Land Use Consultants ยท Since 2013

Stewarding the land for the next generation

Whole-system farm planning, regenerative agriculture, and environmental assessments. Twelve years of formal practice, a 143-question process, and plans landowners actually use.

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Years of practice
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Question diagnostic
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Service areas
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Published projects

Partner network includes

ECT Environmental
Huron River Watershed Council
Biohabitats
Jacobs Engineering
Iowa EDA
Snyder & Associates
Mequon Nature Preserve
Fondy Food Center
Brenton Arboretum
Hawthorn Hollow
HAFA Farmers
Hudson Valley Farm Hub
ECT Environmental
Huron River Watershed Council
Biohabitats
Jacobs Engineering
Iowa EDA
Snyder & Associates
Mequon Nature Preserve
Fondy Food Center
Brenton Arboretum
Hawthorn Hollow
HAFA Farmers
Hudson Valley Farm Hub
The Solutions in the Land team working a Midwest farm field
What we do

Site-specific planning. Measurable outcomes. No template plans.

We are an agronomist and a landscape architect with twelve years of formal farm-planning practice and many more in the field. Our work bridges the working farm and the urban food system, the soil and the spreadsheet, the operator and the next generation.

Every plan is rooted in the same belief: a farm is a three-dimensional, intergenerational asset with no operating manual. Our job is to write one your family or board will use.

  • 143-question diagnostic across stewardship, finance, and people
  • Plans grounded in real soils, hydrology, and regional context
  • Recommendations weighed for resilience, not novelty
  • Twelve years of formal practice across the Midwest and Northeast
Read our story
What we do

Four service areas, one integrated practice

Every engagement draws from our agronomy, planning, and environmental-assessment work. Pick a starting point.

Farm Planning & Strategy

Farm Planning & Strategy

Whole-system, succession, business and food-system planning rooted in our 143-question process.

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Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative Agriculture

Soil-health-led consulting on regenerative practices, organic transitions, agroforestry, and cover crop systems.

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Environmental Assessments

Environmental Assessments

Site, watershed, and ecological assessments for landowners, conservation groups, and municipalities.

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Farm Lease Consulting

Farm Lease Consulting

Lease advisory for owners and operators: agricultural, conservation, crop-share, and solar leases.

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How we work

Our six-part process

We leave no stone unturned in crafting plans to lower risk, increase income, and meld operations with the natural world.

1

Guiding Principles

We vet decision-maker principles first, then write the plan to fit them, not the other way around.

2

Regional Context

Cropping history, settlement, water, community. The past has a role in planning for the future.

3

Current Conditions

Inventory of soils, tile, easements, fertility, mining, and the lay of the land.

4

Opportunities & Constraints

Highways, rail, water, export access, regulations, prohibitions, and legal requirements.

5

Recommendations

We sift through possibilities to focus on adjustments that provide resilience and stability.

6

Revenue Generators

Income-producing recommendations weighed against burden to future generations.

Aerial of contour-planted Midwest farmland
The 143-question diagnostic

Every farm is unique. Every plan should be.

Our process is to answer 143 questions about your farm, from its regional background through farm policy and programs, weighing reliable profit at the farm gate against risk and against environmental impact.

Every farm is a micro-climate with unique opportunities and threats. The farm is an intergenerational asset with no guidebook. Our process gives owners and operators a reference manual to make good decisions.

  • Soil-health and water baselines tied to recommendations
  • Enterprise mix tested against real margin, not assumption
  • Succession terms agreed in writing across the family or board
  • A delivered plan in PDF you can hand to a lender, partner, or heir
Explore our process
Who we serve

From single farms to county comprehensive plans

We work with everyone who shapes the future of working land.

Our mission

Change the course of US agriculture.

We were founded on the belief that urban and rural systems need to be planned together: that the future of working farms depends on the food systems and watersheds they sit inside.

Selected work

Plans communities and landowners actually adopted

A short selection of recent published work.

McHenry County Comprehensive Plan

McHenry County Comprehensive Plan

A county-wide plan connecting land use, agriculture, water, and food-system goals across northern Illinois.

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Jasper County, Iowa Comprehensive Plan

Jasper County, Iowa Comprehensive Plan

Long-horizon county comprehensive plan integrating soil, watershed health, and working-lands strategy.

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Hudson Valley Farm Hub

Hudson Valley Farm Hub

Whole-system planning for a regional food hub model now studied across the Northeast.

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Frequently asked questions

Good to know
Every engagement is scoped to the farm. A typical single-property whole-system plan begins with a fixed-fee discovery and assessment, then a written plan deliverable. We will quote precisely after a free consultation and a site overview.
A whole-system plan is typically a 3 to 6 month engagement, depending on acreage, complexity, and how many decision-makers are involved. Succession and food-system plans are usually 6 to 12 months. We hold to written milestones.
It is the diagnostic backbone of our work, refined over twelve years of formal practice. The 143 questions cover regional context, soil and water, current conditions, opportunities and constraints, the family or board, financial position, and revenue generators.
We are based in Kenosha, Wisconsin and work across the Midwest as our core service area: Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota. Many of our published projects, including the Hudson Valley Farm Hub, take us outside the region as well.
Farmland owners and operators, agricultural investors, city planners and counties, conservation organizations, and food-system stakeholders. We work with everyone from single-family operations to large institutional landholdings.
Yes. After the written plan we offer optional implementation support: agronomic guidance, lease design, BMP rollout, and quarterly review of the plan against measured outcomes.
Start a conversation

Talk to us about your land.

Free consultation. We will read what you send, look at the property, and follow up with what we would recommend as a first step.

Free consultation

Tell us about your land. We reply within one business day.

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