CONNECTICUT FARMLAND TRUST INC

CFT's goal is to make working lands available to Connecticut farmers for the indefinite future.

CFT aims to protect all the farmland that we possibly can, by ourselves as an organization, and with our strong partners. Then, CFT stewards (protects) the land in perpetuity.

Every year Connecticut Farmland Trust’s work ensures that more agricultural land will remain agricultural and that more young farmers can buy a farm or sustainably continue on the family farm.

CFT’s accomplishes its mission through three programs: Conservation, Technical Assistance, and Stewardship.

The Conservation Program is CFT’s flagship. CFT’s unique role is to react quickly to opportunities as they arise, coordinate funding, and organize partnerships to help farm families save their greatest asset – productive farmland. This expertise is essential when farm families must sell, and well-financed developers are knocking on the farmhouse door.

As part of the conservation process, CFT staff provide a myriad of Technical Assistance options. Conservation staff consult with landowners about permitted land uses to uphold the terms of the conservation easement, offer guidance on natural resource concerns, arrange surveys of the owner’s land, submit grants to state and federal partners, and connect
legal aid to farmers who need it. Sometimes the most valuable assistance is referring farmers to other conservation resources to help them with succession planning and farmland restoration.

When CFT works with a family to protect their farm through an agricultural conservation easement, we are making a promise in perpetuity to them that we will never allow their land to be converted to a non-agricultural use. Through our Stewardship Program, CFT conducts an annual visit to each of our protected farms to ensure compliance with the terms of its respective agricultural conservation easement. If the easement terms are ever violated, CFT stewardship staff will respond and resolve the violation in an appropriate way. This means that after a farm family voluntarily sells or donates their development rights to our land trust, they can rest assured that their land will remain as a farm forever.

CFT is strategic and fast-moving in its farmland conservation efforts. The organization is resilient over time and committed to stewarding its protected farms in perpetuity.

At the time of this update (2019) our staff consists of:

Executive Director, Conservation Coordinator, Conservation & Farmlink Associate, Development & Communications Coordinator, and a part-time Accountant; and 19 dynamic Board Directors.

Since it's founding in 2002, CFT has protected over 50 varied farms in Connecticut (as of 2019).

Starting in 2020, our organization will create a Strategic Conservation Plan.