Protecting farmland for future generations

WASHINGTON — Supporting farmers is an important aspect of farmland protection.

“For farmland protection, you need to protect the land base, farm the land sustainably to remain productive in the future and support the people that farm the land,” said Jerry Cosgrove, farm legacy director for the American Farmland Trust. “It’s not farmland without farmers.”

Tools to protect farmland include conservation easements, agricultural districts or property tax credits.

“A conservation easement is a deed restriction that restricts future uses of the land,” Cosgrove said. “It primarily prohibits or severely limits residential and commercial development as well as subdivision into small parcels.”

An easement is a voluntary decision by the landowner.

“The owner drives the process, and they can voluntarily donate a conservation easement to a nonprofit organization like AFT or a local land trust,” Cosgrove said. “Many states have purchase programs so the landowner can get compensated for the reduction in value for permanently restricting the future uses of the land.”

An agricultural conservation easement prevents uses that are incompatible with agricultural use.

“However, it allows a wide range of uses that are compatible,” Cosgrove said. “Transferring the property, leasing the property, hunting and fishing are all rights the landowner retains.”

American Farmland Trust has a staff across the country to help local communities and state governments to protect farmland.

“AFT has done many projects helping landowners place conservation easements on their property so those landowners are assured the land will stay available for agriculture,” Cosgrove said.

“There are purchase programs to help farmers protect their land permanently and provide compensation which can help transfer the land to the next generation,” he said. “Farmland protection and farmland transfer go hand in hand because it’s not just about protecting the land and letting it be. The land needs to be nurtured and stewarded by a farmer.”

The affordability issue is a critical aspect of farmland protection, Cosgrove said.

“These deed restrictions reduce the value of the property and this value is either given away if it’s a donated easement or compensated if there’s a purchase program,” he said. “But the residual value is much more affordable for a beginning farmer.”

Cosgrove has worked with landowners who have a successor but are struggling with transferring that land to the next generation while creating a retirement when they haven’t saved a separate retirement account.

“And in many cases they are also trying to satisfy other children with a legacy so that can be a daunting challenge,” Cosgrove said.

“I also work with landowners who don’t have a successor and are thinking about the future and want to be assured the land will be kept in agriculture,” he said.

It can be challenging to start the land transfer process.

“Planning is a process that takes time whether you’re protecting the land or transferring it,” Cosgrove said. “It’s one of the biggest decisions landowners make so we really encourage them to start early, take their time but stay with it.”

All landowners should think through what they want to see happen to their farm.

“Some have considered a gift of their land to AFT,” Cosgrove said. “Other landowners want to keep using and living on their property so they convey the property to AFT, but retain full life use for as long as they are alive.”

There is no “cookie-cutter recipe” for protecting farmland, Cosgrove said.

“We keep in mind the needs and interests of the landowners,” he said.

In the northeastern United States, Cosgrove said, there is an interest developing for community important farms.

“There’s a significant value to save the last farm in a community both to the ag operation which couldn’t survive otherwise, but also for the community that has a resource,” he explained. “It provides people a place to get fresh produce, pick pumpkins or take their children to learn about agriculture without having to drive 20 to 30 miles or more.”

AFT recognizes there’s a value to all shapes and sizes of farmland protection not only to agriculture, but also to the community.

“In 1980, when we were founded, there were no agricultural land trusts,” Cosgrove said. “Over the last 40 years, we have worked with land trusts that have been formed specifically to protect agricultural land which is a great resource for landowners.”