NC FarmLink and the NC Local Food Program Team are excited to share our North Carolina Incubator Farm Case Study. This project took place in 2023-2024, with farm incubators across the state participating in surveys and interviews to better understand the structure, functioning, offerings, capacity for education, and general ability of farm incubators to exist as a solution in the land access puzzle for early-career farmers.

We've had questions about the incubators that exist, how they got started, and what factors should be considered in the development process that we also tried to address here for those curious about starting, or farming with, a farm incubator. We also were curious about how Extension professionals have and could assist farm incubator programs in the future, so we included a one-pager for Extension professionals, specifically, as well.

The programs and farm incubators will continue to evolve, and we recommend reaching out to them directly for up-to-date information.

Download the Incubator Farms in NC Case Study