The Future Farms Program provides education and support that beginning farmers and ranchers need to build successful and sustainable agricultural businesses, including business planning, land access networking, one-on-one business technical assistance, and support for building collaborative projects. Through these programs we help beginning farm businesses overcome common barriers including access to land and capital.

OFC’s Future Farms Program consists of four branches of work: Changing Hands Workshops, Farm Launch, Collaborative Farming Initiative, and Technical Assistance:

• Every year from October-March, Farm Launch assists 12-15 beginning farmers in taking the next steps toward establishing or growing their businesses and writing business plans through cohort learning and one-on-one coaching. 

• RFC’s annual Changing Hands Workshops provide education and facilitated networking to farmers and ranchers who are seeking land and business support and farmers and ranchers who are seeking to pass on their land and/or business.

• The Collaborative Farming Initiative provides education, networking, and technical assistance to farmers wishing to collaborate with each other to meet their needs and overcome barriers.

• The Future Farms Program offers one-on-one business Technical Assistance to aspiring and beginning farmers across Oregon.

OFC’s Future Farms Program, previously called the Changing Hands Program, and originally called the Farm Preservation Program, was established in 2015 to address the threats facing Oregon’s agricultural land and the many interrelated barriers that beginning farmers and ranchers face in building successful and sustainable careers in agriculture.

For more information about this program and to get involved, contact Geoffrey Van at geoffrey@oregonfarmcorps.org

This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.