Conscious Choice: Saving Farmland

May 2001

Saving Farmland

by James Faber

I grew up in a small neighborhood nestled among the forest preserves and thriving farmlands of Southwest Cook County, Illinois. There were houses scattered here and there, but in every direction were farm fields filled with corn or soybeans. As the years passed, I helplessly watched the farms give way to unsightly sprawling subdivisions.

Unfortunately, what happened to my neighborhood is not an isolated incident. According to American Farmland Trust (AFT), the U.S. loses more than 3,000 acres of productive farmland to sprawling development every day — and that’s where AFT steps in. AFT is a nationwide nonprofit organization founded in 1980 by a group of concerned farmers with a mission to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment.

Why Save Farmland?

Beside the obvious fact that we rely on America’s farms for our food production, there are many other ways in which we rely on farm and ranch land. Consider the following statistics from AFT:

• More than half of the value of U.S. farm production — including nearly 80 percent of our fruit and vegetables and more than half of our dairy products — are produced in rapidly urbanizing counties.

• Farmland loss raises your local taxes. Farmers and ranchers pay more in local tax revenues than they require in local government services. Residential land uses, in contrast, are a net drain on municipal coffers.

• Farmland provides open space, fresh air, wildlife habitat, and watershed protection, all important elements in maintaining quality of life.

• Farmland provides more than 70 percent of the habitat for America’s animals. As we lose farmland, our wildlife is endangered.

• America’s cultural, educational, and political institutions arose from our agricultural heritage. American traditions fade as our nation loses farmland.

• Agriculture provides millions of jobs on the land and in secondary services. Farmland protection is an investment in the backbone of our economy.

"As we enter the 21st century, one of our major challenges will be to help farmers, ranchers, and forest land owners conserve and protect our nation’s valuable private land," said former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, one public official who supported AFT’s efforts. "The loss of prime agricultural land to development, the health of our watersheds and the future of private forestlands are some of the critical issues facing the Nation."

How They Do It

AFT works to save farmland through several farmland protection tools and techniques. Some techniques result in programs enacted and administered at the state level, while others are used primarily by local governments. Many of the most effective farmland protection programs combine regulatory and incentive-based strategies.

Programs that are generally enacted at the state level include agricultural district laws, which allow farmers to form special areas where commercial agriculture is encouraged and protected. Common benefits of enrollment in a district include automatic eligibility for differential assessment, protection from eminent domain and municipal annexation, enhanced right-to-farm protection, exemption from special local tax assessments and eligibility for state PACE (purchase of agricultural conservation easement) programs. In most states with agricultural district programs, farmers who wish to form a district apply directly to their local governments. Local governments review and approve applications, which are then sent to the state for final approval.

Agricultural conservation easements comprise another flexible farmland protection tool; they limit land to specific uses and thus protect it from development. Grantors retain the right to use their land for farming, ranching, and other purposes that do not interfere with or reduce agricultural viability. Easements may apply to entire parcels of land or to specific parts of a property. Most easements are permanent, but term easements impose restrictions for a specified number of years. All conservation easements legally bind future landowners. In addition, agricultural conservation easements can be designed to protect other natural resources, such as wetlands and wildlife habitat.

Differential assessment laws help farmers by directing local governments to assess agricultural land at its value for agriculture, instead of its full fair market value, which is generally higher. Every state except Michigan has a differential assessment law. Differential assessment programs help ensure the economic viability of agriculture by bringing farmers’ property taxes in line with what it actually costs local governments to provide services to the land. Differential assessment laws are enacted by states and implemented at the local level.

At the local level, agricultural protection zoning (APZ) allows some measure of government land use control, as well. Agricultural protection zoning ordinances designate areas where farming is the primary land use. They also discourage other land uses in those areas, stabilizing the agricultural land base by keeping large tracts of land relatively free of non-farm development. APZ helps promote orderly growth by preventing sprawl into rural areas. By protecting scenic landscapes and maintaining open space, it benefits farmers and non-farmers alike.

In the best cases, APZ is founded on comprehensive planning, which allows counties, cities, towns, and townships to work together to create a vision for their joint future. A comprehensive plan can form the foundation of a local farmland protection strategy by identifying areas to be protected for agricultural use and areas where growth will be encouraged.

When sprawl has already overtaken rural areas and is threatening remaining farmland, litigation ordinances are proving to be of some help. In 1995, city officials in Davis, California, enacted an ordinance that requires developers to permanently protect one acre of farmland for every acre of agricultural land they convert to other uses.

Underpinning such ordinances ia a new concept called the right to farm. Local right-to-farm ordinances can serve as a formal policy statement that agriculture is a valuable part of a county or town economy and culture. Local ordinances help educate residents about the needs of commercial agriculture and reassure farmers that their communities support them.

On a more personal level, transfer of development rights (TDR) programs allow landowners to transfer the right to develop one parcel of land to a different parcel of land. Generally established through local zoning ordinances, TDR programs can protect farmland by shifting development from agricultural areas to areas planned for growth. When the development rights transfer from a piece of property, the land is protected by a permanent agricultural conservation easement.

Other Resources from AFT

American Farmland Trust also offers other resources, including a series of technical publications that offer an in-depth examination of tools and policies that conserve farmland; a comprehensive information Web site on grass-based farming systems at www.grassfarmer.com; the award winning, quarterly American Farmland magazine; and AFT’s producer-only FreshFarm Markets, which provide an economic outlet for local farmers in the Mid-Atlantic’s Northern Piedmont and Eastern Shores regions — two of the most threatened areas for farmland loss in the U.S.

AFT developed the farmland protection information center in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Agricultural Library. The information center is complete with an electronic library and a technical assistance service. Technical assistance staff provides information about farmland protection programs, policies, and activities to anyone interested in these issues. The staff also monitor established farmland protection programs and report on state and local initiatives.

In the spring of 1996, AFT supported U.S. Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) in founding the Congressional Farmland Protection Caucus. The caucus keeps members of Congress informed about the nation’s loss of prime and unique farmland and provides a forum to develop policies in defense of America’s best, most threatened agricultural lands. In 1997, the caucus helped to ensure that the Secretary of Agriculture implemented the new Farmland Protection Program in a way that maximized the goals of state and local farmland protection programs, and played a role in the 1997 debate on estate tax reform. Currently, the caucus consists of a bipartisan group of nineteen representatives. Their Farmland Protection Program has helped to protect — permanently — more than 120,000 acres of America’s best farm and ranch lands.

Also in 1997, AFT created the Steward of the Land Award to honor the memory of AFT founding board member Peggy McGrath Rockefeller. The $10,000 award is given each year to a farmer or rancher who personifies the ideals of AFT’s mission. The winners of the 2001 award are ranchers Mike and Cathy McNeil for their leadership in protecting Colorado’s threatened ranchland from sprawling development and their commitment to sound conservation practices.

"A society measures its wealth by the amount of land it has and its ability to feed its population," said Cathy McNeil. "That’s why protecting our land is important for future generations." The McNeils were selected from more than seventy-five farmers and ranchers from thirty-five states, and are the fifth farm family nationwide to receive the Steward of the Land Award.

How to Get Involved

AFT suggests some basic ways individuals can help protect farmland. Contact your Representatives and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 1950 and to join the Congressional Farmland Protection Caucus. E-mail your Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 333, and to join the Senate Smart Growth Task Force. Join AFT’s Grassroots Activists Team to receive e-mail notification of critical agricultural conservation issues pending in Congress.

Bills S. 333 and H.R. 1950 reauthorize the Farmland Protection Program at $55 million per year for matching grants to state, local, tribal, and nonprofit entities that purchase conservation easements from willing sellers.

Although I have nothing but memories of the once-thriving farmlands where I spent my childhood, I’m grateful to know that thanks in part to the efforts of AFT, there may be farmland nearby for my children.

The American Farmland Trust’s main office is located in Washington, D.C., with regional offices throughout the U.S. For more information call 202-331-7300, visit their Web site, or e-mail info@farmland.org.

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