12/8 Northern Illinois Event: Common Ground for Land Owners and Seekers

Event in Crystal Lake Addresses the Land Access Issue

A coalition of non-profits seeks to promote land access for aspiring farmers at its Common Ground — Northern Illinois event, to be held this coming Sunday (December 8) at Duke's Alehouse & Kitchen in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake.

Here is how the organizers describe the event, which will take place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. central:

Join us for our seventh annual Common Ground Gathering in northern Illinois!

Land seekers and landowners with pressing needs around land access are invited to this social and educational event.

Whether you’re looking for land to start or expand your farm business; looking for a farmer to purchase, steward, or lease your land; or simply wanting to learn more about land access, we invite you to come build community, connect, and find your common ground.

Common Ground – Northern Illinois 2024 is organized by Center for Agrarian Learning at McHenry County College, Farmers Rising, Illinois FarmLink, Northern Illinois Young Farmers, and The Land Conservancy of McHenry County. Each partner brings regional expertise, years of experience working with farmers and landowners, and a strong commitment to the good food movement.

Common Ground is generously sponsored by Farm Credit and Compeer. This work is supported by USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program, Food:Land:Opportunity (FLO), Lumpkin Family Foundation, and Builders Initiative.

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If you want to take an even deeper dive, the Common Ground event will be preceded by a Land Access 101 instructional that will be held at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Say the organizers:

This free pre-event workshop for land seekers is new this year! Join Illinois FarmLink and the Center for Agrarain Learning for a morning workshop on the basics of finding and securing a land arrangement that makes sense for you.

The workshop will wrap up around 1:00 pm. Then head over to Duke’s Alehouse & Kitchen, a short ten minute drive, to network with landowners and connect with local support organizations. We’re excited to offer this full day of land access programming for land seekers and hope you’ll join us.

Click below to register for one or both of these events.