Yolo County’s farmers and farmworkers need secure, affordable housing on the lands they care for. 

California’s agricultural success depends on the labor of hundreds of thousands of farmworkers. About 90% of these workers are Spanish-speaking immigrants, ¾ are undocumented, and an ⅓ live in overcrowded or unsafe conditions. 

A 2024 assessment of Yolo County farmworker health shows similar findings. It also reveals that 40% of the county’s agricultural workers spend over half their income on rent — far exceeding the threshold for affordability. 

The report concludes that “farmworkers need permanent, affordable housing they can own.”  The same is true for next generation’s farm business owners, who say high land and housing prices are a primary barrier to establishing successful businesses. 

In fact, the lack of affordable housing in rural Yolo County affects everybody in agriculture: 

  1. Farmworkers live in crowded conditions and struggle to find housing close to work. When they do, rent eats up a dangerous amount of monthly earnings. 

  2. It is increasingly difficult for the next generation of farmers to get established in agriculture – land and housing are among their greatest hurdles.

  3. Without local housing stability for workers, established farmer-employers struggle to retain a dedicated workforce.

Who We Are

Casagraria, an emerging community land trust (CLT), seeks to address this problem by creating permanently affordable housing and equity for farmworkers and underserved farmers. CLTs are 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that acquire and steward land for community benefit—ensuring that housing remains affordable across generations. Qualifying (typically low-income or historically marginalized) residents can own their homes subject to resale restrictions, while the underlying land remains in trust.

Our Mission

Casagraria is the first community land trust that is designed to support rural farmworkers and underserved farmers in California. This emerging CLT aims to: 

  • Provide affordable housing on and near working farms

  • Build equity for farmworkers and underserved farmers

  • Foster the long-term health of the land and community

Where and How

Conceived of by visionary Capay Valley farmer Paul Muller of Full Belly Farm, and guided by an advisory council of local farmworkers, Casagraria is preparing to launch its first pilot project! With three new homes and about 2-1/2 acres of cropland, Casas Capay Valley demonstrates the potential of this powerful model to provide housing and land access to hard-working members of Yolo County’s agricultural community. 

Read more in Projects.

By moving land to community ownership and housing to worker ownership, Casagraria is helping to root equity, resilience and belonging in California’s food system.

What is a Community Land Trust (CLT)?

Community land trusts (CLT’s) are a proven way to preserve and build affordable housing for families who face housing insecurity or barriers to home ownership. 

While land and housing prices continue to go up in communities all over the country, an estimated half of America’s renters struggle to pay rent. A whole generation of educated young people anxiously wonder if they’ll ever afford the dream of home ownership. And record numbers of working-class factory workers, service workers, health care workers, and farm workers — are displaced from the areas where they work to find housing they can afford.

Nonprofit community land trusts, first developed in the 1960’s, are now emerging as one of the most promising models we have to take land off the real estate market, prevent displacement of vulnerable communities, and provide lasting, affordable housing —including limited-equity home ownership. 

CLTs are used to protect urban and rural agricultural lands (the first CSA in North America is on CLT land), commercial and retail spaces, affordable rental and co-op housing, and especially permanently-affordable home ownership for lower income families. 

There are almost forty established and emerging CLT’s around California. To learn more about CLT’s, visit the California Community Land Trust Network and Grounded Solutions Network.

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