Agricultural Conservation Easements
“A conservation easement is legally authorized in each state and is intended to be a permanent restriction on the land that’s held,” said Jerry Cosgrove, American Farmland Trust’s (AFT) Farm Legacy Director and Senior Advisor. “It’s enforced by either a nonprofit organization like AFT or a federal, state or local municipality.”
An agricultural easement is a deed restriction that landowners and farmers place on their property voluntarily to ensure that the land stays available for farming. This type of conservation easement not only protects the land from further development, but it can also protect other resources associated with the land, including ground and surface water, wildlife habitat, historic sites and, even, scenic views.
However, agricultural easements do allow for some flexibility by limiting certain types of commercial and residential development, but allowing for other types of development as long as it has an agricultural purpose, such as building another barn or additional housing for a farm family.
Why are agricultural easements essential to preserving American farmland?
Between 1982 and 2012, 24 million acres of farmland were lost across the U.S. And, during the last two decades, Midwest farmland was hit hard with Illinois loosing 89% of its farmland and Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin losing over 80% of their agricultural land to development, according to AgriNews. Further, 96% of farms are family-owned, and a buy-out can be potentially appealing, depending on the circumstances.
