Farms Fund (formerly Working Farms Fund)

Farmers in the Farms Fund have support from The Conservation Fund and a network of farm resource partners who will invest in:

• Access to farmland at an affordable farming value

• A patient pathway to farmland ownership through a lease-to-own model

• Support in identifying and applying for farm business tools and federal programs

• Access to new and emerging markets

• Time to focus on investment in farm infrastructure and growing the farm business

• The Farms Fund is currently being piloted in Atlanta, Chicago, and Charlotte, NC. If your farm is serving another metro market, you are welcome to complete the survey—we will keep your information on file for future pilots, and it helps us to know which geographies have interested farmers.

The Working Farms Fund is currently being piloted in metro Atlanta, metro Chicago, and Charlotte, North Carolina. If your farm is serving another metro market, you are welcome to complete the Farmer Survey—your information will be kept on file for future pilots.

No lease rate, purchase price formula, lease length, down-payment requirement or award amount is published. The Conservation Fund describes the mechanism but not the numbers, and the numbers are negotiated farm by farm.

The published model, in the Fund's own words: "Buy: Acquire at-risk farmland before it's lost to development" → "Support: Farmers with access to markets, training, and resources" → "Protect: Place permanent agricultural protections on the land so it stays a farm forever" → "Sell: Match farmland with committed farmers and provide a patient pathway to affordable ownership." For a farmer that means renting from the Fund first with an option to buy later, at a price held down by the permanent agricultural conservation easement placed on the land — the Fund's stated way of making the eventual purchase affordable. No money comes to you; land access and business support do.

Expect to negotiate: lease term, lease payment and purchase price are all deal-specific and unpublished. Ask the regional fund staff for the actual figures before committing.

Geography note: the program is now organized as four named regional funds — Georgia, Carolina, Chicago and NW Arkansas — rather than the earlier Atlanta/Chicago/Charlotte pilot framing.

How it works (2026): The Conservation Fund buys at-risk farmland near a growing city, leases it to the farmer, places permanent agricultural protection on it, and sells it to the farmer at its affordable farming value in 3–5 years. Four regional funds: Georgia (Atlanta), Carolina (Charlotte), Chicago, Northwest Arkansas (launching 2026).

Apply by completing the Farmer Survey at https://www.tfaforms.com/5050841. The Conservation Fund will follow up directly with interested farmers.

Complete the Farmer Survey (https://www.tfaforms.com/5050841) from the Farmer Resources page and the Farms Fund team will follow up.

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