This page presents summaries, survey results, and policy spotlights from a 2023 survey of participants in Maryland’s Next Generation Farmland Acquisition Program (Next Gen) and Delaware’s Young Farmer Loan Program.

In partnership with American Farmland Trust, as part of a USDA-funded assessment of land access incentive policies nationwide, Indiana University researchers are examining and defining Land Access Policy Incentives (LAPIs). From this research Farmland Purchase and Protection Incentive (FPPI) programs have emerged as a distinctive policy approach. FPPIs protect agricultural land from development and create land access opportunities for beginning farmers.

Maryland and Delaware state programs offer unique but similar farmland access and protection incentives to their young and beginning farmers.

Read more about the programs and research findings below.