The Small Farms Conservancy is actively investigating existing and proposed legal instruments for the protection of farmed farms. Conservation easements are popular in many parts of the U.S., whereas in some parts conventional trust agreements are preferred. The SFC has as an oft-stated goal the primacy of the preservation of our best farming and holds that this must come first if we are to truly protect farmlands FOR farming. The SFC recognizes a responsibilty and possible future role in these areas. The responsibility includes a prerequisite care as research proceeds, care that the interests and concerns of landed farmers are learned, understood, held in trust and protected every step of the way.

Many novel ideas are being experimented with in corners of this country, including creative use of shared tenancy and the granting of real estate equity in agreed-upon scheduled capital improvements.

The Small Farms Conservancy imagines a role for itself as an umbrella organization lending aid in questions of liability and easement/trust administration. The SFC also envisions ways that its apprenticeship clearinghouse and farm caretaking programs lend themselves to providing a pool of candidates ideally suited to assist in the transitioning of ownership, stewardship, and/or administration. All of these concepts tied together and including yet unimagined issues form what we see as our Farms in Trust program.