2024-11-01T11:10:42-07:00 2023-12-31 990 2023-01-01 455445890 FARM COMMONS FARM 2183024030 302 W Austin St Duluth MN 55803 Rachel Armstrong Executive Director 2183024030 2024-07-10 1 2023 2024-10-15 13:58:12Z Rachel Armstrong 302 W Austin Street Duluth MN 55803 573738 0 X www.farmcommons.org X 2012 WI Farm Commons' mission is to provide the legal resources sustainable farmers need to be the stable, resilient foundation of a community-based food system. Farm Commons empowers agricultural communities to resolve their own legal vulnerabilities, within an ecosystem of support. 6 6 6 25 0 0 406772 441723 98003 130861 0 0 0 1154 504775 573738 0 0 0 0 352651 394219 0 0 23031 118328 183161 470979 577380 33796 -3642 287917 283461 3285 2471 284632 280990 X Farm Commons' mission is to provide the legal resources that sustainable farmers need to become the stable, resilient foundation of a community-based food system. Farm Commons empowers agricultural communities (including farmers, ranchers, and agriculture support persons) to identify and resolve legal vulnerabilities within an ecosystem of support. An ecosystem of support includes accountants, attorneys, and insurance agents who assist agricultural business owners in resolving risk. To carry out our mission, we create educational resources including online workshops. We also develop the leadership of agricultural community members (farmers and their supporters) to support legal resiliency, locally. 0 0 318800 0 476304 Farmer Education: In 2023 we hosted about 60 farmers through our Discovering Resilience workshop, which saw 90% of attendees adopt at least one of the 10 best practices of legal resilience within 3 months of the workshop. In addition, 80% of attendees are still working towards implementing 4 or more best practices 3 months after the workshop. We launched 5 new Advanced Farm Law workshops. We wrote and distributed 10 additional guides including in-depth material on farm leasing, sales, risk management, and value-added products for farm businesses. We delivered 27 webinars to farmers nationwide on essential farm law subjects. We brought 12 Fellows through our advanced training and communications programs. We supported the leadership of 4 farmers in hosting Resilience Circles in their own communities. In addition, we addressed dozens of individual questions and re-developed our online Q&A platform, creating a community-wide discussion on farm law issues that affect farmers the most including forming LLCs, writing leases, and managing employment law obligations. 54014 91804 Non-Farmer Education: In 2023, Farm Commons developed its service to Extension Educators, nonprofit employees, and farm support persons nationwide to help farmers recognize and address legal vulnerabilities before a problem occurs. We supported 35 organizations with customized access to our resources and individualized webinars to their agricultural communities. We delivered our comprehensive online workshop, Guiding Resilience, to 19 professionals nationwide. Our data show that for every one non-farming agriculture professional we reach, that person provides our information to 22 more farmers in their local community, significantly magnifying our ability to achieve our mission. Considering the incredible impact and further potential of these partners to help us reach each farmer in America, we designed a new Legal Ecosystem Fellowship program that trains these partners to be able to lead farm law workshops in their own communities. 8 professionals went through the LEF program and successfully delivered farm law presentations in their communities. 0 0 Research: Farm Commons provides essential services in doing complex legal research and in studying the impact and ramifications of legal realities on diverse farm communities. In 2023, we retooled the program to also provide legal services to select individuals, as serves our research mission. No revenue or expenses were incurred by the end of the fiscal year. 0 0 0 372814 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 37 6 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 X Rachel Armstrong 2183024030 302 W Austin St Duluth MN 55803 Rachel Armstrong Ex officio and Non-Voting Director 40 X X 70412 0 4494 Aaron Sandvig Director 1 X 0 0 0 Andrew Larson Director 1 0 X X 0 0 0 Tom Buller Secretary 1 0 X X 0 0 0 Joy Kirkpatrick Treasurer 1 X X 0 0 0 Kate Graham President 1 0 X 0 0 0 Beth Dooley Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 70412 0 4494 0 0 0 0 0 0 51277 0 0 383862 6584 1584 441723 Curriculum and Resource Development 611519 130861 130861 0 0 0 0 0 0 130861 0 0 0 0 0 1154 1154 0 0 1154 573738 132015 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 70413 28165 28165 14083 0 0 0 0 268140 215882 52226 32 7789 0 7789 0 20717 1292 19425 0 27160 19870 6065 1225 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27128 0 27128 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2935 0 2935 0 188 158 30 0 4613 272 4306 35 22573 8535 9784 4254 0 0 0 0 3000 0 3000 0 8111 4553 1388 2170 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16600 0 16600 0 0 0 0 0 Direct program expenses 92332 90537 718 1077 Bank and Business Fees 1670 1577 93 0 Other Business expenses and bad debt 3663 1973 1690 0 Staff training and development 348 0 193 155 577380 372814 181535 23031 63642 159288 0 0 0 0 164422 83595 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 461 0 42883 -26283 -42883 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 86136 83000 287917 283461 1423 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1862 2471 3285 2471 X 250835 284631 0 0 33797 -3641 284632 280990 287917 283461 -3642 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 0 0 0 X 214516 382812 409165 406773 441723 1854989 214516 382812 409165 406773 441723 1854989 1854989 866 666 54 0 0 1586 1856575 130861 0.99915 0.99902 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42883 -42883 -42883 Website 83000 83000 0 credit card 923 Simple IRA liability 1548 2471 Form 990, Part III (Cont. 1) Farm Commons' mission is to provide the legal resources that sustainable farmers need to become the stable, resilient foundation of a community-based food system. Farm Commons empowers agricultural communities (including farmers, ranchers, and agriculture support persons) to identify and resolve legal vulnerabilities within an ecosystem of support. An ecosystem of support includes accountants, attorneys, and insurance agents who assist agricultural business owners in resolving risk. To carry out our mission, we create educational resources including online workshops. We also develop the leadership of agricultural community members (farmers and their supporters) to support legal resiliency, locally. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b All board members receive a final draft copy of the complete Form 990 return plus the Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 - Yes, these documents were available to the public. Documents required to be available for public inspection (governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements) are available by calling the organization at the number necessary. interest policy is distributed and members have the opportunity to submit documentation of any potential or actual conflicts of interest, if spreadsheets and reports used to prepare the return. Members are given 7 days to review and comment on or request clarification on the tax return. Comments and questions are addressed within that 7 days, or the submission time is extended to allow all comments and questions to be fully addressed. When all is resolved, the return is submitted. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c At each new director orientation and annually at the December meeting, the conflicts of interest policy is distributed and directors have the opportunity to submit documentation of any potential or actual conflicts of interest, as necessary. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 Compensation for every non-Executive Director position is determined according to the Compensation and Benefits policy, which is prepared and maintained by the Executive Director, and which requires an analysis of comparable positions in the organization's home state within a similar profession and at a similar scale. Compensation for the Executive Director position is determined according to the Compensation policy prepared and maintained by the Board of Directors, and which requires the organization strive to provide compensation at the level of comparable positions in the organization's home state within a similar profession and at a similar scale. A market comparison is preformed not more than every 2 years. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 Yes, these documents were available to the public. Documents required to be available for public inspection (governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements) are available by calling the organization at the number listed at our website or emailing our central email address info at farmcommons dot org.