What If Your Farm Could Become Someone Else’s Beginning?

Land Can Be More Than Property. It Can Be a Legacy.

There is a conversation happening across rural America that we cannot afford to ignore.

Farmers are aging. Land is becoming increasingly difficult for beginning farmers to obtain. The cost of agricultural property continues to put ownership out of reach for many people who want to farm, and families who have spent generations working the land are increasingly facing a difficult question:

What happens to the farm when there is no one in the family ready to take it over?

There is no single answer to that question.

But there is another possibility that deserves much more attention:

What if farmland could become a legacy for the next generation of farmers?

That is one of the ideas behind the Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance and the proposed Harvest of Hope Pilot Farm.

And this isn't simply a nice idea.

It has happened before.

A Nebraska Family Showed What Is Possible

In October 2023, the Nebraska Examiner reported on a remarkable decision by brothers Matt and Drey Samuelson, who owned approximately 120 acres of family farmland in Thurston County, Nebraska.

Rather than simply selling the property and keeping the proceeds within the family, the brothers committed the proceeds from the sale to Civic Nebraska, a nonprofit organization whose work they believed in.

At the time, the family expected the farmland sale to generate approximately $1 million. Civic Nebraska described the gift as the largest single donation in its history. A later estimate placed the value of the gift at approximately $1.2 million.

The reason matters.

The family wasn't simply looking for somewhere to put money.

They wanted to do something good for their home state.

That is the power of legacy giving.

Land that had been part of a family's history could be transformed into resources supporting a mission that would continue beyond the family's direct ownership of the property.

You can read the original reporting from the Nebraska Examiner and the nonprofit's own account from Civic Nebraska.

And There Is Another Example

There is an even more direct example of agricultural land being donated to a nonprofit.

In a Nebraska Supreme Court case, the court documented that Thomas Kalkowski donated 159 acres of land to the Nebraska National Trails Museum Foundation.

The arrangement was unusual: after donating the property, the donor leased the land back and continued farming it under the terms of the agreement.

The case ultimately involved a dispute concerning improvements to the property and irrigation rights, but the underlying fact is important:

Agricultural land was donated to a nonprofit organization.

That means the concept of placing farmland into a nonprofit structure isn't theoretical.

It has happened.

And it means we can ask a much bigger question.

What If We Did It for Beginning Farmers?

The Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance believes access to land is one of the fundamental barriers facing the next generation of American farmers.

A person can have determination.

They can have education.

They can have agricultural knowledge.

They can have equipment experience.

They can have a business plan.

They can be willing to work.

But without access to land, much of that potential remains trapped.

That is where Harvest of Hope Pilot Farm comes in.

The goal is to establish a working agricultural property that can serve as a demonstration, training, mentorship, and development site for beginning farmers.

It would not simply be a farm.

It would be a place where people can learn how to turn agricultural knowledge into agricultural experience.

Land. Learn. Launch.

The Harvest of Hope concept is built around three fundamental stages.

LAND

Beginning farmers need access to agricultural land.

The pilot farm would demonstrate what can happen when that barrier is reduced.

LEARN

Participants need more than classroom education.

They need hands-on experience with farm safety, production, equipment, record keeping, financial management, marketing, risk management, farm planning, and the day-to-day responsibilities of operating an agricultural enterprise.

LAUNCH

The ultimate goal is not to keep people dependent on the pilot farm.

The goal is to help people become capable of moving forward.

Harvest of Hope would work toward helping beginning farmers develop the knowledge, experience, documentation, mentorship, and practical skills they need to pursue agricultural opportunities of their own.

What If a Farm Could Train Farmers for Generations?

Imagine a retired farmer looking across a property that has been part of their family's history for decades.

Maybe the children don't want to farm.

Maybe there isn't a grandchild ready to take over.

Maybe selling the property to the highest bidder is financially sensible—but emotionally difficult.

Now imagine another option.

Instead of asking only:

"What is this land worth?"

What if the question became:

"What could this land do?"

A donated farm could become a training ground.

A donated acreage could become demonstration plots.

A donated farmhouse could become housing or a program facility, depending upon the legal and operational structure.

A donated barn could become equipment storage or a workshop space.

A donated greenhouse could become a beginning farmer training site.

A donated tractor could become part of an agricultural education program.

And the farm could become a place where people who have never had an opportunity to operate agricultural land can begin learning how to do it.

We Are Not Looking for a Handout

There is an important distinction here.

Harvest of Hope is not about asking someone to simply give something away because a beginning farmer needs help.

It is about asking whether landowners who believe in the future of agriculture would consider turning an asset into a legacy.

A farm can be an investment.

It can be an inheritance.

It can be a commodity.

But it can also be a legacy.

And for some landowners, that may be the most meaningful thing it can become.

There Are Many Ways to Help Create a Pilot Farm

A person does not necessarily have to donate an entire farm.

Potential support could include:

DONATE A FARM

A complete agricultural property with a residence or suitable structures could become the foundation of the pilot.

DONATE LAND

Acreage could provide space for agricultural production, demonstrations, training, and future development.

DONATE OR LEASE PROPERTY

A landowner may prefer to retain ownership while making property available through a long-term agricultural arrangement.

DONATE EQUIPMENT

Tractors, implements, trailers, tools, irrigation equipment, greenhouse equipment, fencing supplies, and other agricultural assets can help turn land into a working farm.

DONATE INFRASTRUCTURE

A farmstand, greenhouse, fencing, irrigation system, storage facility, refrigeration, or other improvements can make an enormous difference.

DONATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Cash contributions can help cover the costs that land alone cannot solve, including insurance, utilities, maintenance, agricultural inputs, transportation, training, and program development.

Why This Matters to Veterans and Young Farmers

Veterans and young farmers are not the only people who struggle with land access.

But they are among the groups VYFA specifically wants to help.

Many aspiring farmers are not starting with inherited land.

They are starting with a desire to farm.

That isn't enough to purchase a farm.

Harvest of Hope is intended to explore another pathway.

Access. Experience. Mentorship. Documentation. Opportunity.

The pilot farm would provide a physical place where those pieces can begin coming together.

We Believe the First Farm Can Change the Future

We don't need to begin with hundreds of acres.

We don't need to build a massive agricultural complex on day one.

We need the first farm.

A property with enough land to demonstrate what is possible.

A place where a beginning farmer can get their hands dirty.

A place where knowledge becomes experience.

A place where experience becomes confidence.

A place where confidence can become a business.

And eventually, a place where one beginning farmer can help another.

That is how a model grows.

The Question We Are Asking Landowners

If you own farmland that you are no longer certain what to do with, we would like you to consider something different.

Don't only ask:

"Who will buy my farm?"

Ask:

"Who could my farm help become?"

What if your property became the place where the next farmer learned how to operate a farm?

What if your land helped a veteran build a new agricultural career?

What if your farm became the beginning of a young family's future?

What if the land your family worked for generations could continue serving agriculture in a completely different way?

This Can Happen

We know it can happen because it already has.

Nebraska families have made major philanthropic gifts from agricultural land.

Agricultural property has been donated directly to nonprofit organizations.

Landowners have found ways to turn property into something larger than themselves.

The question isn't whether people are capable of doing this.

They are.

The question is whether we can build an organization and a pilot project worthy of their trust.

That is the work ahead.

Building Something Worth Giving To

The Veterans & Young Farmers Alliance is working toward strengthening the organizational foundation necessary to make Harvest of Hope a credible, responsible, sustainable pilot project.

That means building strong governance.

It means clearly defining the relationship between VYFA and Harvest of Hope Farm Initiative, LLC.

It means establishing appropriate policies and procedures.

It means creating accountability.

It means developing a sustainable operating model.

It means being transparent about how land and financial resources would be used.

And it means making sure that if someone entrusts us with a farm, we treat that trust as seriously as the land itself.

We don't want someone to simply give us property.

We want them to believe:

"These people are going to make this land matter."

A Farm Can Be a Beginning

The first Harvest of Hope farm doesn't have to solve America's agricultural crisis.

It simply has to prove that another pathway is possible.

One farm.

One beginning farmer.

One mentor.

One opportunity.

Then another.

And another.

Until the idea that farmland can create farmers becomes something communities across America understand.

LAND. LEARN. LAUNCH.

That is the vision.

And we are looking for the person, family, organization, farmer, business, or community that wants to help us plant the first seed.

Maybe the farm that becomes someone's beginning is already sitting somewhere in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, or another rural community—waiting for someone to give it a new purpose.

Maybe that someone is you.

The examples referenced in this article are based on publicly reported information. Any future donation of real estate to VYFA, or use of property by Harvest of Hope Farm Initiative, LLC, would be subject to appropriate legal, tax, governance, title, insurance, and organizational review before acceptance.