Farmland Access and Affordable Housing – Feeding Two Birds With One Scone

by Tim Rowland |

Dan and Kimmy Rivera started out to solve a problem. If all goes according to plan, they may wind up solving several. In middle age and feeling the effects of a decade of farm labor, the owners of Triple Green Jade farm in Willsboro began shopping around for a succession plan that would protect their 80 acres and their successful baking business while using its value to support their retirement somewhere down the road.

Typically an easement would be the answer, but the Riveras wanted something a bit less restrictive. Something that would allow more people to live on and work the land, and be flexible enough to factor in future unknowns, notably climate change.

Following leads provided by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s in-depth succession planning resources and other New England agencies, Dan Rivera said he finally was connected with the Food & Farm Business Law Clinic at Pace University, which offers legal services and advocacy projects in support of the transition to a just and sustainable food system. 

When Dan contacted the center, which was founded in 2017, they told him that other farmers were starting to ask the same sorts of questions. “They said they were getting a lot of requests from people who own land and are trying to figure out a way to share it more equitably,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Riveras had come across a solution that seemed to make the most sense: cooperatives. 

Cooperatives in the North Country are not entirely new, and there have been successes and failures. A planned affordable housing co-op in Lake Placid failed to launch, but Ward Lumber in Jay successfully transitioned to a worker-owned model.The first job was to find out if the multiple-housing model would work from a legal standpoint, particularly in the Adirondacks, which has strict limits on housing density.

Pace University assigned Triple Green Jade a student who looked at farm cooperatives through a legal lens and indicated the plan was workable. This is because of a preexisting exemption to APA zoning for clustered farm housing inside the park. Thus, the Triple Green Jade farm cooperative project was born.

As envisioned, it exists at the intersection of three struggling Adirondack sectors: agriculture, labor and housing. About six families or individuals would each buy a share of the farm and baking business for $70,000. That would entitle them to build a home and work on the farm, and share in the company profits. It would be designed as an intentional community, with participants sharing common values of food equity, communal work and resource conservation.

Homes might be similar to a small community in Keene developed by the housing advocacy group Adirondack Roots, which have been made more affordable through shared land and utilities. And cooperative shareholders might also help build each others’ homes.

The business, over time, would help them recoup their costs.

“People would join this cooperative, and they would all own everything — not only the barns and the land, they would also own the business,” Dan said. “So the wood-fired bread oven would also be theirs. My stone mill would be theirs. They would have a whole commercial kitchen on a farm to make use of.”

Rivera said he expects the farm production would grow beyond what two people are currently able to produce. Owners might grow vegetables, raise more animals and make value-added products like cheese and charcuterie . More local food would be available to local supper tables.

“There are definitely ways we can grow it, and the (commercial) kitchen helps center all that, and becomes like a nice hub of activity for all those value added things,” Rivera said. “The idea is to kind of grow a community around that, and have people live here, hopefully affordably. The idea behind the affordable aspect is that we would try to help build together in kind of an eco village setting.”

Ryan Demers, cooperative business developer for the Cooperative Development Institute, said that while business co-ops are more established, farm co-ops have been shown to work elsewhere in New England. The cooperative structure offers support and stability, both for the occupants and for the farm. “People support what they help create,” Demers said. Cooperatives are also a stepping stone for people who might otherwise face headwinds when trying to start a business based on income, race or gender. 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are at least 30,000 co-ops in the country, pumping an annual $700 billion into the economy. While co-ops sometimes have the reputation for “sandals and candles,” Demers said it in fact takes hard work, social flexibility, and business acumen to make it all work.

Investors in Triple Green Jade would not necessarily have to farm. For example, someone with accounting skills would have something of value to contribute to the overall enterprise.

Those new to farming would have another advantage that others might not: Since the Riveras will continue to own a share, they can tap into Dan and Kimmy’s expertise in sales, marketing, production, and negotiating government programs.

“One of the challenges for intentional communities is that when a bunch of like-minded folks get together and find land, that’s the utopia moment; but after that, OK, what do we do to pay the bills?,” Rivera said. “So with the value that we offer, you can join a successful business right now. I’m not saying you’re gonna get rich here, but you can pay the bills and be gainfully employed by the fruits of your labor.”

A shared agricultural co-op would have another significant benefit that most farmers do not enjoy: time off. With other people to care for animals or mind the store, families would be able to take vacations and find it easier to schedule appointments. And tasks such as child care, which can be expensive if it can be found at all, is much easier in a cooperative setting.

Some communities have taken the sharing to another level, owning two or three cars that could be signed out as needed — and saving individuals a considerable transportation expense.

With such interdependence, participants are carefully vetted to help ensure they will thrive in an intentional community. “Communication is the key,” Rivera said.

There are other challenges, such as lining up nontraditional housing financing and finding places for shareholders to live while their homes are being built. But early interest has been promising, Rivera said. So promising, in fact, that for the Riveras themselves retirement might not mean leaving the farm.

“After we’re gone, the cooperative hopefully has a life of its own, and it’s really going to be up to them to decide what it can be,” Rivera said. “We had been talking about this as a farm succession plan, like we’re going to leave and retire. But the more folks I talk to about this, I start to think like, maybe we would stay — maybe we can age in place and be that retired couple that helps out with little tasks here and there.”