Dear [Your Elected Official],

<p>As your constituent, I urge you to support the Farmland for Farmers Act (S.4391/H.R. 8531) and to keep farmland in the hands of independent producers and rural communities, not corporate investors.</p> <p>Accessing affordable farmland is the top challenge for young and beginning farmers and ranchers, and increasing land consolidation trends are a worsening problem for family farmers across the US. Affordable farmland is a critical need for the success of all US farmers, and directly benefits the communities they feed.</p> <p>Historically high land prices give an unfair advantage to corporate investors, who are able to use their legal and financial resources to outbid independent producers. These entities frequently use underhanded and intransparent methods that play up the financial crises affecting many US farmers, encouraging farmers to give up a valuable asset — land — in exchange for quick cash. As a result, the amount of corporate-owned agricultural properties has risen threefold since 2009.</p> <p>The Farmland for Farmers Act protects farmers and rural landowners from losing their land to predatory, speculative investment practices from corporations. The Act restricts future farmland ownership and leasing by corporate investors, both domestic and foreign. It also strengthens long-standing state-level restrictions on corporate farmland ownership as well as existing federal policies that track corporate farmland purchases, and authorizes civil and criminal penalties for violations of the law. </p> <p>Corporations should not be able to undercut US farmers to make a profit. Keeping farmland in the hands of independent producers allows farmers to invest in their communities, strengthens rural economies and creates more resilient food systems. Please support the Farmland for Farmers Act in the Farm Bill.</p>