This report incorporates the tenets of research and recommendations by Connecticut’s agriculture leaders and outlines a template process to build a cooperative agriculture center, including housing for six to ten farmer families and associated farm workers. The overarching project goal is to outline the building blocks to create an agriculture center for new and emerging farmers that will ensure sustainable and long term growth, investment and potentially build farmer equity toward the purchase of an existing agriculture business or land for an owner occupied farm.

Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development (CT RC&D) has partnered with the Town of Lebanon to design a planning study toward evaluating the process and building a template for an affordable farming pilot project in the Town of Lebanon. The process evaluated two farms, Krause Farm and Our Acres (Randall) Farm in Lebanon. The report has been designed to assist other Connecticut municipalities or sponsors who want to support or invest in a project of this type.