As extra persons are beginning to notice — and as Indigenous Peoples have understood for millennia — how we deal with the land impacts the whole lot from meals and water safety to carbon sequestration and local weather change.
Many farms in the US are multigenerational household operations, and, as they’re handed down, some members of the following era are exploring the transition to agricultural practices which might be higher for the planet and more healthy for our meals system.
Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT is an funding firm that focuses on serving to farmers transition to natural, regenerative agriculture. Because the firm started 17 years in the past, it has partnered with greater than 70 farmers. It has a complete of $126 million invested in 36,000 acres of farmland on 115 farms throughout 20 states.
Iroquois Valley gives low-interest, long-term financing to farmers with the objective of constructing a meals system that’s extra sustainable by preserving farmland for use for natural manufacturing.
Iroquois Valley’s first funding of 2025 was with fifth-generation farmer Rex Wettstein. Wettstein began partnering with the corporate in 2019, when he determined to broaden his household’s operations by including a 200-acre farm in Woodford County, Illinois, a press launch from Iroquois Valley stated.
“We very a lot view the connection with our farmers as considered one of a long-term partnership. Our leases are arrange and structured… to be six years in length initially, and they are often evergreen thereafter,” Chris Zuehlsdorff, CEO of Iroquois Valley, advised EcoWatch. “The primary product that we provide farmers is what we name a purchase order lease. So a farmer like Rex, for instance, will establish a 200-acre farm that’s down the street or that he wish to add to his portfolio and his marketing strategy. And we’ll purchase that farm and lease it again to the farmer over a six-year time period. In order that will get them via the natural certification. After 12 months six, [the leases] auto-renew for each two years. We additionally supply the farmer a possibility to buy the farm from us on the finish of 12 months six, ought to they wish to.”
Final 12 months, Iroquois Valley distributed $37 million from traders to 18 farmers.
“Rex is an efficient instance of a farmer in our portfolio. We first did a purchase order of a farm for him and his household again in 2020, and he efficiently transitioned that farm… to licensed natural manufacturing,” Zuehlsdorff advised EcoWatch. “He’s seeking to develop his operation — his acreage portfolio, if you’ll — and so he recognized this chance late final 12 months to buy one other farm, and he introduced that chance to us.”
Natural wheat, soy and corn might be grown on Wettstein’s farm, however it can additionally change into the primary Iroquois Valley accomplice to put money into renewable power.
“For us, it’s the first funding in our portfolio that has wind generators on it. It has two working wind generators and an present renewable power lease hooked up to that farm,” Zuehlsdorff stated. “We’re excited that we get to accomplice, once more, to assist Rex develop his farm enterprise. And we’re including some extra diversification and resilience to our portfolio as nicely via a wind turbine lease. We’re additionally eager on exploring alternatives round group photo voltaic in our portfolio as nicely, to the extent the alternatives are there and there are organizations that we are able to accomplice with.”
All the things Wettstein farms is natural, and when he acquires new land, he transitions that into natural. Wettstein stated natural farming not solely makes for higher soil well being, however has financial benefits too.
“I’ve performed natural farming all my life. However then any new farms that we get, we do transition them to natural,” Wettstein stated in a current interview. “There’s undoubtedly extra of a return on the natural facet. And in case you’re speaking to somebody who possibly is a traditional farmer, they usually ask you, ‘What do you see as the advantages of natural over standard?’ we really feel prefer it’s more healthy for the soil, for us and the whole lot. We’re clearly smaller farmers, and it offers extra alternative for us. I imply, if it wasn’t for natural, I in all probability couldn’t farm.”
Wettstein stated there are in all probability a minimum of 25 to 30 natural farms within the space round his farm in Eureka, Illinois, and the quantity is rising.
“Increasing Rex’s operations is not only about rising extra natural crops, but additionally about constructing a thriving natural hub right here in Illinois,” stated Andy Ambriole, Iroquois Valley’s managing director of farmland investments, within the press launch. “By constructing resilient, natural communities it creates a mannequin for sustainable, worthwhile farming that advantages the group, the atmosphere and future generations.”
Co-founded by Dr. Stephen Rivard, a former emergency drugs physician, and Dave Miller, a former industrial actual property banker, the origin story of Iroquois Valley is an illustration of the significance of natural farming for human well being and the well-being of the planet.
Rivard and Miller “grew up in the identical small city, Kankakee, Illinois, farm nation in central Illinois. And after 30-plus 12 months careers… got here collectively and have been simply reflecting on some feedback Doc was making concerning the decline in well being metrics of his affected person inhabitants — this was in 2007, 2008 — whether or not it’s the growing charges of diabetes, coronary heart illness, most cancers, greater ranges of autism amongst kids. However that was what impressed them to start to discover options,” Zuehlsdorff advised EcoWatch. “And the one answer that they got here up with was to purchase a farm in Iroquois County, Illinois — therefore the title, Iroquois Valley — and convert that farm to natural, to get chemical substances out of the meals system, to simply attempt to make a small impression on outcomes within the atmosphere.”
That was the primary farm Iroquois Valley bought, however now their mannequin is considered one of partnership with farmers.
“Harold Wilkins would have been the primary farmer in our portfolio in Iroquois County, Illinois, that they labored with to transition… to licensed natural manufacturing. After which possibly 18 months later, they purchased one other farm in the identical space. And by 2012, they [had] created a small LLC,” Zuehlsdorff defined. “[They] continued elevating capital and shopping for and changing farmland to natural. After which in 2016, they transformed the fund to the construction that it’s at this time, which is an actual property funding belief and a public profit company… And what I actually like is we actually democratize entry for people and for individuals to personal a diversified portfolio of natural farmland.”
In 2000, the quantity of licensed natural land getting used for agriculture or livestock in the US was 1.8 million acres, in line with the U.S Division of Agriculture. However by 2021, that quantity had elevated to 4.9 million acres.
“We proceed to see a rising want for extra natural, regenerative farming in America,” Zuehlsdorff stated within the press launch. “Iroquois Valley receives help from over 925 accredited and non-accredited people and institutional traders, and investments vary from $5,000 to over $9 million. Affected person investor capital is the cornerstone of our long-term help for natural, regenerative farmers, however we’d like extra people and institutional traders who wish to be a part of our mission.”
Zuehlsdorff shared a few of his ideas concerning the significance of natural farming for wholesome meals and ingesting water.
“One thing like 80% of all pesticides are utilized to 5 crops — corn, soybeans, wheat, potatoes and cotton, I feel. And a lot of that will get funneled proper down the Mississippi River and proper into the watersheds in quite a lot of these farming communities and past,” Zuehlsdorff advised EcoWatch. “Licensed natural manufacturing removes the artificial chemical substances, pesticides, fertilizers from the soil and from the downstream detrimental impacts that comes with that.”
Zuehlsdorff stated people can help natural farming by shopping for produce and different merchandise via group supported agriculture packages and native cooperatives. They will additionally domesticate consciousness by rising their very own meals.
“I feel having a yard backyard or a small backyard plot the place you’re getting your fingers soiled and also you perceive how exhausting it’s to develop and the way exhausting farming will be and varied challenges that include it is vitally tangible and creates consciousness. After which, finally, it’s about creating demand for natural produce, natural grown crops,” Zuehlsdorff stated. “So the extra consciousness we are able to create amongst the patron within the shopping for group and the extra demand that’s on the market, the availability facet goes to reply. And in order that’s an important piece to the puzzle, I feel, is to really feel extra related to the meals [we] eat and the place it’s grown and the way it’s grown.”
Zuehlsdorff stated he sees natural farming persevering with to broaden for the well being of water, soil, people and wildlife.
“We began farming organically 60, 70 years in the past, earlier than we began placing chemical substances on fields en masse. And I feel we completely need to proceed to transition extra acres from standard to natural and regenerative practices,” Zuehlsdorff advised EcoWatch. “For us, natural certification is the baseline, after which all the regenerative practices that farmers can do on prime of that — cowl crops and crop rotations and integrating livestock, buffer strips for biodiversity — no matter that could be, is added on prime of that core natural certification, which is our baseline. Our imaginative and prescient is to remodel agriculture via natural land stewardship, and we really feel like now we have one era to do this. That’s our objective. We’re going to proceed to attempt to get as many acres as we are able to transition, and we’ll work with any and all companions to attain that imaginative and prescient.”
