A high tunnel at Eco City Farm's Incubator farm in PG County - a model for MoCo's farm
Everybody eats and very few of us are able to do this three times a day without depending on an ever-dwindling number of farmers growing on ever decreasing farm acreage.

Nationally, and in Maryland, the average age of our farmers is just over 59. The nation lost more than 100,000 farms between 2011 and 2018. And though we are fortunate to have family run farms in Montgomery County that will be passed along to the next generation, these do not number nearly enough to address the growing need for local food production.

Moreover, we must provide equitable access to land and resources for skilled diverse new farm businesses. The Agricultural Reserve, at over 90,000 acres, has plenty of room for more farms, and we will all thrive with greater inclusiveness.  At MCA, we've been successfully matching farmers with landowners through our Land Link program since 2011 but farmer demand for land far outstrips supply.  
Last June a group of diverse producers, all growing in Montgomery County, met at Dodo Farms in Brookeville with Councilmember Gabe Albornoz to share concerns about the difficulties new farm businesses encounter. Uplifting news of the growing diversity of local producers and products, especially culturally relevant crops, was tempered by the universal frustration about the myriad barriers to getting started.  As we seek to grow the next generation of local farmers  there is not a moment or a famer to waste.
"The greatest challenge for the Agricultural Reserve in the next forty years will be to keep it a working landscape. That will require a new and more diverse generation of farmers. A farm incubator could provide critical assistance to young and new farmers seeking entry as producers by helping them develop local land, management, and market knowledge, provide mentoring in agronomy, and an opportunity to join the local farming community."
– Dr. Royce Hanson, Former Planning Chair

Why?

  • In March 2010 the County's Green Economy Taskforce strongly suggested the County create a small farm incubator program on parkland, similar to the land and other incentives given to other business incubators. The plan was created - and then shelved. 
  • In the intervening 13 years, helping small scale diverse local food producers has become even more important as land prices have only risen - along with rates of food insecurity. 

How?

  • Successful incubators exist in similar urban/suburban/rural regions - notably Eco City Farms in PG County. We don't to reinvent the wheel. 

  • We can re-invigorate the spade work done in the 2010 plan and add collaborators to bring together equipment, training, land and funding. 

Who?

  • From the experience of Eco City - it's clear that a broad coalition of government offices, nonprofits, farmers and funders need to come together to not only create a successful incubator - but ensure it lasts season after season. 
  • No one organization can do this alone - currently we are gathering a dream team of - will you join us? 

    Join Us - Get Involved

Connecting farmers with land is a national issue as well - Check out the One Million Acres Campaign from the Young Farmer Coalition and sign on to urge the USDA to include more land access policy in the upcoming Farm Bill.  

More Resources to Get Growing:

Land Link Montgomery
BIPOC Farming Resource Guide
Producers Resources