Located on more than 1,300 acres in Alabama’s Black Belt, the Federation’s Rural Training & Research Center (RTRC) stands as both a home base for its members and a cornerstone of cooperative learning. Collectively owned by the Federation’s membership and situated between the towns of Epes and Gainesville in Sumter County, Alabama, the RTRC was built between 1971 and 1974 to provide a dedicated space for training, organizing, and convening across the rural South.

 

Over the decades, the RTRC has evolved into a dynamic hub where land, learning, and cooperative practice come together. Today, it is home to the Federation’s Southern Regional Agroforestry Center, Youth Forestry Camp, CoopEcon programming, and a range of demonstration projects—equipping farmers, landowners, and cooperatives with the tools, knowledge, and support needed to advance cooperative economic development, land retention, and advocacy.

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The RTRC is also now formally recognized as a Cooperative Cultural Heritage Site, a global designation that honors its decades-long legacy of land stewardship, cooperative empowerment, and community resilience across the American South.