Farm Link Program

Farm Link helps beginning farmers and ranchers gain access to the land, financing, knowledge and skills that they need to make a successful start. Farm Link matches retiring farmers with beginning farmers and ranchers who desire to farm or ranch.

Beginning Farmers and U.S. Agriculture

The population of U.S. agriculture is poised to make a dramatic change - half of all current farmers are likely to retire in the next decade. U.S. farmers over age 55 control more than half the farmland, while the number of entry-level farmers replacing them
has fallen by 30 percent since 1987 and now makes up only 10 percent of farmers
and ranchers.

Absent a new generation of beginners, that land will concentrate in large farms, causing the permanent loss of opportunity for family farms, ranches, and rural communities and squandering the chance to shift to a more sustainable system of agriculture.

Beginners have different needs than established farmers and ranchers.

Beginning farmers often lack the capital and the scale of operation to make profits
with high-cost technologies and production systems that are the focus of many research and education programs. The SDDA's programs on behalf of beginning farmers address these needs.

Financing for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

Before seeking outside financing, beginning farmers and ranchers need to do some basic planning. Review 8 important factors beginning farmers and ranchers should consider before seeking financing: financial picture overview. Then look at potential funding sources in a review of beginning farmer financing programs.

We advocate for innovative measures like the SDDA's Beginning Farmer Bond that make it possible for lenders, individuals, partnerships, corporations, and other entities to receive federally tax-exempt interest with respect to a loan or contract sale made to a beginning farmer or rancher.

For program requirements and applications please click here.

For information on the Farm Link Program, contact:

Terri LaBrie, Loan Program Administrator
Paula Gregg, Grant & Loan Specialist
605-773-5436