Sustainable Iowa Land Trust receives $1.8M USDA grant to increase land access for underrepresented farmers
Group expands “Circle Our Cities” Campaign to protect farmland in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids
West Branch, IA —The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) is the recipient of a $1,811,700 grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase land access for underrepresented farmers. The organization will also expand its Circle Our Cities Campaign to protect vulnerable farmland. The campaign will circle 10 Iowa cities with 10 permanent, sustainable farms in 10 years and has begun in Dubuque, Des Moines, Fairfield, and Iowa City.
“Iowa imports 90% of our food. This is not sustainable. Land access is the number one obstacle for beginning farmers. Iowa land costs 20 times more than it did 20 years ago. This grant will help farmers navigate financial assistance programs and tackle the increasingly high cost of land. We will expand our Circle Our Cities Campaign in Des Moines and initiate the campaign in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. We will work with the urban farm organizations Global Greens, WeArose and Feed Iowa First in those cities to provide technical assistance to underrepresented farmers.” said Breanna Horsey, Executive Director of the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust.
Des Moines, Waterloo, and Cedar Rapids have the largest populations of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), Latinx, immigrant, refugee, and other underrepresented individuals. Grant funds will support the employment of a land scout and a farm business navigator for four to five years to work with landowners and farmers in these cities.
“We are ready and willing to find solutions collaborating with local partners to address the barriers underrepresented farmers face in Iowa. We want to involve the whole community,” says Horsey.
The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust is a nonprofit organization protecting affordable farmland in Iowa near markets for food farmers to secure a healthy food system for future generations, fresh food in communities, clean air and water and healthy soils. They have protected 16 farms totaling 1,200 acres across Iowa. Learn more at https://silt.org/ or call (319) 800-8108.