Cooperative Farming Discussion with Catskill Agrarian Alliance

Monday, March 3, 2025, 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Tianna Kennedy, executive director of the Catskill Agrarian Alliance (CCA), is coming to Ithaca to speak about cooperative farming and land access. Tianna will be sharing her experience with establishing the agrarian commons at River Haven Farm (the first agrarian commons in New York State) and the work of the Catskills Agrarian Alliance. Let’s gather together to see what we can learn from the Catskill Agrarian Alliance and how their strategies for land access and cooperative farming might be applied to the Ithaca area.

Some key questions that will be addressed during this talk include:

• The organizational structure(s) that supported this work coming to life. Who were the partners and the players? Who was the "activator" so to speak?
• How was this project funded? Who supported the fundraising - was it a collective effort or something they brought someone in to support on?
• How would this type of arrangement support agroforestry-related projects, e.g., in terms of ensuring long term access.
• What challenges or opportunities are presented by cooperative farming and/or cooperative land access (e.g., accessing funding/capital, or hosting complementary enterprises within the same space.)?
• How do you keep everyone working in harmony together? What conflict resolution or decision-making processes are needed to keep things running smoothly?

We’ll start with a potluck, so please bring a dish to pass. Cooperative Extension will provide drinks and plates/cups/utensils (or bring your own if you’d like to avoid using disposable items). This will be a “learning-circle” style event with lots of time for questions and conversation. If you’d like to learn more about the Catskill Agrarian Alliance in advance of the meeting, visit their website here.
The event is free but registration is required.