Farmsteads for Farmers and River Run Farm

A model that saves farmland while keeping small farms farming and thriving.

Small farms and farmers are vital for our local economy and culture, and the Berkshires are losing our small farms at an alarming rate. Unlanded farmers are leaving the area, farming in insecure situations, and generally unable to thrive. This loss of farmland affects the affordability, desirability and resilience of the area. Farmsteads for Farmers was founded after Molly Comstock lost her handshake lease on Colfax Farm, her CSA serving 400 families with high quality produce farmed regeneratively with no till farming.

Molly Comstock harvesting lettuce on Colfax Farm in 2021, her last season after losing her handshake lease for the land on which she built a thriving CSA (photo courtesy of Edible Natural World)

Berkshire Community Land Trust’s Farmsteads for Farmers initiative seeks to support small farms and farmers who use regenerative agricultural practices with a Community Land Trust partnership model. This model removes the burden of land priced beyond agricultural productivity, while giving farmers long-term security and the ability to build equity. Our model, exemplified by Indian Line Farm in Egremont, provides for the Berkshire Community Land Trust to acquire farmland and place it in trust, and enter into a secure, low-cost, 98-year lease with the farmers. Under this model, Berkshire Community Land Trust owns the land, and the farmer owns the buildings on the land and any improvements.

RIVER RUN FARM

“An important piece of agricultural land” Anna Houston, Off the Shelf Farm

Farmsteads for Farmers’ current goal is the purchase of River Run Farm, (purchased by a local philanthropist in order to protect it from development and to hold until the Berkshire Community Land Trust is able to close on the property). The farm’s first lessee will be Off the Shelf Farm, a small egg, poultry and lamb farm owned and operated by Anna Houston and Rob Perazzo.

River Run Farm, September 4, 2024

Please donate today. We are closing on River Run Farm on December 15th, 2024. Every dollar counts. Thank you!

Continue scrolling for:

More information on Off the Shelf Farm
Agriculture and Climate Change
Project Financing
Timeline
FAQs
Indian Line Farm
Conservation

Anna Houston and Rob Perazzo of Off the Shelf Farm

OFF THE SHELF FARM

In a leap of faith, Off the Shelf Farm moved onto the property in the spring of 2023 (prior to acquisition of the land by Berkshire Community Land Trust). The business has already benefited from the move in several ways. Anna and Rob have been able to exponentially increase their flocks and put to use a significant USDA ARPA grant that will allow them to build a barn for winter housing of their flocks and an egg washing station, activities currently being done off-site.

River Run Farm grass growing lush and strong after a season of rotational grazing by Off the Shelf Farm

AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Regeneration and healthy soil as a viable solution for our wellness and climate crisis

Berkshire Community Land Trust includes language in its long-term leases with farmers so that on-site farming practices adhere to 1997 Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) standards. These standards support regenerative farming practices. While each land use plan for each farm lessee is unique to some degree, in all our lease agreements with farmers we support regenerative agricultural practices. This means our local solution to farmland and farm housing insecurity is consistent with global solutions addressing climate change amelioration including the recent United Nations Climate Conference – COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action which states (in summary) that investing in small farms, farmers, and regenerative agriculture is key to addressing the harms caused by industrial farming.

Our project is directly in line with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan 2023-2050. The Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan 2023-2050 recognizes the importance of Western and Central Massachusetts farms and farmland for the future health and stability of the region. Small regenerative farms are vital for climate resilience and food system stability.

River Run Farm already has visible signs of improved soil and carbon retention, from just months of Off the Shelf’s Farms regenerative grazing practices.

TIMELINE

In a leap of faith, Off the Shelf Farm has been able to move onto River Run, and are already farming, due to the generosity of the current owner, who purchased the farm to hold for Berkshire Community Land Trust while we raise the money to close.

Once River Run Farm is secured, we will turn to the next unlanded farmers and farming businesses in need of partnership with Berkshire Community Land Trust. Donations will be applied first to secure River Run Farm, and then to the next Farmsteads for Farmers project. The ultimate goal of Farmsteads for Farmers is to raise a multi million dollar fund, with which we can act quickly to acquire farmland as it comes on the market.

FAQs

Q) Because Berkshire Community Land Trust is a non-profit, does that mean that land acquired by Berkshire Community Land Trust is removed from tax rolls?

A. No, the farmer pays all taxes associated with the property.

Q) How is it possible for someone to own buildings and improvements on land they don't own?

A. This is called a "ground lease" and is an existing model of land and building partnership, used for a variety of reasons, including for affordable housing projects by Berkshire Community Land Trust.

Q) How does this provide security for the farmers?

A. The leases are 98 years long, which is longer than most farmers can farm! The cost of the land is not factored into the farmer’s business costs, which allows them to thrive while farming regeneratively.

Q) How does Farmsteads for Farmers support regenerative farming techniques?

A. The land use agreements with Berkshire Community Land Trust require farmers to farm according to the 1997 NOFA standards for organic farming.

Q) How do farmers pass along generational wealth in this model?

A. As with any real estate, farmers may bequeath the farm to their descendants, so long as the beneficiary is willing to agree to the terms of the long-term lease covering the land (including adherence to regenerative farming practices).

Q) What happens once the farmer is done farming?

A. The farmstead may be sold to an eligible buyer willing to agree to the terms of the long-term lease covering the land (including adherence to regenerative farming practices).

Q) Does the Berkshire Community Land Trust take a share of the farmer’s profits?

A. No. Farmers do pay to Berkshire Community Land Trust a nominal monthly fee that assists in supporting the organization.

Q) How does the Berkshire Community Land Trust benefit from this model?

A. By holding land on behalf of the community for farms, the Berkshire Community Land Trust fulfills its mission by ensuring permanent access, control, affordability and stewardship of the land.

Q) Is this a form of sharecropping?

A. Community land trust models stand in sharp contrast to sharecropping models, which provide for families to rent small plots of land to work themselves and in return to give crops to landowners. In fact, the community land trust model was developed to address inequities in the sharecropping model prevalent after the Civil War that disproportionately affected Black families. The community land trust model provides for farmers and other home owners to keep all proceeds of their labor and to benefit from equity realized in home ownership.

Please reach out to our campaign manager, Beth Carlson if you have any other questions, need additional materials, or would like to meet in person. She can be reached at 413 429 1176 or farms@berkshirecommunitylandtrust.org

INDIAN LINE FARM

Elizabeth Keen harvesting turnips in her hoop house on Indian Line Farm (photo courtesy of Edible Natural World)

Indian Line Farm in South Egremont is the first farm based on the Berkshire Community Land Trust ground lease model. The farm is one of the most productive CSAs in the Berkshires producing locally grown produce year round. Over 25 years old, the farm has stood the test of time and proven the voracity of the ground lease model, which current Farmsteads for Farmers leases are based upon.

CONSERVATION

River Run Farm has 3000 ft of a lovely oxbow along the Housatonic River. With 10 foot banks, the wooded riparian buffer for the river is ideal bird habitat. The buffer is home to well over 50 species of birds counted so far. This area of the farm will have a conservation restriction, with limited public access and an accessible mowed walking trail for those who would like to enjoy the bird life.

In addition, Berkshire Bird Observatory is placing kestrel boxes on the farm as part of their Kestrel box project, working with organic farmers throughout the Berkshires and boarding New York counties to protect this very special small falcon whose numbers are decreasing. This partnership with Off the Shelf Farm on River Run Farm is possible only because no chemical fertilizers or pesticides will be used on site. Conservation, affordable housing, and regenerative farming are all happening on River Run Farm.

DONATE TODAY. Every dollar makes a difference.

The Final Acre: Campaign to Aquire River Run Farm

By Berkshire Community Land Trust

The Final Acre: Campaign to Aquire River Run Farm

Farmstead for Farmers, A Berkshire Community Land Trust Initiative