TL;DR: You don't need land to start a farm. An Area 2 Farms farm grows USDA Certified Organic food in soil, using our patented Silos inside a neighborhood building smaller than an eighth of an acre. The biggest barrier for new farmers is land. Farmland now costs $4,500 an acre and is too far from where people actually live. Area 2 Farms’ philosophy: Move the Farm, NOT the food.
You don't need land to start a farm. You need a community.
When you picture a farm, you probably see rolling fields, a tractor, and a red barn. According to the USDA, that picture now costs $4,500 an acre, and 59 percent of young farmers say finding affordable land is very or extremely hard. We built a farm that doesn't need any of it.
Farming has always been about innovation, from the first irrigation systems to modern machinery. Indoor farming is simply the next chapter in that story. At Area 2 Farms, we're solving the barrier new farmers name most often: land.
A Building and Community, Not Acres
An Area 2 Farms farm grows inside a 3,500-5,000 square foot building, so the whole farm fits on a footprint smaller than an eighth of an acre.
With our patented growing system and controlled environments, spaces once considered unsuitable for farming can become thriving sources of fresh produce. Warehouses, vacant buildings, and underused urban spaces can now grow food year-round, without depending on the weather or traditional growing seasons.
And we grow in real, living soil, not water. That lets every farm grow everything from carrots and turnips to greens and herbs, all USDA Certified Organic, on the same proven system.
A Farm That Belongs to the Neighborhood
Putting the farm in a building solves the land problem and puts the farm right in the neighborhood it feeds. That changes everything about how the farm works.
Your customers are your neighbors. They live within 10 miles of the farm. They can stop by, see where their food grows, and get to know you by name. That relationship is something no grocery store can offer.
The food is fresher. Produce is harvested and in your members' kitchens the same week, instead of spending days on trucks and in warehouses.
The jobs stay local. Each farm is run by a team of six to eight people from the community, led by a Head Farmer.
The money stays local. When members buy straight from the farm, there are no middlemen between the people who grow the food and the people who eat it.
The neighborhood gains a gathering place. Farm tours, the Farm Stand, and harvest days give people a reason to come together around food.
Land: Too Little, Too Far
From 2017 to 2022, the U.S. lost 20.1 million acres of farmland, according to the USDA's Census of Agriculture. The farmers who own the rest are getting older. The average U.S. farmer is 58 years old. When a farmer retires, their land doesn't always stay a farm. Often it becomes a subdivision, a warehouse, or a parking lot.
The land closest to where people live goes first, because that's where the pressure to build is highest. So the farms that remain sit farther and farther from the people they feed.
When farms are far away, food has to travel. Every mile adds trucks, warehouses, and middlemen, and each one takes a cut. The result: farmers receive just 11.8 cents of every dollar Americans spend on U.S.-grown food, according to the USDA. The rest goes to processing, shipping, and retail. The system is built around moving food long distances, not around the farmer or the person eating it.
Be A Farmer with Area 2 Farms
Area 2 Farms is challenging one of agriculture’s oldest assumptions: that you need land to start a farm. We’re expanding what farming can be, who can do it, and where it can happen. The next generation of farmers can look at the buildings in their own neighborhoods and see farms where others see empty space.
