West Branch Commons: A Model for Farmland Protection and Transition

Please join the Farmland for a New Generation New York team with American Farmland Trust for a discussion on innovative approaches to land access for a new generation of farmers!

When: Thursday, October 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Dinner will be provided by Nine Miles East.

Where: Spring Street Gallery
110 Spring Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 

The West Branch Commons offers secure, affordable land access to marginalized farmers using an agroecological approach that decommodifies land and promotes long-term stewardship. This grassroots project aims to create a constellation of resources for farm viability, regional collaboration, and intergenerational knowledge transfer. We will be joined by Francis Yu, co-executive director of Catskills Agrarian Alliance, and Sea Matias, an anchor lessee and farmer with Serra Vida Farms, to discuss the process of forming the commons and accessing land using the community land trust as a tool. Jerry Cosgrove of American Farmland Trust will also discuss how conservation easements can be used to protect and transition farmland, sharing direct experience with Tom Hutson, the original steward of the land now farmed by West Branch Commons.

Sea Matias and Tom Hutson are one of ten farms featured in the "Our Farms, Our Future" exhibit highlighting stories of New York farms in transition.

The "Our Farms, Our Future" exhibit will remain on display at the Spring Street Gallery during open hours Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 4 - 7 p.m., and by appointment through Nov. 1. 

This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Nordlys Foundation.