Chicago-based startup Tillable, an online marketplace for farmland rental, formed a partnership with the Nature Conservancy this week to help landowners and farmers adopt cost-efficient conservation agricultural practices.
Tillable formed in 2017 to address the inefficiency and lack of transparency in farmland rental that the founders said causes US landowners to lose an estimated $8 billion annually and prevents qualified farmers from finding land to rent. Approximately 62% of farmland in the Midwest is rented, the company says.
For landowners, Tillable evaluates the land and determines a fair rental price. The landowner leases to the company for one or three growing seasons, Tillable pays the full lease, and then manages the process of finding a farmer who’s the right fit for the land.
A farmer who wants to rent land through Tillable creates an account detailing experience, searches nearby farms, and makes a blind offer. Through the company’s platform, farmers can access digital leases, make automated rent payments, and use reporting tools that help track soil management, fertilizer usage, yields, and other factors, according to Tillable.
The startup’s partnership with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) provides farmers and landowners with tools for applying sustainable and cost-effective solutions to issues like nutrient loss, soil erosion, and greenhouse gas emissions, said Tillable co-founder and CEO Corbett Kull.
TNC and Tillable say that their collaboration will:
“Landowners and their farmers have the power to transform the agriculture system, ensuring a healthier landscape for growing our food, safeguarding our drinking water supplies and creating a sustainable food system for a rapidly growing world,” said Randy Dell, strategy manager for the Nature Conservancy’s North America Agriculture Program.
