This application is designed to ensure fairness as well as match best we can the farmer most suited to a particular farm, with the end goal being a successful farming operation.

To apply to a specific farm, supply all of the following documents. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

• Resume and Cover letter 
  • Include all relevant experience whether directly gained on-farm or not.
  • Provide detailed time frames for your experience (at least to the month). If you’ve worked seasonally at the same farm in multiple years, clarify the months worked each year.
  • Communicate in your cover letter how your values overlap with SILT’s regarding land.
  • Include specific skill-sets and task mastery. (i.e. treating pink-eye, designing watering systems, installing high-tunnels, doing employee pay-roll).
  • Include permission to perform a background and credit check.
• Three to four references
  • • Provide title and contact information (for no more than four references).
    • At least two references must be non-family members.
• Business plan
  • Follow this Checklist
• Essay responses – Please respond to the following prompts in 1,000 words or less. If you have barriers to writing, contact us about how we can accommodate you.
  1. How did you first become interested in farming and why do you want to be a farmer?
  2. What does it take for a farmer to be successful? Which of those skills or characteristics do you have, and which challenge you? How will you overcome challenges when they arise?
  3. What goals and expectations do you have for your life beyond farming? How will you meet those? (This might include relationships, education, leisure time, hobbies, travel, health, community building, and other income, living expenses, and retirement.) If you have a partner or family, how will their needs be met?
  4. Describe your need for land and current access to it. What are your minimum acreage requirements? The maximum you could reasonably use? Do you have any other access to property or the means to purchase it? Do you expect to inherit a farm someday?
  5. Why do you want to farm a Sustainable Iowa Land Trust farm? How does SILT fit into your career trajectory and your values as a farmer? Do you want to put your roots on this SILT farm until you retire, or is farming here a stepping stone to something else?
  6. (Optional) How do you identify yourself? How has your identity shaped your desire to farm and the challenges you’ve faced in becoming a farmer?

Submit all documents to info@silt.org.

A member of the SILT Farmer Committee will get back to you. If you do not hear from someone within 2 weeks please call the office at (319) 800-8108 and we’ll be sure to follow up.  

Fill out this survey so we know what you’re looking for.