Photos and story gathered by Phil Kraus.

"Harvey is a part of the soil, and the soil is a part of Harvey." That is what Bonita said about Harvey, her partner. Harvey is a 94-year-old who was born in the same house he lives in today, on 160 acres in the Midwest.

Although he traveled the world and lived abroad for a few decades, every summer he would return home to his roots. Now that he is older, he had to plan for what would happen to his land, and his home. He wanted to simply leave it to Bonita, but Bonita said, "No way, Harvey." and she connected to resources from the Land Stewardship Project and Renewing the Countryside to help with a land transition to non-family members.

Harvey's wishes included his land be stewarded into the future with regenerative agriculture practices, that he could continue to live in the house he was born in, and also plans to pass in the house that he was born in.

The younger couple that now owns the land built an amazing house out of the corncrib on the property, and they have a wonderful relationship with both Harvey and Bonita. They share meals with each other, have social gatherings with friends and regularly check on Harvey. "Family later in the life." is what they all say.

Through this creative, innovative work, Harvey was able to transition the land that's been his entire life in a way that felt best for him, and a new, beginning farmer was able to access farmland in a financially manageable way.

Farmland access and transition work has been a core part of RTC since The Farmland Access Hub launched in 2017, through a Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) grant. The Hub is a consortium of 26 partners working to increase farmland access for beginning farmers in the Upper Midwest; because farmland access work requires a community of people and partners.

A big part of The Hub is the Farmland Access Navigator program, which pairs land-seeking farmers with an advocate who can provide mentorship and resources, and “navigate” them through their land access journey. Many of The Hub Navigators are on RTC's team, including Bonnie Warndahl who helped Harvey and Bonita through this transition.

Federal funding for this work continues to remain uncertain and unstable, but we continue the work.

If you are able to make a gift to RTC today during Give to the Max season, it will go directly towards initiatives like Farmland Access; towards more beautiful stories like Harvey and Bonita's.