The Land Access Series focuses on land access topics relevant to beginning and experienced farmers and ranchers. Topics will include access to resources, lease agreements, land assessments, financial planning, and creating farm business resiliency through knowledge.

Stipends & Funding

Stipends will be provided to compensate current farmers and ranchers for their time. Funded by a USDA Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Grant.

Special Thanks To:

Upcoming Sessions

Securing Land – Land Access Training Course, 7 weeks

Wednesdays, September 28th – November 16th (one week break October 26th)
5:30- 7:00pm
Virtual

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

Beginning September 28th, the Land Link program will offer a seven week course to beginning farmers and ranchers interested in a more intensive land access training. Topics will include an introduction to land tenure, personal financial assessment, understanding your land tenure options, finding land, land assessment, leasing land, and purchasing land. The course will be held virtually and is offered at no cost due to funding provided by NIFA/USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Stipends of $500 will be provided to eligible farmers and ranchers who complete the course.

**Funding provided by USDA/NIFA Beginning Farmer + Rancher Development Grant**

For questions, please reach out to [email protected].


Previous Sessions

Land Access and Transfer Workshop – In Partnership with Ogallala Commons

September 24th, 2022
Free (Stipends Available for Travel Expenses)
Springfield, CO

Saturday, Sept. 24th | The Lost Dog 889 Main Street, Springfield, CO 81073

  • 9AM – 12PM | Land Access + Transfer Planning Workshop
  • 12PM – 1:30PM | Lunch, Wagyu Brisket & Potatoes | catered by SECO Blues Over the Fire
  • 1:30PM – 3:30PM | Tour of Casper Farms

**Funding provided by USDA/NIFA Beginning Farmer + Rancher Development Grant**


Planning for Your Future on the Land

This workshop is part of Guidestone’s 2022 AgriSummit Conference. You can register for the whole conference, or for this workshop separately, within the AgriSummit registration options.

March 9, 2022
1-4 pm
Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center
8913 W Highway 50, Salida, CO 81201

Join us for a half day workshop on all things Land Link! We will explore how best to prepare yourself for securing land in the near or distant future. We will discuss how to assess your land access options, what land is currently available in our database, ways to prepare financial documents, and other resources to assist you in your search for land. We invite farmers and ranchers looking to take the next step to join us. Stipends will be provided for active farmers and ranchers; open to others interested in gaining knowledge about this important part of our agricultural future!

Understanding Land Tenure

Feb 17, 2022
Begins at 6 pm, Runs 2 to 2.5 hours
Rio Grande Farm Park – Education Center
6935 CO-17, Alamosa, CO 81101

In partnership with the Rio Grande Farm Park and the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition, we are presenting the second session in our land access series to ranchers and farmers in the San Luis Valley. In this session, we will continue to expand our understanding of land access readiness and strengthen the connections between landowners and land seekers. If you’re interested in taking the next step in your ag journey in the San Luis Valley, please join us for this workshop!

Stipends will be provided to compensate current farmers and ranchers for their time. Funded by a USDA Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Grant.

Please email [email protected] if you’d like more information.

Introduction to Land Tenure

October 28, 2021
5:30-7:30 pm
Lakewood Library (JeffCo Public Library)

10200 W 20th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80215

All are welcome; women are strongly encouraged to register/attend. This event is specifically geared toward beginning farmers and ranchers who are actively farming and ready to take the next step in securing land for their business. Presenters will cover different types of land tenure and assess readiness for pursuing these options. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of land access options and ways to navigate these options in the future. Introduction to Land Tenure is presented in partnership with the Women, Food and Agriculture Network and GoFarm. Stipends will be provided to compensate current farmers and ranchers for their time. Funded by a grant through the USDA.

Thursday, July 15th, 2021
5-7 pm
In person option: 623 E 4th St, Alamosa, CO 81101
Virtual option: A link will be provided the week before the event

Información en español & Information in English

In collaboration with the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition, Guidestone Colorado will host a presentation on the Colorado Land Link program and how to best utilize the Land Link database and resources. This event will provide useful advice and tips on the options and challenges regarding land tenure (leasing and ownership) in Colorado. Join us in July for this session covering the basics of land access in Colorado. We look forward to having you at this in-person event!

Panelist Bios

Debora Hankinson & Les Petersen
Debora Hankinson and Les Petersen own and operate the Alamosa KOA campground just east of Alamosa.  Prior to being campground owners Deb spent her career in architecture and Les in software engineering.  In 2019 they left their corporate jobs in Kansas City Missouri to become full-time campground owners. In addition to the 15-acre campground, Deb and Les purchased an additional 90 acres east of the KOA.  Ten of these acres are earmarked for campground expansion and the remaining 80 acres they hope to put back into some sort of agricultural production.

Devon Peña
Since 1999, Dr. Peña has served as Full Professor at the University of Washington in the Departments of American Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, and the Program on the Environment. His areas of expertise include agroecology, environmental anthropology, Chicana/o Studies, social movements, and water law. He is widely recognized for his action-oriented research and played a key role in the drafting and passage of the 2009 Colorado Acequia Recognition law (HB 09-1233), a statute that established the customary law of the acequias as prior to the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation.

Dr. Peña taught at Colorado College for fifteen years prior to his appointment at the University of Washington where he was recruited to create a Ph.D. Program in Environmental Anthropology. He continues serving as a Full Professor in the Departments of American Ethnic Studies and Anthropology and the Program on the Environment.

Peña is the Founder and President of The Acequia Institute and manages the nonprofit foundation’s 181-acre farm in Viejo San Acacio, Colorado on Nuche-Dinè-Tiwa-Chicana/o/x territory. The Institute’s farm has water rights on the oldest adjudicated water rights in Colorado, the San Luis Peoples Acequia (1852). The entire parcel and water rights are held in a conservation easement emphasizing the preservation of open space, wildlife habitat, and acequia farming methods, practices, and traditions. He has served on numerous Boards including the Community Foundation of the San Luis Valley (2017-), the Northern Branch of Alianza Milpa (2019-), and the Council of the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network (2017-). He served on the Board of Food First for eight years (2012-2020) and before that for ten years with the Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG, 1992-2002).

Dr. Peña is the author or editor of numerous award-winning books, encyclopedias, and other publications. His most recent book, Mexican-Origin Foods, Foodways, and Social Movements: Decolonial Perspectives (U. Arkansas 2017) received the “Best Edited Volume-2018” Prize from the Association for the Study of Food and Society and deemed “Essential Reading” by Choice, American Library Association. He is currently completing work on a two volume book on acequias to be published by the University of Arizona Press in 2022-23.

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