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Kane County names land transfer navigator to help ease farm succession, protect easement lands
Summary
Janice Hill, Kane County’s land transfer navigator, outlined a national navigator program she joined to advise farm families on succession, easement implications and accessing resources; the program focuses initially on farms held under conservation easement and will provide trainings and outreach for attorneys, lenders and advisors.
Janice Hill, Kane County’s newly named land transfer navigator, told the committee March 20 she will lead local outreach and training to help farm families manage generational transfers and easement‑held farmland.
Hill said she was selected to participate in a national land transfer navigator cohort organized with American Farmland Trust and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The cohort includes 36 navigators nationwide; Hill noted she is the only navigator based in Illinois and will coordinate regional training and resource sharing with counterparts in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Hill described the navigator role as assisting landowners, family successors, attorneys and lenders with the practical and legal questions that arise when farmland changes hands. She said the program will initially prioritize farms already in the county’s farmland protection easement program because those properties represent public investment and have special restrictions and options.
Hill told the committee that a U.S. Senate committee report, she said, estimates roughly 40% of U.S. farms are operated by farmers age 65 or older and that a substantial land base will transfer ownership in coming years. She warned that common issues include leased farmland where the renter expected to buy the land, multi‑generation households where one farm cannot economically support many successors, and changing business structures that require legal and tax planning.
Hill said her immediate work program will include: surveying local agricultural advisors (attorneys, accountants, lenders), producing targeted educational materials for township officials and municipalities, and coordinating training on topics such as farm stress, child care and health insurance for farm families. She asked the committee to help distribute materials and to support a future county‑level forum for landowners and their advisers.
Committee members asked for county‑specific data on age of operators and transfer rates; Hill said she would request special ag‑census pulls and coordinate GIS mapping to show local patterns.
