Case Study: Vermont Law School achieves secure farmland access and protects farmers’ rights with Coupa Software

Vermont Law School Uses E-Contracting to Safeguard Farmers’ Rights and Support Sustainable Food Systems

Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) helps train lawyers and provide legal resources to small- and mid-sized farms, with a mission to expand land access and support sustainable food systems. CAFS identified a major challenge: many beginning and small-scale farmers lease land via informal, handshake agreements because legal counsel is costly, leaving them vulnerable when terms change and undermining long-term soil and business investment.

To address this, CAFS — with USDA funding and partner counsel — built the Farmland Access Legal Toolkit and a Farm Lease Builder using Coupa’s CLM Advanced. The free, browser-based, TurboTax-style tool guides users to create customized lease drafts (including regional and sustainability provisions) that can be reviewed by a lawyer, dramatically cutting legal costs. The result is a complimentary, Coupa-powered self-service lease builder that helps protect farmers’ rights and promote resilient, conservation-minded farming.

Vermont Law School

Francine Miller

Senior Legal Fellow