Founded in 1980 by a group of farmers and conservationists concerned about the rapid loss of the nation’s farmland to development, American Farmland Trust (AFT) is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting our nation’s strategic agricultural resources.

Working with farmers and ranchers, political leaders and community activists, AFT has helped to permanently protect more than a million acres of America’s best farm and ranch land.

We have four key strategies for saving the land that sustains us:

  • Transform U.S. farm policy to strengthen the future of American agriculture;
  • Protect the best land by supporting effective state and local farmland protection initiatives;
  • Plan for agriculture to keep farming viable and help communities balance growth while protecting working land;
  • Keep the land healthy and productive by encouraging stewardship practices that safeguard our nation’s natural resources.

our mission:

The mission of American Farmland Trust is to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment.