LandConnect · Research desk
Reports
Long-form analysis from the GRO:FARM research desk on agricultural labor, conservation funding, and the county-level economics of rural work.
Long read · 14 min · September 22, 2026
This Map Shows Where All the Money Is in Agriculture (Hint: It's Not Where You Think)
A LandConnect Research Desk report on why the strongest agricultural opportunity signals often appear where conservation funding, local purchasing power, underused land, and implementation readiness overlap.
By Nashad Carrington and Rachel Kim, LandConnect Research Desk, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 12 min · September 10, 2026
The Small Farm Revolution
Why the most fundable farm in your county is under fifty acres and twenty minutes from downtown — and what municipalities and economic developers are missing by not counting it.
By Maya Patel, PhD, Chief Data Scientist & Market Intelligence Lead — GRO:FARM
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Long read · 13 min · August 26, 2026
Better Data, Better Land Decisions
How structured municipal inputs — parcel joins, freshness tiers, and metadata-first design — turn environmental and land-use planning from a guessing game into a decision-grade discipline.
By Maya Patel, Chief Data Scientist & Market Intelligence Lead — GRO:FARM
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Long read · 11 min · August 21, 2026
Idle Land, Funded Futures
Three voices from the GRO:FARM desk on what a Land Activation Sprint actually puts in a city's hands — the mandate, the evidence underneath the ranking, and the crews who do the work.
By Nashad Carrington, VP Strategy — GRO:FARM
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Long read · 14 min · August 19, 2026
From Community Need to Fundable Opportunity
How LandConnect's Addressable Funding Module braids public and philanthropic capital into scored, defensible packages — turning community meetings into fundable projects across nine U.S. cities.
By Nashad Carrington, VP Strategy — GRO:FARM
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Long read · 15 min · August 12, 2026
Green Jobs Start with Land Strategy
How activated municipal acres become apprenticeship slots, sector pathways, and a labor-market strategy that runs from YouthBuild to SCSEP — on one portfolio, one contractor bench, one ledger.
By Nashad Carrington & Maya Patel, VP Strategy · Chief Data Scientist & Market Intelligence Lead — GRO:FARM
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Long read · 9 min · August 10, 2026
The Young Farmer Success Act is a Workforce Bill for the Farms America Says it Needs
H.R. 9974 would let eligible full-time farm and ranch employees pursue Public Service Loan Forgiveness. It is one meaningful piece of the entry equation — and a reminder that policy opportunity still needs operational infrastructure.
By Nashad Carrington, VP Strategy, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 14 min · August 5, 2026
Municipal Land as a Carbon Asset
How activated acres, USDA cost-share, and a local contractor bench turn municipal land into a durable carbon revenue stream — and the Main Street businesses that stream is designed to fund.
By JP Richardson & Tom Schneider, Director of Contractor Success & Community Engagement · Sr. Ag Advisory & Government Programs Specialist, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 13 min · July 29, 2026
What Happens When Activated Acres Start Working for the City
A joint field-and-platform read on quantifying the upside of activated acres — with the LandConnect Land-Value Uplift Module as the pricing layer for planning decisions.
By Tom Schneider & Rachel Kim, Sr. Ag Advisory & Government Programs Specialist · CTO & Platform Innovation Lead, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 14 min · July 21, 2026
Turning Vacant Land into Municipal Value
How mayors and councils can convert underused parcels into revenue, jobs, and ecological wins — with the LandConnect Municipal Forecast Methodology as the operating layer.
By Nashad Carrington, VP Strategy, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 18 min · June 1, 2026
State vs. Federal: Navigating the Dual Funding Streams of Agricultural Work
How federal farm programs, state cost-share, and carbon markets are converging into one operational challenge — compliant project delivery — and why that is a platform problem, not a paperwork problem.
By Rachel Kim, CTO & Platform Innovation Lead, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 22 min · May 28, 2026
The New Agricultural Contractor: Data-Driven Analysis of 150,000 NRCS Projects
How conservation funding, technical certification, and state priorities are creating a new contractor economy — and what 150,000 projects say about where the next wave of work lands.
By JP Richardson, Director of Contractor Success & Community Engagement, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 18 min · May 25, 2026
From Gig to Grid: How Digital Platforms, Payments, and Escrow Are Rebuilding Agricultural Labor
The work is there. The system isn't. How platforms, payment rails, and escrow-backed workflows are turning scattered rural work into a searchable, financeable, executable market.
By Sarah Okonkwo, Director of Financial Services & Payment Innovation, GRO:FARM
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Long read · 16 min · May 20, 2026
Mapping Agricultural Labor: What 2,000 Counties Reveal About Rural Work
Funding cycles, contractor supply, and migration patterns are reshaping where farm and conservation work actually gets done.
By Nashad Carrington, VP of Strategy, GRO:FARM
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