National Farm Viability Conference: Full Schedule

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9:00am MDT

Cross-State Approaches to Equitable Farmland Tenure and Purchase

Wednesday September 23, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am MDT

Agricultural land consolidation is accelerating across the United States, squeezing out small and mid-sized operators at a time when the next generation of sustainable producers most needs a foothold. This 90-minute session brings together practitioners from California, Georgia and other states to share what policies are actually working in farmland access, what has failed, and where the field needs to go next. The session is structured in two parts: PART 1: Practitioner Presentations (50 minutes) California (20 min): Kitchen Table Advisors and California FarmLink will present findings from the Agricultural Land Equity Task Force (A-LETF) Report, including the $1M TA contract that emerged from California Farmer Equity Act to advance equitable land access. Presenters will be candid about what has moved the needle and what hasn't. We will share lessons for advocates in other states looking to translate policy wins into on-the-ground impact. The Conservation Fund (20 min): The Conservation Fund will present a start-to-finish farmland transition model refined across 25+ transactions in multiple communities and states. A process that combines acquisition, technical support, conservation easement, and stepped-down pricing to make land ownership accessible for small and mid-sized operators at an inflection point and ready to scale. Presenters will share what it takes to replicate this model in new communities and will invite feedback from the room. Q&A for Presenters (10 min) PART 2: Facilitated Panel Discussion (40 minutes) Using the two state examples as a jumping-off point, the session will open into a structured peer discussion organized around three questions: • What are practitioners in your region trying to accomplish around farmland access and where are you hitting walls? • What's working, what isn't, and what do other states' experiences tell us? • Where do we go from here? What policy, financial, and cross-state coordination moves are needed to achieve meaningful land reform? Learning Objectives: Attendees will leave with (1) a concrete understanding of two distinct state-level approaches to equitable farmland transition. One policy/TA-driven (CA) and one transaction/conservation-driven (GA); (2) honest analysis of what has and hasn't worked in each; and (3) actionable ideas for what peer organizations and cross-state coalitions could do next.

Speakers

Liya Schwartzman

Senior Program Manager, California FarmLink

Since 2010, Liya Schwartzman has been a trusted partner for California farmers and ranchers, helping them secure the land, resources, and opportunities they need to thrive. Through her work with California FarmLink, she has guided hundreds in land access, strong tenure agreements... Read More →

James Nakahara

Program Manager, Ecosystem Building, Kitchen Table Advisors

James Nakahara is Program Manager for Ecosystem Building at Kitchen Table Advisors (KTA), a nonprofit farm business advising organization based in California. In this role, he oversees strategic initiatives that connect food system stakeholders to improve equitable economic opportunities... Read More →

Krisztián Varsa

Director, Farms Fund, The Conservation Fund

Kathryn Lyddan

Principal, Convivial Land Consulting

Kathryn works with land trusts, nonprofits, and local governments on farmland access and conservation projects, including strategic planning, policy development, program design and real estate and financing innovation. Kathryn has served as the Director of Conservation for the Marin... Read More →

Wednesday September 23, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
Ballroom

Land Access Retention and Transfer, Accessing Capital

11:00am MDT

Tax Management Strategies and a Tax Estimator Tool

Wednesday September 23, 2026 11:00am - 12:30pm MDT

Ballroom

There are many variables that play into the potential success of any farm and ranch regardless of size. When working with farms and ranches the focus is often on financial analysis or business planning including the general categories of risk management (i.e. production, financial, legal). While this is important, often the tax liability is left out. The liability from both income and self-employment tax can be incredibly significant. Without including it in the programming and interaction with farms, unexpected pressures on cashflow may affect farm viability. Three examples of where there can be unexpected liability include: 1) New farms that may only have $10,000 in taxable income, might not expect a significant tax burden, but may owe about $1,500 just in self-employment tax. 2) With current turbulence (e.g. input costs, drought) and projected low farm income, farms and ranches may be looking at selling assets and/or exiting farming. This can have tax liability because of deferred tax from farm inventory, and low or zero tax basis in the assets. 3) Producers moving through the process of succession and transition, moving the operations to the next generation of successors while they transition into retirement or semi-retirement. And 4) Farms and ranches making decisions about production, setting long-term goals within their business plans or simply making decisions about input purchases and or sales of farm products. In times of slim margins when every penny counts, proper tax management strategies can aid farms and ranches to be prepared to consider viable options which should help farms and ranches limit unintended tax liability consequences. This session will provide information on common tax management strategies and the use of a tax estimator tool to assist farms and ranches to remain viable. These strategies and tool can be used to provide awareness of the magnitude of the liability, compare the effects of options, and mitigate the magnitude of the effect on cash flow. The sessions goals and objectives are: 1. Understand the potential effects of tax liability on cash flow and interaction with farm financial analysis. 2. Provide information about common tax management strategies under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that should be considered and their limitations. 3. Understand when should tax management strategy sessions take place 4. How to use a tax management decision tool. If participants bring a computer, they will be able to download the tool to utilize during the workshop. 5. Provide additional resources on tax and asset protection topics. These resources are available on RuralTax.org and available for public use.

Speakers

Adam Kantrovich

ii. Extension Specialist & Program Team Director – Agribusiness and Director of the Clemson Extension Tax School, Clemson University

v. Dr. Kantrovich has been a faculty member in higher ed and or in Extension approx. 30 years and Co-chairs the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee. Dr. Kantrovich specializes in agricultural financial management, ag labor policy, farm and timber taxation, and other agricultural... Read More →

JC Hobbs

Associate Extension Specialist, Oklahoma State University

Ruby Ward

ii. Professor, Agriculture Tax, Agriculture Entrepreneurship, Community Development., Utah State University

v. Dr. Ruby Ward has been in higher education and or Extension for approx. 30 years.; she has her CPA, MBA and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics. Dr. Ward Co-chairs the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee. Ruby specializes in agricultural entrepreneurship, farm tax education... Read More →

Sarah Campbell

National Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coordinator, USDA

Sarah Campbell is the National Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coordinator at USDA. Her work focuses on leading and coordinating beginning farmer efforts across the Department, increasing access to USDA resources, and improving programs beginning farmers use to start and grow their operations... Read More →

Wednesday September 23, 2026 11:00am - 12:30pm MDT
Ballroom

Farm Financial Management, Business Planning and Development