Resources

Iowa State University’s Beginning Farmer Center’s Ag Lease 101 has an excellent page of different lease forms, including cash, crop-share, pasture, building, machinery and livestock rental leases. Sample agricultural lease templates here.

Example of an agricultural cash lease template from California Farm Link.

California Farm Link provides a list of an excellent summation of how to craft an agricultural lease.

This free online resource helps you build your own draft lease.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service offers annually updated cash rent rates by county for each state. You can also search agricultural statistics by state here.

This publication highlights some common ways to lease or own land. It outlines important considerations about each of these leasing options and paths to ownership. This publication is from ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture Program.

This PDF is a guide to support farmers and landowners through the process of determining a fair cash rental rate for farmland, equipment, and infrastructure.

Are you aspiring to farm or just starting out with farming? If so, this series is for you. This is a “learn as you go” online series so you can get a taste of different farming practices and concepts to help you explore your interests, gain a basic understanding of many different farming topics, avoid common pitfalls, and get to know the Extension professionals in Virginia who are here to assist you.
In this Series, Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) agents and VSU Small Farm Outreach Program Associates post short videos (15-20 min) highlighting key information and considerations about different farming practices and concepts on topics they have had years of experience helping aspiring and new farmers navigate.

AgPlan helps rural business owners develop a business plan for free.

This Farm Management Proficiency Test from Wittman Consulting is designed to help highlight and outline the best practices for successfully managing a farm.

DCR’s programs seek to improve or maintain water quality in the state's streams, lakes and bays through the installation or implementation of agricultural BMPs, and the tax credit program.

FSA oversees a number of voluntary conservation-related programs that provide financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers.

Celebrating the One Year Anniversary of the Virginia Farm Link Website and a message from Virginia Agricultural Commissioner Joseph Guthrie.

Share your testimonial to enter our first giveaway and learn the best tips on making a good first impression.

Virginia’s Generation NEXT program is an outreach program specifically designed to help family forestland owners make informed and intentional decisions regarding passing their land to the next generation. 

This webinar is presented by Robert Moore with The National Agricultural Law Center. Although the webinar has passed, there is a recording on their website linked above for you to watch, Topics include on-farm/off-farm heir strategies, distribution plan ideas and incorporating trusts into estate plans.

The Farmland Information Center (FIC) is a clearinghouse for information about farmland protection and stewardship. It is a partnership between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and American Farmland Trust (AFT), authorized by the federal Farmland Protection Policy Act (FPPA).

This document covers the basics of what should be included in effective farmland lease agreements (Land Link Vermont).

Reflecting on Virginia Cooperative Extension's "Positioning Your Farm Business for Successful Transition" Workshop Series.

Introducing the Virginia Department of Agriculture's new Farmland Preservation Coordinator and check out our Certified Farm Seeker Program.

NRCS houses programs (such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program) that provide financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers.

VCE provides information to producers on how they can increase their profitability while protecting the quality of our land and water resources.

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation has helped Virginia landowners protect hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and forestland since 1966.

The goal of the project is to encourage and assist limited-resource and socially-disadvantaged producers and ranchers to own, maintain and operate farms and ranches independently, to participate in agricultural programs and improve their overall farm management skills. The Small Farm Outreach Program provides a wide range of outreach and assistance activities in production management, financial management, marketing, available USDA farm programs, and other areas to increase farm profitability and promote sustainability.

The long-term goal of the Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition Program (VBFRCP) is to improve opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers to establish and sustain viable agricultural operations and communities in Virginia. VBFRC supports the development and enhancement of whole farm planning curriculum and training, online resources, social networking, and farmer mentoring. Unique to this state-wide Extension program is its coalition of agricultural organizations and farm business that work together to develop and implement these programming aims.

Virginia Cooperative Extension is an educational outreach program of Virginia's land-grant universities: Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, and a part of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.

The Office of Farmland Preservation is charged with five important missions:

- Work with other governmental and private organizations to help establish local purchase of development rights (PDR) programs by creating model policies and practices, establishing criteria to certify programs as eligible to receive funds from public sources, and determining methods and sources of funding for localities to purchase agricultural conservation easements
- Create programs to educate the public about the importance of farmland preservation
- Help farmers with farmland preservation efforts.
- Assist local governments in developing additional farmland preservation policies and programs
- Administer the Virginia Farm Link program

As the state’s largest grassroots agriculture organization, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation supports farmers through a number of programs to create an environment where agriculture can prosper in order to improve the lives of Virginians.

Farm Bureau offers services such as legislative and advocacy activities, agriculture development and innovation, and programs for women and young farmers. Virginia Farm Bureau Federation also provides support for the Virginia Farm Link program.

The USDA provides a list of resources for planning your farm business.

Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world.

The Virginia Foundation for Agriculture, Innovation and Rural Sustainability website has a wide variety of resources including information on business plans, grant assistance, and farm transition.