Fifteen women landowners and farmers gathered in August for The Land Conservancy of McHenry County’s Women’s Learning Circle. These events give women a space to share ideas, stories, and expertise on how to manage their land. Illinois FarmLink’s Northern Navigator, Jeanne Janson, presented at the August learning circle. She shared about our program, the services we offer, and advice about the importance of having a community to share your land access journey with.
The August learning circle took place at All Grass Farms, a regenerative livestock and dairy operation owned by Cliff McConville. Cliff has a unique land access story. As his farm enterprise in the western suburbs of Chicago quickly generated demand, he looked for a place to scale his regenerative farming. This led him to begin negotiating with a public institution (the Forest Preserve District of Kane County) for a long-term lease for 150 acres of pastureland at the Brunner Family Forest Preserve in Dundee. However, Cliff’s unique land access arrangements didn’t stop there. He now subleases to two other farm businesses – Blacksmith Acres and Gold Fern Farm.
Anna Guziak-Prochnicka, owner of Gold Fern Farm, also spoke at the learning circle and talked about her land access arrangement. Using Anna as an example, we wanted to share several reasons why subleasing land from a larger farm operation can be a great option for beginning farmers.
- The ability to build and strengthen a separate farm identity while subleasing can make it easier to pursue the next step in land access when it’s the right time. In Anna’s sublease arrangement, she sells under her own farm’s name and makes all the decisions herself.
- There is a booming farmstand located on the property. All Grass Farm’s store generates over $1 million in revenue each year and receives thousands of visitors. Anna can conveniently sell her bouquets at the farm store under her farm’s name.
- Subleasing is often low cost and low risk, which allows beginning farmers to experiment, develop their customer base, build a brand, and pivot when things aren’t working.
- The more established farmer may serve as a kind of mentor for the beginning farmer. Sometimes the arrangement is purely transactional, but oftentimes we see established farmers welcoming beginning farmers onto their land.