This innovation addresses structural barriers to land access by professionalizing how new and young organic farmers are recruited, supported and established on community-owned farmland. While the shareholding company has successfully secured capital to purchase farms, stronger procedures are needed both to support existing tenants and to onboard and manage farmers on properties acquired in the future.
A key element is the newly created Farm Council, which provides professional guidance to tenant farmers. Tenant farmers have considerable freedom to shape their own business concept while meeting the cooperative’s organic standards. The Farm Council provides professional guidance to help them turn this independence into a viable business, with support in areas such as ecological crop rotation, financial management, marketing and agricultural regulations.
The initiative also responds to a wider challenge: attracting qualified young organic farmers to Samsø and creating the conditions for them to stay. As the community-owned model depends on successful tenant farms, strengthening farmers’ business capacity also contributes to the long-term viability of the land ownership model.
Beyond individual farm support, the innovation aims to strengthen collaboration and mutual understanding across Samsø’s agricultural community, including organic and conventional farmers. By combining access to community-owned farmland with professional advice and peer support, it creates better conditions for a new generation of organic farmers to establish themselves on the island, helping maintain active farmland, support rural livelihoods and foster sustainable land management.
