To kick off the conference, AFT President and CEO John Piotti set the stage with a national assessment of America’s working lands—what we have, what we’ve lost, what we’ve protected, who owns and works them, and how these irreplaceable natural assets are contributing to America’s economy, environment, and food and national security. Using the latest AFT research and data, Piotti prepared the audience for conference sessions to come and rally us all around this important work.
Saving America’s Working Lands National Conference 2025
Conference Program
Saving America’s Working Lands, a national conference hosted by American Farmland Trust, took place April 23 – 25, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. The conference focused on the threatened and irreplaceable land that America relies on to grow food, fiber, and fuel, provide critical environmental benefits, and sustain rural communities and agricultural economies.
Saving America’s Working Lands offered opportunities to learn, network, and brainstorm around tools, strategies, and public policies to address the loss of working farm and ranch lands. With field trips, workshops, and two days of sessions and discussion groups, this was a not-to-be-missed chance to connect in person with peers and leading experts from around the country.
Attendees chose from four conference tracks, including:
- It’s Not Farmland Without Farmers—Agricultural Viability & Planning for Agriculture
- Changing Hands—Land Transfer, Access and Affordability
- Managing Working Lands for Environmental Resiliency & Economic Sustainability
- Forever Working Lands—About Agricultural Conservation Easements
See our full conference schedule-at-a glance, and on this page you can explore presentations, resources, and presenter information from the workshops across all conference tracks.
The State of America’s Working Lands
Meeting Challenges, Seeking Opportunities
A panel of national experts discussed trends that are impacting American agriculture and the land on which it depends—and how we, as farmers, ranchers, policy makers, agriculture and conservation leaders, can meet those challenges and seize opportunities to do more to save the land that sustains us.
It’s Not Farmland Without Farmers: Agricultural Viability and Planning for Agriculture
This track explores planning approaches, policy tools, and innovative strategies being used around the country to retain working lands while supporting the business of agriculture. America’s working lands are the factory floor for an agricultural sector that produces more than $200 billion in annual economic output. But, as American Farmland Trust likes to point out, it’s not farm or ranch land without farmers or ranchers.
Planning for an Enduring Ag Landscape
Farm and ranch land is under pressure from both familiar and emerging threats. What was once ubiquitous urban growth now takes many shapes, from solar arrays and warehouse sprawl to data centers and low-density residential development. Explore what is driving this conversion across the country and how proactive planning at the state and local level can help stem the loss of working lands and lay the groundwork for a permanent agricultural landscape.
