03/27/2026
We’re losing farms.
We’re losing access to local food.
And most people don’t even realize it’s happening.
Iowa has some of the best farmland in the world. Yet beginning farmers are being priced out before they ever get started.
That’s exactly the problem Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) is working to solve.
Their mission is simple but powerful: protect farmland and make it accessible to farmers who will use it to grow food for our communities.
Recently, a major USDA grant supporting this work was pulled with little notice — funding that was meant to help the next generation of farmers get their footing.
I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside SILT and see the impact of this work up close.
And this is about more than just where your food comes from.
It’s about whether we’ll continue to have a choice in that at all.
When farmland becomes increasingly out of reach for local farmers, ownership (and the decisions about how that land is used) shifts away from the communities it directly affects.
And that raises a bigger question:
Who gets to shape the future of the land we live on?
If you care about where your food comes from, and whether you’ll continue to have a say in that, this matters.
If you’d like to support:
- Follow their page
- Sign up for their newsletter
- Share their mission
- Consider donating
Awareness is where change starts.
Urgent Update: Protecting Iowa’s Land and Future
SILT has just faced an unexpected hurdle. Our $1.8 million federal grant was suddenly terminated with only two business days' notice. While this news is disappointing, it doesn’t change our mission, it just means we need our community more than ever.
We are resilient, we have a plan, and we are fighting back. But we need immediate support to bridge this funding gap and keep our vital work for Iowa’s farmers moving forward.
Donate to the SILT resilience fund: www.silt.org/donate
Or mail gifts to: PO Box 306, West Branch, IA 52358