Demand for local food far outstrips supply in our region. A prime goal of the Keep Growing initiative is to grow supply –  and a key strategy is to increase local land in agricultural production. We are starting a land access project to link landowners with people who want to grow, graze, use land for haying, or offer other ways of bringing land back into agricultural production.

We will meet with landowners and land seekers in small groups and individually to understand farming interests and share ways to meet them through leasing or selling to next generation farmers or farm expanders.   Each participating landowner will help create a conceptual agricultural site plan showing potential uses for their land, farm seekers will learn what land resources are available in the area and both will learn how they may work together to increase good local food.

Landowners and land seekers are invited to join us on Friday March 15 at 2 p.m. at the Rocks in Bethlehem to meet with Bob Bernstein (formerly of Land for Good, now Northeast Farm Access) who is working with us on this project. Bob has worked for many years on land access throughout New England.

Please RSVP as space is limited. To reply, or if you are interested but cannot make this meeting, please contact Rebecca Brown at the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust, rbrown@aconservationtrust.org, 603-823-7777.