2012 ANNUAL REPORT
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST 2011 ANNUAL REPORT | i
saving the land that sustains us American Farmland Trust is the only national conservation organization dedicated to protecting farmland, promoting sound farming practices and keeping farmers on the land.
California
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America’s Farmland: An Endangered Natural Resource
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s America’s farmers and ranchers struggled through the historic Great Drought of 2012, the nation’s productive farm and ranch land continued to be squeezed by development pressure. Both events lend urgency to American Farmland Trust’s work to protect farmland, keep farming viable for America’s farmers and ranchers and safeguard water quality, fragile soils and the overall health of our precious agricultural lands. Our work pays off in big ways. American Farmland Trust programs put family farms and ranches in a better position to withstand droughts and severe weather. They strengthen their ability to answer the growing global demand for food, fiber and fuel. Equally important, we help preserve the rural lifestyle that is such an integral part of America’s heritage. Our commitment to America’s farmers and ranchers comes from our experience. From the rich farmland of Jon’s native Illinois to the Montana grasslands where Miranda raises Simmental and Angus cattle, we know how seriously family farmers and ranchers take their role as stewards of the land. We also understand, firsthand, how valuable working lands are to the future of our nation. We know that when we farmers and ranchers do our job right, we not only provide terrific bounty for our neighbors and the world, but we also assure a cleaner environment and preserve the resources that will sustain generations to come. Perhaps most of all, we understand that no one can do it alone. It’s a shared responsibility among farmers and ranchers, consumers, conservationists, policy makers and concerned citizens like you. This report celebrates the hard work of American Farmland Trust’s staff in communities throughout the U.S.,
the dedication and leadership of our board and the financial support of our donors to carry out the mission set forth in 1980 by a group Jon Scholl Miranda Kaiser of farmers and conservationists and our founder (and Miranda’s grandmother), Peggy Rockefeller. American Farmland Trust can look back on more than three decades of pioneering work that has helped save more than five million acres of farm and ranch land and improve stewardship on millions more, but we recognize that some of our greatest challenges are ahead. Today, we are a strong national organization that influences farm, food and conservation policy from the halls of the U.S. Congress to state capitols to local town halls. Through our advocacy and outreach, we’ve helped communities all over the country fight for and save precious agricultural land. We are committed to continuing these successes. But we can’t do it without the continued generous support of committed people like you. Thank you!
miranda kaiser
Board Chair
jon scholl
President
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST 2012 ANNUAL REPORT | 1
Protecting America’s Farmland: No Farms No Food ®
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ur country has been losing more than an acre of precious farmland every minute of every day. American Farmland Trust is the only national organization dedicated to keeping farmland healthy and saving farmland for farming to grow healthy food, support local economies and ensure a next generation of farmers and ranchers. Most of the fresh food we eat is grown in urbanizing areas where competition for land is most intense. This threatens our food supply as well as our farmers. Estimates are that the nation already needs 13 million additional acres for fruit and vegetable production within the United States to meet the USDA’s minimum daily requirement for fruits and vegetables. When American Farmland Trust was founded more than 30 years ago, our groundbreaking leaders recognized the value of the nation’s farmland and the critical need to keep it protected. Since then, we’ve demonstrated how public policies and private actions can work together to direct development away from our best farmland, while also saving farmland forever. We’ve advocated for public funds at the state and federal level to ensure that public programs and land trusts can compensate farmers and ranchers for permanently protecting their land. And we’ve fought for land-use planning and policies to stop the loss of productive farmland.
Since its founding, American Farmland Trust
has helped 27 states start state-level farmland
Colorado
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protection programs and assisted in the creation of dozens of local programs nationwide.
Last year, despite state budget cuts, we helped
defend farmland protection funding in New York, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Our Farmland Information Center’s
(www.farmlandinfo.org) website and toll-free hotline helps hundreds of family farmers and communities around the country to protect their working lands and plan for the future.
The good news: Our work to preserve farm and ranch land is gaining momentum. American Farmland Trust estimates that public programs and private land trusts have protected five million acres of agricultural land.
AFT in the field NEW YORK: No Farms
No Food Rally ®
Farmers, local foods advocates, land trusts, hunger relief volunteers and community leaders gathered for the third annual No Farms No Food® Rally on February 15 in Albany, New York’s state capital, to support funding and legislation that strengthens New York’s farm and food economy, protects farmland and the environment, and increases access to locally grown food. PENNSYLVANIA:
Defending Farmland Protection Funding
In March, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett set a course to permanently eliminate farmland protection funds in the state, recommending in his 2012–13 state budget proposal that these dollars be diverted to the state’s General Fund. American Farmland Trust joined with Pennsylvania’s Farmland Protection Association, land trusts and environmental groups in a statewide Save our Farms
campaign to defeat Governor Corbett’s proposal. Along with the Save our Farms partners and two former state Secretaries of Agriculture, we mobilized our advocacy network to speak up, write letters and make calls in defense of farmland protection funding. Thanks to the outpouring of support for Pennsylvania’s nationally renowned program, Governor Corbett signed a final state budget that included $20.49 million dedicated to farmland preservation. CALIFORNIA: A Greenprint for Farmland Preservation
In California’s San Joaquin Valley, one of our country’s most productive agricultural regions, American Farmland Trust helped launch a “greenprint” set of strategies for the conservation and sustainable management of land and water resources. The “greenprint” supplements the San Joaquin “Blueprint,” which is a plan for more compact, efficient urban development in which American Farmland Trust also played a key role. These efforts are
expected to save 150,000 acres of farmland in this region that would otherwise have succumbed to urban sprawl. WASHINGTON:
Farmland Protection in the Puget Sound
Farmland is an invaluable resource for the environment, economy and residents of the Puget Sound region, but it continues to disappear at an alarming rate as the greater Seattle area expands. American Farmland Trust’s report released in January, Losing Ground: Farmland Protection in the Puget Sound Region, presented findings and recommendations from a study of farmland regulations, tax incentives and development rights programs in the 12-county Puget Sound region. Motivated by the report, the Whatcom County government has sought out American Farmland Trust to develop a strategy for offsetting farmland losses associated with land use development, habitat restoration and other non-farm land uses.
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Keeping Farmers on the Land
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ore than 90 percent of U.S. farms are family owned. America’s family farms feed our country and the world, and play an important role in supporting their own communities, as well as the nation’s economic stability. For these families, farming is more than a job. It is a way of life. Yet while some sectors of American agriculture are prospering, many farmers struggle to stay in business. Today, most farm families rely on offfarm income to stay on the land. This makes farms
especially vulnerable when they pass from one generation to the next. American Farmland Trust works with family farmers, partners, planners, and state and local policy makers to support local farms, improve access to land and encourage farm transfer. We work to create farm-friendly communities and help states and regions create visions, road maps and plans for agriculture. And since the cost of land is one of the biggest challenges facing farmers who want to CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
America’s Favorite Farmers Market Contest
Colorado Oregon
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In 2012, American Farmland Trust celebrated its fourth America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ Contest. The contest promotes the critical role that farmers markets play in providing local nutritious food while helping to keep family farmers on the land. Farmers markets are one way for farmers to operate with more autonomy in regard to pricing and sales. They enable farmers to attract new customers, educate them on farm practices and build local relationships. Farmers
may start off selling to market-goers, but end up also selling to local restaurants and to local institutions such as hospitals and schools. 2012 America’s Favorite Farmers Market Winners SMALL: Arlington Farmers Market, Washington MID-SIZED: Sulphur Springs Texas
Farmers Market, Texas Winter Garden Farmers Market, Florida
MEDIUM:
LARGE: Fayetteville Farmers Market, Arkansas
AFT in the field CALIFORNIA: Charting Progress
American Farmland Trust released a report in April as part of our ongoing work with California Agricultural Vision. From Strategies to Results documents more than 40 actions already taken by farmers, ranchers and others in the food system to assure a healthy population, a clean environment and a profitable industry. California agricultural leaders are making progress on a broad front by collaborating with environmentalists and representatives of other groups. ILLINOIS: Women Landowners Talk Farm Management
As the overall farm population ages during the next 20 years, 230 million acres of farmland are expected to change hands. The majority may pass to women. On April 16, American Farmland Trust, along with the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, Prairie Rivers and local partners, hosted the first Lady Landowners Learning Circle in Illinois. Twenty-two women took part and shared their stories about managing their families’ farmland.
American Farmland Trust fully estimates that 60 percent of the participants have either taken or will take at least one conservation action for their farmland by April 2013. NEW ENGLAND: Keep New
England Farmland in Farming
Building on work done through the New England Commission on Land Conservation and its Farm and Food Security Initiative, American Farmland Trust is exploring ways in which the region might work collaboratively to reduce farmland conversion, expand farmland protection efforts, and help new and established farmers gain access to land. We began this initiative with a regional Farmland Protection Practitioner’s Retreat in Fall 2012. The retreat provided a valuable forum for American Farmland Trust and land trust, state and federal agency participants to share successes and challenges, and brainstorm ways to address emerging issues in farmland protection. Another convening planned for Spring 2013 will focus on reducing farmland conversion,
expanding access and improving land resiliency in the face of climate change. Raising Awareness
New England’s dairy farms are central to the region’s identity and character, anchoring its farmland base and agricultural economy. Yet, since 1992, more than 525,000 acres of the area’s farmland—the equivalent of two Cape Cods—has gone out of dairy farming. While some of that land is still being farmed, much of it has been developed. In the past 25 years alone, more than 12 percent of the region’s prime farmland has undergone development. A project of American Farmland Trust and the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at Tufts University, the New England Milkshed Assessment shed light on the health and future of this keystone sector. We will use this work to help consumers understand how they can support New England’s dairy farms, and to identify market opportunities and policy changes that can improve profitability for dairy farmers. Iowa
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expand and to beginning farmers, we work on ways to keep land available and affordable for farming.
American Farmland Trust has developed more
than 50 plans for agriculture, created model ordinances, conducted trainings and produced state how-to guides from North Carolina to Maine.
Across the country, we have conducted studies to
demonstrate the value of farmland and farming to regional food security and agriculture prosperity.
In New England and New York, American
Farmland Trust is guiding farm-to-institution programs on the state and regional level that create new markets for regional food products produced by family farms.
We educate the next generation of farmland
Washington
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owners and aspiring farmers on land transfers and access, farm conservation and new market opportunities —from farm succession planning workshops with farmers and other landowners in Connecticut and New York to answering requests from landowners and farmland protection partners across the country through our Farmland Information Center.
Promoting Sound Farming Practices
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arming and water are inextricably linked. Agriculture accounts for approximately 70 percent of water used in the world today. Water quality and quantity problems, aggravated by some current farming methods, are the most important environmental issues facing many communities. Against this backdrop, farmers and ranchers are being asked to feed a growing population by maximizing production on every available acre of land. Conservation practices on farms and ranches are among the most cost-effective ways to improve degraded waterways. The nation pays billions to clean up or prevent environmental damage, yet farms and ranches can provide sought-after environmental outcomes at a fraction of the cost. The challenges and opportunities inherent in conservationminded farming drive American Farmland Trust’s Clean Water & Viable Farms campaign. In addition to our federal policy efforts
to protect conservation programs, our Clean Water & Viable Farms program supplies farmers, ranchers and policy makers with practical, science-based solutions and innovative, replicable models for effective farm and ranch land stewardship.
American Farmland Trust conducts research
to understand barriers that discourage farmers from implementing conservation practices and develops innovative solutions to accelerate adoption of such practices.
Our pilot projects in targeted watersheds
across the country—which include projects in the Chesapeake Bay, Ohio River Basin, Upper Mississippi River Basin, Puget Sound and California—demonstrate how those solutions help farmers improve the environment and their productivity.
Throughout the recent farm bill negotiation
process, our leaders have worked tirelessly to protect conservation funding, develop effective new programs and ensure a minimum set of conservation requirements.
American Farmland Trust has laid the
groundwork for farmer participation in waterquality trading markets in which farmers and ranchers earn payments for achieving reductions in nutrients by adopting practical conservation practices that improve water quality and rebuild soils.
Maryland
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AFT in the field WASHINGTON: Targeting Spending to Increase Conservation Effectiveness
Last summer, American Farmland Trust offered grants to several farmers in the Snoqualmie Valley of western Washington through our Pioneers in Conservation grant program. This year’s grants, which received matching funds from the USDA, targeted the highest environmental priorities, encouraged neighboring farmers to cooperate on major projects, and leveraged incentive funding from Farm Bill and other conservation programs. OHIO RIVER BASIN:
Groundbreaking Agreement Will Protect Water, Help Farmers
On August 9, American Farmland Trust and our partners in the Ohio River Basin marked a
Pennsylvania
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historic moment. Leaders from state agencies in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky signed the nation’s first interstate water quality pilot trading plan, a collaboration among three states to improve water quality and to help keep farms thriving. THE NORTHEAST: Optimizing
Fertilizer Use and Reducing Runoff
American Farmland Trust is working with partners to provide assistance to farmers testing on-farm conservation practices through the BMP Challenge™ (the BMP stands for “Best Management Practices”). This innovative, risk-free program has been used to optimize fertilizer use and reduce runoff into waterways from farmland across the country—from broccoli growers in California’s Central
Coast, to Midwestern corn and soybean fields, to dairy farms throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. In 2012, we launched a project with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County to introduce the BMP Challenge to Long Island sweet corn farmers. The program also saw its first acres enrolled in Vermont. ILLINOIS: Helping Farmers Improve Water Quality
American Farmland Trust and our partners are working with corn and soybean farmers in the Upper Salt Fork watershed in East Central Illinois to promote reductions in nutrient runoff. AFT is piloting several innovative watershed approaches to significantly improve water quality that can be replicated in other watersheds in the region.
Crafting Innovative Farm Conservation Policy
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he Farm Bill is the single most important piece of legislation affecting what happens on our nation’s farm and ranch land. American Farmland Trust has been a long-time leader in working for farm policy that links agriculture spending to stewardship and sound land management. American Farmland Trust released its Agenda 2012: Transforming U.S. Farm Policy for the 21st Century, which outlined policies to protect more farm and ranch land; to accelerate conservation efforts that safeguard clean water, air and wildlife; and to support new market opportunities that keep farmers on the land and cultivate new and beginning farmers. Throughout 2012, American Farmland Trust’s staff worked tirelessly with farmers, ranchers and
South Dakota
partners to educate and convince legislators to protect our nation’s farmland, environment and family farmers. We were successful in getting important improvements included in the Senate and House versions of the Farm Bill. But Congress failed to pass a new Farm Bill in 2012, making a difficult year even worse for farmers and the environment. That’s especially true for dairy farmers, who have been reeling from record high feed prices and bone-dry grazing land for their herds. When discussion of the 2013 Farm Bill is taken up by Congress, we will be working aggressively to pass it with provisions that improve the landscape, as well as the daily lives of American farmers and their families.
Connecticut
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Help Save America’s Farmland
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merican Farmland Trust thanks donors, who allow us to continue our important work to conserve farmland, ranchland and especially family farms. Donations can be easily made through our website www.farmland.org or by calling 1-800-431-1499. A special group of supporters is known as Friends of Family Farmers. These donors make monthly gifts and provide a dependable source of income. Our Barnraisers Society recognizes those generous donors who’ve made a contribution of $1,000 or more.
Farmland Forever Society Leaving a legacy of farmland for all to enjoy
The Farmland Forever Society is a group of dedicated American Farmland Trust supporters who are committed to leaving future generations a legacy of beautiful, fertile, productive farmland. You can name American Farmland Trust as a direct beneficiary of specific assets, of a portion of your estate, or of your residual estate after payment of other bequests. To leave American Farmland Trust a percentage of your estate, you would use language similar to this: “I give, devise, and bequeath to American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit organization located at 1200 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, ___ percent of my estate, both real and personal property of whatever kind and wheresoever situated.”
New York
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AFT’s federal tax identification number is 52-1190211. For more information about how to include AFT in your estate-planning goals and leave a lasting gift for America’s precious farmland and family farmers,
contact Susan Sink, Vice President of Development and External Relations, at (202) 378-1206 or
[email protected].
In Memory of AFT Donor Samuel Underhill Mitchell Longtime American Farmland Trust supporter Samuel Underhill Mitchell identified strongly with his family’s agrarian roots in Long Island, New York. Over an 18-year span, starting in 1991, Mitchell made 72 gifts to AFT. When he passed away in 2012, he left a substantial bequest to AFT that will fund our continued support of family farmers and America’s farmland. He worked on his family’s farm and attended the Agriculture College at Cornell University, but put his farming career on hold when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954. Upon his return from service, farms in Long Island were rapidly disappearing, so he abandoned his farming plans in favor of banking. Mitchell spent most of his career with Roslyn Savings Bank (later Fleet Bank). Throughout his life, Mitchell remained committed to agriculture, serving as president of the Agricultural Society of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties and on the Nassau Cornell Cooperative Extension Board for 25 years.
Summary of Activities
For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012
support and revenue
fy 2012
Contributions from Members and Donors $2,780,000 Foundations (See Note 1) 1,130,000 Corporations 349,000 Governments 1,198,000 Nonprofits and Other Organizations 227,000 Bequests 567,000 837,000 Interest and Other Income Net Unrealized Gains (See Note 2) 2,505,000 Total Revenue and Other Income
$9,593,000
Notes: 1. In compliance with FASB Statement No. 116 and 117, all written unconditional promises to give in the current and future years must be fully recognized in the year of notification. 2. In compliance with FASB Statement No. 124, all investments in equity securities with readily determinable fair value are reported at their fair value. The net unrealized gains reflect the increase in fair value in FY 2012.
expenses State and Local and Federal Programs Public Education Communication and Media Outreach Other Programs Total Programs Management & General
fy 2012 $5,005,000 600,000 734,000 115,000 6,454,000 349,000
Fundraising 1,733,000 Membership 238,000 Total Expenses
$8,774,000
net assets Beginning of Year End of Year Change in Net Assets
$20,232,000 21,051,000 $819,000
Additional financial statements are available upon request.
New Mexico
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“
“American Farmland Trust helped launch a ‘greenprint’ for the conservation and sustainable management of land and water resources in California’s San Joaquin Valley, the state’s most important agricultural region. It’s like a fruit forest 250 miles long by 50 miles wide. In the spring when all the fruit, the almonds and the peaches and the plums are in bloom, it’s just astonishing. But it’s under siege from urban growth with a population of four million expected to reach nine million by mid-century.” —EDWARD THOMPSON, JR. CALIFORNIA DIRECTOR
“
Whether through innovative pilot projects to reduce nutrient run-off, policy work in D.C. to reduce greenhouse gases in agriculture, or pioneering ways to pay farmers for their environmental services from implementing best practices, AFT is a leader in helping farmers reduce their impact on the environment, simultaneously making farming more economically viable and keeping farmers on the land.” — NANCY HIRSHBERG, STONYFIELD FARM AND AFT BOARD MEMBER, WOLFEBORO, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Combined Federal Campaign Number 10631
design:
Cutting Edge Design, Inc., Washington, D.C.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS chair
Will Harte San Antonio, Texas Nancy Hirshberg Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Miranda M. Kaiser Wilsall, Montana and Sleepy Hollow, New York
Elizabeth Jones Midway, Kentucky
vice chair
AG Kawamura Irvine, California
Barton H. Thompson, Jr. Stanford, California
Laurie Landeau New York, NY
PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL Thomas A. Barron Boulder, Colorado Edward & Cornelia Bonnie Prospect, Kentucky Anne S. Close Fort Mill, South Carolina
Dielle Fleischmann The Plains, Virginia
Patrick F. Noonan Chevy Chase, Maryland
Richard & Nan Walden Sahuarita, Arizona
Alphonse (Buddy) Fletcher New York, New York
Gilman Ordway Wilson, Wyoming
Jack Wetzel Aiken, South Carolina
Iris W. Freeman Aiken, South Carolina
William K. Reilly San Francisco, California
Douglas P. Wheeler Washington, D.C.
Bob & Marie Gallo Modesto, California
Richard E. Rominger Winters, California
Amy Longsworth Washington, District of Columbia
Molly Ross Castle Rock, Colorado
Dan W. Lufkin New York, New York
Bob Sajdak Detroit, Michigan
Thomas L. Lyon Cambridge, Wisconsin
Carla H. Skodinski New York, New York
William Cohan New York, NY
Craig McNamara Winters, California
Mary Ida and Marshal Compton Cincinnati, Ohio
Elizabeth Beck Washington, District of Columbia
Truman Semans Durham, North Carolina
Diane Cooley Watsonville, California
Daniel Aram Shaw Woody Creek, Colorado
Joan K. Davidson Germantown, New York
Stephen Stranahan Perrysburg, Ohio
Philip Y. DeNormandie Boston, Massachusetts
LEADERSHIP
Grant F. Winthrop New York, NY
Michael Fieldman New York, New York
Jon Scholl President
Dennis C Wolff Millville, Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Fink Wilton, Connecticut
Jimmy Daukas Vice President of Programs
treasurer
Mel Coleman Jr. Broomfield, Colorado Dr. William DeLauder Bear, Delaware Thomas J. Gallo Modesto, California John Hardin Danville, Indiana
Susan Sink Vice President, Development and External Affairs
Nigel & Julia Widdowson Millbrook, New York Frederic Winthrop Jr. Ipswich, Massachusetts Jay Winthrop New York, New York John Winthrop Charleston, South Carolina
Victoria L. Edwards Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Finance and Administration
Illinois
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST 2012 ANNUAL REPORT | 13
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST NATIONAL OFFICE
CALIFORNIA
PLANNED GIVING
775 Bloomfield Avenue Windsor, CT 06095 (860) 683-4230
112 Spring Street, Suite 207 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 (518) 581-0078
MID-ATLANTIC
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
1200 18th Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 (800) 886-5170 (800) 431-1499
FARMLAND INFORMATION CENTER (800) 370-4879 www.farmlandinfo.org
CENTER FOR AGRICULTURE IN THE ENVIRONMENT National Bank and Trust Building 155 North 3rd Street, Suite 200 DeKalb, IL 60115 (815) 753-9347
P.O. Box 73856 Davis, CA 95617 (202) 309-1162
CONNECTICUT
1200 18th Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 378-1235
MID-WEST
2717 Blue Ridge Court Bloomington, IN 47408 (317) 508-0756
NEW ENGLAND
1 Short Street, Suite 2 Northampton, MA 01060 (413) 586-4593, ext. 29
NEW YORK
1335 N. Northlake Way, Ste. 101 Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 860-4222
ALL OTHER STATES 1 Short Street, Suite 2 Northampton, MA 01060 (413) 586-4593, ext. 12
Virginia
14 | WWW.FARMLAND.ORG FIND OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP SAVE OUR NATION’S FARMLAND. VISIT WWW.FARMLAND.ORG
