American Farmland Trust

What it reported doing in 2024

State, local and federal programs -we have programs in the following regions: California, midwest, New York, new england, mid-atlantic, pacific northwest, southeast, and Texas; and our national initiatives are: agriculture conservation innovations, soil health and climate initiative, farmland information center, farm legacy, farm viability, farms for a new generation, federal policy, land protection, national agricultural land network, water initiative, and women for the land. In 2025, american farmland trust:- advanced 88 policy actions on aft proposals to protect farmland, support farmers and strengthen agricultural viability.- grew the national agricultural land network to 1,610 members from 620 organizations across all 50 states.- permanently protected 288 acres of productive farmland and wildlife habitat at solbakken farm in waupaca county, Wisconsin, through an agricultural conservation easement.- supported farmer-led soil health adoption in Illinois through five farmer-led advances in soil health groups that reached more than 60 farmers and enrolled more than 8,000 acres through the batch & grow cover crop program.- launched prosperity partners, a consulting program providing project-specific guidance on soil health, land management, conservation planning, agrivoltaics and farm viability.- led a coalition of 16 organizations through the pfas and agriculture policy workgroup and released the nation's first comprehensive set of federal policy recommendations to address pfas contamination of agricultural land.- reached more than 2,080 women producers and landowners across 16 states through women for the land learning circles.- released new tools for farmers, landowners and local governments, including the planning for agriculture in Virginia toolkit, acep-ale landowner resources and the farmer peer network training toolkit.- continued to expand aft's land transfer navigators initiative, which by the end of 2025 had reached nearly 50,000 farmers and ranchers across 30 states and influenced stewardship decisions on almost 1,000 square miles of agricultural land.- surpassed $5 million awarded through the brighter future fund to more than 2,000 farmers and ranchers across all 50 states and u.s. Territories since the fund's launch.- distributed $2 million in emergency resilience grants, providing $10,000 grants to 200 farmers and ranchers impacted by natural disasters, avian flu outbreaks and unexpected market losses.- awarded $896,600 through regenerate Virginia to 38 farmers and ranchers committed to improving soil health and long-term farm viability.- awarded $753,000 through new england regenerative livestock farming grants to 83 producers working to strengthen grazing systems, protect water resources and improve soil health.- continued to advance farmland for a new generation New York, which since its launch has facilitated 211 successful matches connecting farmers with more than 10,600 acres of farmland.- continued to build momentum for u.s. Farmed, aft's certification and transparency standard verifying that consumer-packaged goods contain at least 95% u.s.-grown ingredients.- certified sioux honey association co-op's sue bee and aunt sue's brands as the first honey products in the nation to earn aft's u.s. Farmed certification.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 85.3%; rating input score 85
• Program expense ratio: 87.1%; rating input score 87
• Fundraising efficiency: $9.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 96.1%; rating input score 96; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 2.9%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.03; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings