Equity Trust helps people set up innovative ownership models for land, primarily to:

• Increase community access to sustainable food systems.
• Preserve farmland & protect its affordability for future generations of small farmers.
• Create affordable housing.

The models we help people adopt work to balance the needs of individuals with the needs of the community, the earth, and future generations. We work to empower communities and farmers to form new partnerships, so that together they can pursue alternative land tenure models that serve the needs of farmers and communities alike.

The challenge is that the price of a farm in today's real estate market is far higher than a working small farmer can afford to pay. Equity Trust helps farmers partner with their local land trust to establish a new ownership structure for the farm, a structure that protects the affordability of the farm so farmers can afford to live on and work the land and guarantee a source of good food for the community. The land trust either acquires a specialized conservation easement, or holds title to the farm's land. In both cases, we help to place restrictions requiring that the land continue to be actively farmed, and limiting the price for which the house and barns can be sold, to insure that the farm will remain affordable to future generations of farmers.

We've participated in the successful protection of small farms across the country, and provided technical assistance to many more farms still working to gain security.

Services Offered:
Land Tenure Counseling
Financing
Land Stewardship Services

Equity Trust Resources:
Model Documents
"Farmers and Farmland For the Future"
"Gaining Ground"

Other
Letter from Steven & Gloria Decater of Live Power Community Farm

Land Tenure Counseling

We receive a lot of calls, ranging from people interested in becoming farmers to experienced farmers looking for secure tenure to community members wanting to save a local farm to conservation land trusts looking for advice. We provide advice by phone, through more focused individual technical assistance and through presentations made at conferences. In addition we have drafted a model lease and easement, with commentaries that can be down-loaded from our website. Some examples of organizations for whom we've provided technical assistance are: Trust for Working Lands, Bainbridge Island, WA; Peacework Farm and Genesee Land Trust, Rochester, NY; Caretaker Farm and Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, Williamstown, MA. For more information about our technical assistance services, please review our Technical Assistance Policy.

Equity Trust has presented at a wide range of conferences including Land Trust Alliance's Rally and New England conferences, and NOFA conferences.

Financing

Equity Trust has a revolving loan fund, the Equity Trust Fund. An offshoot of this is the Fund for Community Supported Agriculture offering investment opportunities for people who want to make financing available for small farmers. The Fund makes loans to farmers acquiring land, covering operating costs, or making capital improvements (such as the purchase of a new tractor). To date, 20 Investors have loaned $222,500 and we have made 24 loans, a total of $560,000, to farmers and farm organizations.

Equity Trust has also received donations targeted for capital campaigns to preserve seven farms. These donations have come from 1200 individuals and 84 organizations, totaling more than $990,000. This money has helped to save Live Power Community Farm and Fairview Gardens (CA), White Oak Farm (OR), Guadalupe Gardens (WA) and Roxbury Farm (NY). We are currently working on campaigns to save Good Humus Farm (CA) and Caretaker Farm (MA).

Land Stewardship Services

While it is our very strong belief that local ownership is best, in places where there is no willing nonprofit, Equity Trust will acquire an interest in a farm in order to preserve it and hold it until a willing local partner can be found. Equity Trust currently holds conservation easements on two farms: Live Power Community Farm in Covelo, CA and the Sheehan Farm, in Boxborough, MA. We own the 150 acres of land at Roxbury Farm (Kinderhook, NY) and have sold the farmers the house and other buildings. The farmers hold a 99-year lease to the land. Equity Trust also purchased White Oak Farm in Williams, OR three years ago. We held ownership until the local community could create their own education/farming nonprofit. Equity Trust has just transferred title of the land to this young nonprofit with their local land trust holding a conservation easement on the farm.