For Prairie people wanting to go into farming, buying land is one choice. Leasing land in the conventional way is another. Farmland Legacies, a non-profit registered charity, based on the “Home Quarter” near Wynyard, Saskatchewan, offers a third alternative.
Arable land donated to the organization is held in trust and will never be sold. Farmers interested in leasing this land may apply to Farmland Legacies, which currently holds over 3,000 acres in nine locations in Saskatchewan and Alberta and will soon be expanding into Manitoba.
Applicants are evaluated on their agricultural background, goals and financial need. Once chosen, they are mentored by Farmland Legacies to ensure that the land is managed responsibly and sustainably. The Home Quarter, is being developed as a model for sustainable land use and an education centre. Currently, seven couples and one single person are leasing land through the program.
Duane Guina, executive director of Farmland Legacies, says a key factor in the establishment of Farmland Legacies was to keep each generation from having to finance their parents’ retirement. “There should be a choice and an alternative for having access to land from one generation to the next without having to treat it like a commodity, to think of it more as a resource in terms of how it produces our food, and that ownership, like lease, simply gives people access to land. That’s what should be important — that we have access to grow our food.”
Preference is given to applicants age 35 or under. Leases are set up in five year increments. Land can be leased till the applicant is 65 and the lease could be passed down to a family member. The amount of cash rent depends on each situation. “As a non-profit we don’t have to compete against market price,” says Guina.
Farmland Legacies is also committed to helping people who can’t grow their own food. Beef grown on the Home Quarter at Wynyard has been donated to Saskatchewan foodbanks since 2014. A garden and an orchard for that purpose has been established there. Potential donors of farm land and potential farming applicants can learn more at: farmlandlegacies.org
- Shirley Byers