The Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture has listed the loss of farms and farm land and the need for increased market opportunities as its top agricultural concerns.  Local farm policy roundtables in 12 communities are underway to address the problem.

"Their goal is to bring together farmers, local officials, business leaders and others to identify critical food and agriculture related challenges in their communities and to develop and implement workable solutions," says the institute.  Eight of the 12 roundtables have completed a first round of workshops.

The needs for policy change from all 12 local roundtables, several regional meetings and a national meeting "will be the starting point for the development of new local and national policy recommendations," the institute statement says.

Local farm policy roundtables that completed the first round of workshops are located in Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina and Texas.