The United States is on track to lose at least 18 million acres of farmland and ranchland by 2040, threatening not only our long-term food supply, but also the environment. American Farmland Trust has been tracking the loss of farmland and ranchland since its founding in 1980. Its latest study, Farms Under Threat 2040, projects these trends into the future as a resource for citizens to ask better questions of government officials and help choose a more abundant future. 

In this episode of No Farms No Future, we talk with Josh Sorrells, a fourth-generation farmer in Canton, North Carolina – a state that ranks second in projected loss of farmland, after Texas. You’ll also meet Mitch Hunter, who directed the Farms Under Threat 2040 report for American Farmland Trust, and Ryan Manning, Farmland Preservation Coordinator for the Hayward Soil and Water Conservation District, who works with county farmers to sustain a presence on the land.

No Farms No Future is a podcast created through a collaboration between Heritage Radio Network, American Farmland Trust, and The Food Voice.

Resources:

Farms Under Threat 2040 full report 
Farms Under Threat 2040 interactive maps
Farms Under Threat; A New England Perspective
Farmland Information Center
Cold Mountain Nursery 

Stuart, Don. “No Farms, No Food: Uniting Farmers and Environmentalists to Transform American Agriculture.” Washington DC: Island Press, 2022. 

To learn more about American Farmland Trust go to farmland.org. 

Episode photo by Tracey Sorrells.

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