the Farm to Plate plan estimated an immediate need for roughly six full-time equivalents focused on transfer support (the plan's rough estimate: about $600,000 annually for those positions), plus funding for professional development and shared legal/tax expertise who understand agricultural transactions.

Committee discussion and examples

Members and presenters described recent transfer examples: intra-family transitions (Hillside Farm, Last Resort Farm), employee-ownership transitions (Harlow Farm), and land-access projects that paired conservation easements with new operators (Mama's Farm, Old Road Farm). Representatives asked about how farmers find services; Gleeson said referrals, partner outreach, Agency of Agriculture referrals and word of mouth are common referral paths.

Next steps and implementation notes

Witnesses suggested the committee consider including the state treasurer's office as a consulting partner for the bill's tax- and finance-related work because of the treasurer's experience managing state investments and potential tools such as linked-deposit programs to reduce interest rates on farmland loans. They also proposed that funding expand in three areas: additional transfer-focused advisers, shared legal/tax capacity embedded in the service network, and stable support for Vermont Land Link and similar matching systems.