How Teachers Are Helping Grow the Next Generation of Land Stewards

With the average age of farmers in the U.S. reaching over 58 years old and nearly half reaching retirement age, farmland ownership will continue to turn over at significant rates in the next few decades, creating new land stewardship opportunities for younger generations. That shift presents both a challenge and an opportunity: to ensure the next generation not only stewards the land but has the knowledge and skills to improve it.

Our mission at American Farmland Trust (AFT) has always been about keeping farmers on the land and promoting sound farming practices. This work doesn’t just start when a farmer enters the field but can be started with agricultural education in America’s classrooms. Today, more than one million students across the country are enrolled in agricultural education programs taught by over 13,000 teachers. Yet despite that reach, one crucial topic has been missing: soil health and regenerative agriculture.

rainfall-experiment — Teachers conduct an experiment to understand how rainfall affects soil with ground cover. (Image courtesy of Kinzie Reiss, American Farmland Trust)

Regenerative agriculture promotes practices that focus on the health of the whole ecological system, not solely on high production yields of crops. Learning about living soil underneath our feet can encourage this focus for many.

To bridge that gap, AFT was awarded a Secondary Education, Two-Year Post Secondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grant (SPECA) from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in 2023. Using the funds, we developed a five-week soil health and regenerative agriculture curriculum for high school teachers and their students.

These efforts brought together partners from across states and sectors: the Kansas Soil Health Alliance (Jennifer Simmelink, Executive Director), the Ohio State University (Dr. Stephanie Karhoff, Assistant Professor) Candy Thomas, a former NRCS regional soil specialist and AFT staff. Together, we created and piloted a hands-on curriculum in Kansas and Ohio — guided by an advisory committee of educators and soil health experts.

aft-agricultural-eduction — (left) Kansas teachers, Emily Mong and Marvin Green, observe differences in soil cover during an experiment. (Images courtesy of Kinzie Reiss, American Farmland Trust)

Nine teachers served as the first round of pilot teachers for the 2024-2025 school year. Representing both rural and urban districts, they participated in in-person trainings and received all materials, including soil health kits for their classrooms.

This past summer, we surveyed those teachers to improve the curriculum, and the results speak for themselves:

100% of the pilot teachers reported increased confidence in teaching about regenerative agriculture and soil health.
100% would recommend the curriculum to others.

We look forward to training the next round of pilot teachers in 2026 and helping fill the boots of retired farmers in the coming years. The final curriculum will be free and available for all teachers by late 2026.

If you are interested in serving as a pilot teacher, please reach out to Kinzie Reiss, Program Manager, at [email protected]. If you are interested in receiving the free curriculum, once finalized in 2026, please sign up here.

pans-soil-aft — Pans of soil used for experiments. (Image courtesy of Kinzie Reiss, American Farmland Trust)

About American Farmland Trust:

American Farmland Trust believes in thriving farms and ranches. AFT protects agricultural land, promotes environmentally sound farming practices, and keeps farmers on their land. It is the only national agricultural organization of its kind recognizing the connection between land, practices, and farmers. Because of AFT, millions of acres of farmland that otherwise would have been converted into house lots and shopping malls remain in farming, and tens of thousands of farmers and ranchers have adopted better farming practices. Learn more and become a member at farmland.org.