Land For Good Inc

Your support helps more farmers secure farmland and keep land in farming.

Our mission is to ensure the future of farming in New England by putting more farmers more securely on more land. Since 2004 we have provided caring support and expert guidance to help farmers, landowners and communities navigate the complex challenges of land access, tenure, and transfer.

With 30% of New England’s farmers over retirement age, thousands of farms are already changing hands and, without careful planning, at risk of being lost to development. Farmers looking to retire face uncertainty about the future of their farms because many lack a ready successor. Together, we work with farmers toward a smooth farm transition, and often it’s about a strong farm connection.

A connection that Herb FARMacy owners were thankful to find in these beginning farmers.

Former owners, Rita and Brooke, worked with us on farm succession planning and posted their Salisbury, Massachusetts property on New England Farmland Finder, a farmland listing and linking website that Land For Good established in conjunction with the New England Farm Link Collaborative. The site helps connect landowners to farm seekers, as well as resources and services, and in this case, a referral to our field agent in Massachusetts who provided some technical assistance. 

After a robust response to the farm posting, they found Rijk and Maura to be a good fit. The duo had good greenhouse production experience, worked on multiple farms, and completed a season in New Entry Sustainable Farming Project’s incubator farm program.

"They really wanted to build on what we’ve started,” shared Brooke.

Rita and Brooke credited Land For Good’s farm succession planning guidebook with their first steps in the process. They also attended our farm succession planning workshop, co-hosted with Essex County Greenbelt Association in 2020, where they began the planning process and connected with peers. They consulted with Jae Silverman, our field agent in Massachusetts, to post their property to New England Farmland Finder and help with referrals.

"Rita & Brooke had a priority of farm connection,” shared Rijk. “It felt the same for me. It was more about the connection and not just about the sale. Rita & Brooke wanted someone capable of handling it, that was most important.”

It’s now an exciting season for Rijk and Maura who are joyfully building on the past 20 year legacy of the Herb FARMacy. They share the same passion for growing high quality, organic foods for the community on their forever farm, now Anything Grows Farm. 

With your help, Land For Good can support more farmers like Rita and Brooke, provide new opportunities to farmers like Rijk and Maura, and keep active farmland in farming for years to come.