Helping New Farmers Find Land: Finger Lakes LandLink

The Finger Lakes LandLink is a project of Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County and Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming.  It's purpose is to help connect land owners and land seekers in the Finger Lakes region. Our goals are to:

• Help beginning farmers find suitable land to lease or buy
• Help retiring farmers connect with the next generation of farmers and keep their land in farming
• Help retiring and beginning farmers create a mutually beneficial plan for ownership transition

The LandLink database stores information about land available for lease, loan or sale for beginning and established farmers in the 14 counties comprising the Finger Lakes region.  It likewise has a listing of land seekers.  Both land owner and land seeker listings are searchable by pertinent agricultural criteria.

This service is free and confidential.  If the land owners or land seekers do not wish to have their contact information listed on the database, Cornell Cooperative Extension staff will serve as the intermediary between landowners and land seekers. 

Both landowners and land seekers can also request direct assistance from Cornell Cooperative Extension staff at any time. 

How it works:

First, both land owners and land seekers will need to create an account.  Once your account is approved by the website manager, your listing will be entered into the database and you will have access to the other database listings.

Second, once your listing is approved by the website manager it will appear in the database and will be active for one year.  After one year, you will receive and automated email with the option to renew or remove your listing.  You can update your listing at any time by logging into your account.     

Third, you can search either the land owner or land seeker listings to find an appropriate match.  Both land owners and land seekers have the option to either be contacted directly or to have all inquiries go though the website manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension.  

Fourth, once a connection has been made between a land owner and land seeker both parties can request assistance from Cornell Cooperative Extension or utilize the resources listed on this website to draft an equitable lease.