PROJECT PROFILE

New Co-op Farmland Project
Project farms are in various stages of consideration and development in NY, MA, NH, and ME.

Cooperative farming is based on the development of an interconnected group of cooperatively owned and managed diversified “modern” farms. NEFA is currently identifying and organizing a cohort of farm seekers with complementary skills and aspirations to participate in a multi-farmer operation, convening vegetable, livestock, ag-educational and\or ag-tourism or other enterprises.

As innovative as this approach is, it harkens to the traditional patterns of farmer cooperation and mutual support characteristic of times when enough farmers, tractors, technical advisors and engaged consumers were woven together into a system and economy that was sustainable through scale and diversity. The model assists to accommodate farmer mobility, efficiently use natural and financial resources, create opportunities for farmers to be profitable, and build equity and benefit from secure tenure. For some farm seekers and some farms this model is the approach that manages risk in the most socially, physically and financially sustainable ways.

The NEFA co-op model invites three or more farm households with complementary operations, or a plan to work the entire farm together, to co-own and manage a facility that none could acquire or operate individually. The need for off-farm income, often a compromise for those who would rather work fulltime on the farm, is minimized. We believe this is central to farm viability and a test for the cooperative farm model.