A radical vision for saving the family farm

a former dairy farm that, as of this year, is fully leased to nine small farmers, represents a new vision for farmland conservation and sustainable agriculture - and, its operators hope, a model for connecting small farmers with land trusts, which control more than 600,000 acres in Pennsylvania. "Underlying this is the concept of reinventing the family farm for the 21st century," said Marilyn Anthony, Lundale's executive director. "On a family farm back in the day, there would be livestock, fruit, and vegetables: a full diet. Now, farms have gotten way bigger, and they specialize in one or two crops. What the USDA calls 'the farm in the middle' - it's not 25 acres, and it's not 1,000 acres - is the thing that's disappearing from American agriculture. We looked at this as a way to recreate the family farm, using multiple families."  This particular family farm belonged to Samuel and Eleanor Morris, who bought the land in 1946. Eleanor, who died in 2011, specified in her will that the land be farmed organically and biodynamically. Their children, nonfarmers, had to get creative.  "There weren't good options," said Eleanor Morris Illoway, president of Lundale's board. "Large farming conservancies didn't want to take it unless it had a large endowment. . . . And it was unlikely to be sold as a piece because the land is under [conservation] easement." Besides, in a region where plenty of farmland is devoted to commodity feed crops, Morris Illoway and her family wanted to do something radical: "Our goal was to have a place where actual food would be produced." They realized they could accomplish that by removing two major barriers for farmers: access to affordable land and affordable housing. Growers could sublet an acre or 100 acres, depending on their needs, and some could live in the four historic farmhouses on the property. And they'd create a community, supporting one another as they grew. The family created a nonprofit and hired landscape architect Simone Collins to divide the property into parcels suited to various crops. There are about 300 tillable acres, including large swaths now devoted to cattle grazing and crops such as spelt.