Trust Land Farm Grows With Community
“The neighborhood is incredibly engaged with agriculture, and we’re becoming a destination for farm stands,” said Ellie Costello, owner of Trust Land Farm, a mixed vegetable farm in Missoula County. “We’re bringing in people who usually don’t interact with food in such a direct way. It’s beneficial to have the whole area focused on ag, so that’s another way we’re giving back to the community.”
With housing shortages worldwide, valuable agricultural land is being developed at a rapid pace. In Montana alone, 1.6 million acres of farmland were lost between 2012 and 2017. However, Ellie and Trust Land Farm’s story is a prime example of how housing doesn’t have to be built at the expense of our agricultural resources. The two can co-exist and even benefit each other. In the case of Trust Land Farm, Ellie gains access to affordable land for farming and close proximity to customers, while the nearby community benefits from fresh, nutrient- rich food that is as local as it gets – and a relationship with the people growing it.
Ellie, like many farmers, leases her land. The property, named Corner Farm, sits on a corner lot on the West side of Missoula. For over 15 years, Clark Fork Organics farmed the land until its sale in 2023. The city of Missoula had identified the lot as prime agricultural land, important to the community’s food needs. Thankfully, it was purchased by Neva Hassanein, a professor and community food activist, who also saw the land’s value and wanted to preserve it permanently for food production. Two acres of land were allocated towards climate-friendly housing, now known as Corner Farm Village, while the remaining eight acres were sold to a land trust, protecting valuable farmland and allowing a new generation of farmers to care for the land. Corner Farm Village envisions 12 homes, along with an agricultural business building, organized as a cooperative.
In 2024, Corner Farm was transferred to Trust Montana, a Community Land Trust (CLT) working to build a portfolio of permanently affordable agricultural properties, commercial spaces, and quality homes for Montanans. Their conservation-style model for agricultural land ensures that the land will always be actively farmed and remain affordable for future farmers, benefiting the community to which it belongs. When Ellie stops farming, the eight-acre property will be passed on to a new farmer.
“Land access is the number one challenge for farmers like me,” says Ellie, “…for mixed veggie growers who like to work in the community where they live…access to land, the expense of it, is just out of reach for me and for many.”
However, thanks to Trust Montana, Ellie was able to clear this hurdle of land access. This brought her to the next challenge many new farmers face: funding for infrastructure. Even if new farmers are able to access land, start-up costs can be daunting. “Maybe [farmers] could find a piece of ground, but then once they own that, they don’t have any capital left to fund the assets needed to actually start farming,” says Ellie.
Trust Montana’s permanently affordable Corner Farm site means that Ellie was able to spend her resources on farm infrastructure instead of land. In 2023, Ellie received AgWest’s New Producer Grant of $15,000 and purchased the Clark Fork Organics hoop house, which was already on the property. AgWest is an agricultural lending cooperative with more than a century of experience changing the narrative for farmers, ranchers, timber harvesters, and aquatic producers throughout the West. This funding added to the farm’s momentum and laid the foundation for a successful 2024 growing season. Additionally, AgWest provided Trust Montana with a $5,000 Rural Community Grant, which contributed to their purchase of Corner Farm.
In 2024, the owners of Clark Forks Organics retired and sold the infrastructure at Corner Farm to Ellie, who maintained the farm while the property was in transition. Since taking over the lease, Ellie and her crew have built a wash and pack shed, installed electrical infrastructure, and built a greenhouse with a reused hoop frame purchased from a retired farmer. In the future, they plan to establish a solar electric system that will reduce and eventually eliminate the farm’s power expenses.
The system will also serve future farmers on the community land trust site. When Ellie stops farming, the new infrastructure will stay on the property, supporting the next farmer who steps in to steward the land. The farm will create a lasting impact in the community by caring for the people and the environment while building economic stability. Until then, Ellie plans to maximize the farm’s agricultural potential. She hopes to utilize the property’s natural floodplain, install an orchard, and build a processing kitchen and store, which will sell produce and value-added products sourced from the farm. Because of its closeness to the neighboring houses, the farm stand has the potential to become a community gathering place.
Ellie’s partnerships with Trust Montana, AgWest, Clark Fork Organics, and numerous other businesses and nonprofits were crucial to Trust Land Farm’s success. However, her most important partners come from her community.
“Our main support comes from people who eat and who take the time to come out and shop at the farm stand or go to local restaurants. Every place we sell is locally owned, and if people don’t value that and continue to frequent those places, we don’t have an outlet. We are very much in the community cycle.”
Ellie feeds the community. The community supports Ellie. It’s truly a full-circle relationship.
Trust Land Farm is the 2024 recipient of the Abundant Montana Jane Kile Memorial Scholarship. Funding is awarded for projects that seek to be part of the solution for a more sustainable Montana. Ellie plans to use their $1,200 grant towards building permanent infrastructure on the farm, which will benefit not only her business but all of the farmers who steward the land after.
THIS STORY MADE POSSIBLE WITH FUNDING
Learn More about Trust Montana and CLT Farms: trustmontanaclt.org/corner-farm
Learn more about the New Producer Grant: agwestfc.com/about/community- engagement/grants/new-producer-grant
FIND MORE STORIES LIKE THIS ONE IN OUR LOCAL FOOD GUIDE!
Written by:
Emilee Wood