Terms of Service

Updated August 2026

THIS AGREEMENT INCLUDES A MANDATORY ARBITRATION PROVISION, A CLASS ACTION WAIVER, AND A JURY TRIAL WAIVER. THESE PROVISIONS APPEAR IN SECTION 17. BY USING THE DOWNLAND SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO THEM.

1. Acceptance of These Terms and Definitions

By using Downland’s website, products, and services, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

The following definitions apply throughout these Terms:

“Downland,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Downland, Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas, and our agents, including officers, directors, employees, consultants, and representatives.

“Site” refers to godownland.com and any other website made available by Downland.

“Services” refers to the Site and all services, tools, self-help templates, planning journeys, matching features, and communications provided by Downland.

“You,” “your,” and “User” refer to each visitor to the Site and each person who uses the Services. Users include Beginning Farmers, Established Farmers, and Plan Participants, each as described below.

“Beginning Farmer” refers to a User who registers to pursue Downland’s business planning and financial modeling journey with the goal of starting or growing a farm operation.

“Established Farmer” refers to a User who registers to pursue Downland’s guided succession planning journey.

“Plan Participant” refers to an individual invited by another User to participate in that User’s planning process, such as a family member, decision team member, or service provider. Depending on the features involved, a Plan Participant may participate by creating their own account and accepting these Terms, or through text-message features without creating an account, in which case their participation is governed by our SMS Terms, our Privacy Policy, and the applicable provisions of these Terms, to which they agree by opting in.

“Member” refers to any User who has created a Downland account.

“Plan Content” refers to the information, documents, responses, and materials a User submits or generates through the Services in the course of their planning journey, including values assessments, business plans, financial models, asset inventories, retirement planning inputs, and succession plans.

YOU AGREE THAT BY USING THE SERVICES YOU ARE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE AND LEGALLY ABLE TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT. THE SERVICES ARE OFFERED ONLY TO USERS LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES.

2. What Downland Is and Is Not

Downland helps farmers and landowners pass down their land and operations to the next generation. We provide technology-enabled planning tools, facilitation support, and a matching service that can connect Beginning Farmers with Established Farmers seeking a successor.

DOWNLAND IS NOT A LAW FIRM AND DOES NOT PROVIDE LEGAL ADVICE. THE SERVICES INCLUDE SELF-HELP TOOLS, TEMPLATES, AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS. THEY ARE NOT SUBSTITUTES FOR THE ADVICE OF A LICENSED ATTORNEY. NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP IS CREATED THROUGH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, AND INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE TO DOWNLAND IS NOT PROTECTED BY ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE.

Downland also does not provide tax advice, accounting advice, investment advice, financial advice, insurance advice, or appraisal services. Downland is not a registered investment adviser and does not make recommendations regarding securities, insurance products, retirement accounts, or specific investments. Business plans, financial models, retirement budgets, and asset inventories generated through the Services are planning tools built from information you provide. They are for informational purposes only. They are not audited, are not appraisals or valuations, and should not be relied upon for lending, underwriting, tax, or legal decision-making without independent professional review.

Downland is not a licensed real estate broker, loan broker, lender, or financial institution. Downland’s fees are charges for planning tools and facilitation services and are not contingent on, or calculated with reference to, any sale, lease, loan, or other transaction between Users or with any third party. Downland is not a party to any lease, sale, loan, employment arrangement, partnership, or succession agreement entered into between Users. Downland does not guarantee eligibility for, or approval of, any USDA, FSA, or other government loan or program. Eligibility determinations are made solely by the relevant agency or lender.

Downland’s facilitation features, including family facilitation and decision team tools, are structured conversation and documentation supports. They are not legal mediation, arbitration, counseling, or therapy.

3. Accounts, Eligibility, and Invited Participants

To access most Services, you must create an account and provide accurate, complete, and current information. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account.

You may only create an account for yourself. If you invite a Plan Participant, you represent and warrant that you have that person’s permission to provide their name and contact information to Downland, including their consent to be contacted at the telephone number you provide, that you have informed them their information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy, and that their participation is at their own election. Plan Participants who are invited by text message choose whether to participate by replying to opt in, and Downland will not continue messaging an invitee who does not opt in. Plan Participants who access the platform through their own account must accept these Terms before doing so. In all cases, Plan Participants receive only the permissions and access the inviting User or the platform’s structure grants them.

A Plan Participant who is designated a successor in an Established Farmer’s plan may separately register as a Beginning Farmer. In that case, both these Terms and any fees applicable to the Beginning Farmer journey apply to their own account and journey. Fees paid for an Established Farmer’s succession planning service do not cover any Beginning Farmer subscription, and a Beginning Farmer subscription does not cover any succession planning service fee.

4. The Services

4A. Onboarding and Values Assessment

Both Beginning Farmers and Established Farmers begin with a technology-enabled onboarding that captures goals and values. Onboarding and the values assessment are provided free of charge, and your responses remain available to you, and may be updated, throughout your journey, including after any purchase. Completing onboarding does not obligate you to purchase any paid Service.

4B. Beginning Farmer Journey

Behind the paywall described in Section 5, Beginning Farmers receive access to business planning and financial modeling tools, a task list, and guided steps, some of which may be fulfilled through third parties as described in Section 7. The outputs of this journey are a business plan and financial model, which you may iterate on within your account.

4C. Established Farmer Journey

Established Farmers proceed through a guided, step-by-step succession planning process. The initial values and readiness steps are provided free of charge. The remainder of the journey is a paid service as described in Section 5. The output of this journey is a succession plan.

4D. Matching

Downland may offer to connect Beginning Farmers with Established Farmers seeking a successor, using values, financial model, and business plan information as matching inputs. Matching is an optional feature. Downland does not guarantee that any User will be matched, that any match will lead to an agreement, or that any resulting arrangement will succeed. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users, for conducting your own due diligence, and for obtaining independent legal, tax, and financial advice before entering into any agreement with another User.

4E. Communications and Nudges

By creating an account, you agree to receive transactional and relationship communications from Downland by email, and, if you opt in, by SMS text message, to help you resume and complete your planning journey. SMS messaging is governed by our SMS Terms (Section 19), which are incorporated by reference. Consent to marketing messages is never a condition of purchase.

4F. Voice Features

Downland may offer voice-enabled input features. Where offered, voice recordings are used solely to generate a text transcription that becomes part of your Plan Content. Downland does not retain audio recordings after transcription is complete, does not use voice recordings or transcriptions to identify or authenticate any individual, and does not create or store voiceprints or any other biometric identifiers.

4G. Facilitation Session Recordings

Facilitation sessions and planning meetings conducted through or with Downland may be recorded and transcribed to support your plan. We collect your consent to recording when you create an account or accept an invitation, and we provide notice at the start of each recorded session. By joining a session after that notice, you consent to the recording. If any participant does not consent, they should not join the recorded session and should contact us to discuss alternatives. Recordings are transcribed, and the transcription becomes part of the relevant Plan Content. Audio recordings are retained only for a limited period as described in our Privacy Policy, are not used to identify or authenticate any individual, and are not used to create voiceprints or any other biometric identifiers.

4H. Changes to the Services

We may change, suspend, or discontinue the Services or any feature at any time. Where a change materially reduces a paid Service you have already purchased for a current term, we will provide notice and, where required by law, an appropriate remedy.

5. Fees, Billing, Renewal, and Refunds

5A. Fees

Access to certain Services requires payment of a fee. Fees may include recurring subscriptions and one-time service fees. The amount of each fee, and the Services it covers, are disclosed at the time of purchase. Downland may add, change, or discontinue fees at any time; changes apply prospectively and will be disclosed before you incur them.

5B. Payment Processing

Payments are processed by a third-party payment processor, and payment, subscription management, and cancellation are handled through a processor-hosted billing portal accessible from your account. Downland does not store your full card number. By providing a payment method, you authorize Downland and its payment processor to charge that payment method for the fees you incur, including applicable taxes.

5C. Automatic Renewal of Subscriptions

BY PURCHASING A SUBSCRIPTION, YOU AUTHORIZE US TO AUTOMATICALLY CHARGE YOUR PAYMENT METHOD AT EACH RENEWAL AT THE THEN-CURRENT PRICE UNTIL YOU CANCEL. Before each renewal, we will send a reminder to the email address on your account, in the manner and within the timeframe required by applicable law, stating the renewal date and how to cancel. You may cancel automatic renewal at any time through your billing portal, in which case cancellation is effective immediately and you retain access through the end of your current paid term. You may also cancel by emailing howdy@godownland.com; email cancellation requests may take up to three business days to process, so a request received less than three business days before the renewal date may not prevent the renewal charge. To ensure cancellation before a renewal, use the billing portal.

5D. All Sales Final; No Refunds

ALL PURCHASES ARE FINAL. DOWNLAND DOES NOT PROVIDE REFUNDS, INCLUDING FOR UNUSED PORTIONS OF A SUBSCRIPTION TERM OR FOR UNCOMPLETED PORTIONS OF THE SUCCESSION PLANNING SERVICE, EXCEPT WHERE REQUIRED BY LAW. Downland may, in its sole discretion, issue a courtesy refund, credit, or discount on a case-by-case basis. The issuance of any courtesy refund does not obligate Downland to issue the same or a similar refund in the future.

5E. Succession Planning Service Fee

The succession planning service fee is charged when you elect to proceed past the paywall, after completing the free initial values and readiness steps. What you are purchasing is access to the remaining steps of the succession planning journey, including the planning tools, facilitation services, and plan generation features, together with eligibility for optional matching. Access is delivered upon payment, and facilitation sessions are scheduled only after payment. Your progress through the journey, the pace at which you complete it, and whether you complete it are within your control, and the fee is earned upon the grant of access, not upon completion of your plan. Before completing payment, you will be asked to confirm that you understand all sales are final.

6. Plan Content and User Responsibilities

You retain ownership of your Plan Content. You grant Downland a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, process, reproduce, and display your Plan Content solely as needed to provide, maintain, secure, and improve the Services, to comply with law, and as otherwise directed by you, such as sharing with a Plan Participant or a third-party provider you select.

Downland does not use your Plan Content to train artificial intelligence models, including large language models, and we contractually require vendors that process Plan Content on our behalf not to use it to train their models or any third party’s models.

You represent and warrant that your Plan Content is truthful and accurate to the best of your knowledge, that you have the right to submit it, and that you have obtained all necessary permissions from any third party whose information you provide, including Plan Participants, family members, service providers, lienholders, and business partners.

You are solely responsible for reviewing any document generated through the Services before signing or relying on it. Downland does not review your Plan Content for accuracy or legal sufficiency and does not draw legal conclusions from it.

7. Third-Party Services and Referral Compensation

The Services may enable you to initiate entity formation, bank account opening, or other services fulfilled by third parties. When you elect to use a third-party service, you direct Downland to share the information reasonably necessary to initiate that service, which may include your name, contact information, business name, and employer identification number. Third-party services are governed by the third party’s own terms and privacy policy, which you should review. Downland does not endorse, control, or assume responsibility for any third-party service, and Downland is not a party to your agreement with any third party.

Downland may receive compensation, such as a referral fee, from certain third-party providers when you use their services through a referral from Downland. This compensation does not change the price you pay the third party or the fees you pay Downland. You are never required to use a referred provider, and you are free to obtain any service from a provider of your choosing.

8. Intellectual Property; Limited License

The Services and all materials in them, excluding your Plan Content, are the exclusive property of Downland and its licensors. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, Downland grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Services and to download and print documents generated from your own Plan Content for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not copy, scrape, resell, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from the Services.

9. Feedback

If you submit feedback, suggestions, or ideas about the Services, you grant Downland a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable right to use them without restriction or compensation. Feedback does not include Plan Content.

10. Prohibited Activities

You agree not to: misrepresent your identity or eligibility; submit information you know to be false; use the Services on behalf of another person without authorization; harvest or scrape data from the Services; interfere with the security or operation of the Services; use the Services for unsolicited commercial outreach to other Users; upload malicious code; or use the Services in violation of any law. Downland may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

11. Interactions Between Users

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users, including any Plan Participant, matched farmer, or service provider. Downland does not conduct background checks on Users and makes no representations about any User’s character, financial condition, or suitability. Downland reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between Users, and has no liability for any User’s action or inaction.

12. Termination

You may close your account at any time. Downland may suspend or terminate your access to the Services at any time for violation of these Terms or applicable law. Upon termination, Sections 5D, 6, 8, 9, and 13 through 18 survive. Data handling upon account closure is described in our Privacy Policy.

13. Consent to Data Practices

You consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in our Privacy Policy. Downland does not sell your personal information.

14. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Downland and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from your use of the Services, your Plan Content, your violation of these Terms, your violation of any law or third-party right, or your interactions or agreements with other Users or third-party providers.

15. NO WARRANTY

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DOWNLAND DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. DOWNLAND DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT ANY CONTENT OR OUTPUT IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR CURRENT, OR THAT YOU WILL ACHIEVE ANY PARTICULAR OUTCOME, INCLUDING A MATCH, A LOAN, A COMPLETED SUCCESSION, OR ANY FINANCIAL RESULT.

16. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL DOWNLAND BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, OR DATA, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICES. DOWNLAND’S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO DOWNLAND IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

17. Dispute Resolution; Arbitration; Class Action Waiver

Before filing any claim, you and Downland agree to attempt to resolve the dispute informally by sending a written description of the dispute to howdy@godownland.com, or in Downland’s case to your account email, and negotiating in good faith for 60 days.

If the dispute is not resolved, you and Downland agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms shall be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by National Arbitration and Mediation (NAM) under its consumer rules, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court or seek injunctive relief for intellectual property infringement. YOU AND DOWNLAND EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. If the class action waiver in this Section is found unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief, then that claim or request for relief, and only that one, shall be severed from this arbitration agreement and may be brought in court, and nothing in this Section shall be construed to permit arbitration on a class or representative basis. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing howdy@godownland.com with the subject line “ARBITRATION OPT-OUT” within 30 days of first accepting these Terms.

18. Governing Law; Miscellaneous

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Subject to Section 17, any claim not subject to arbitration shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Travis County, Texas. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, the SMS Terms, and any additional terms presented at purchase, constitute the entire agreement between you and Downland regarding the Services. If any provision is found invalid, the remaining provisions remain in effect. Downland may assign these Terms; you may not. Downland’s failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver.

19. SMS Terms

If you opt in to receive text messages from Downland, those communications are governed by our SMS Terms, which are incorporated into these Terms by reference. You may opt out of text messages at any time by replying STOP.

20. Modifications to These Terms

If we modify these Terms, we will post the updated Terms on the Site and update the Last Updated date. For material changes, we will provide additional notice, such as by email. Continued use of the Services after the effective date of a modification constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

21. Contact

Downland, Inc.
Austin, Texas
howdy@godownland.com