Understanding Agricultural Easements
Additional Resources for Landowners
Understanding Agricultural Easements (from the Maine Farmland Trust)
An agricultural easement is a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and a non-profit land trust that restricts use of the land to agricultural production. Most agricultural easements are permanent easements. Such easements ensure that good farmland will remain available for farming forever.
An agricultural easement is a form of a conservation easement, but there are important differences between agricultural easements and classic conservation easements. Many conservation easements are designed to keep a piece of property looking the way it does now. Often the primary goal is to preserve open space, scenic vistas, or wildlife habitat. But with any agricultural easement, the primary goal is to keep land good for the production of local food available for future farming, and this usually requires very different easement provisions.
No one can say with certainty how a piece of property might be best farmed in the future. For that reason, agricultural easements are usually crafted with a high degree of flexibility that one would never see in many other conservation easements, such as provisions that allows for fencing, agricultural buildings, land clearing, and more.
Each easement is unique. What is and is not allowed depends on the specific terms of that easement, which are thoughtfully and thoroughly developed between and landowner and the land trust that will “hold” the easement.
There are many reasons why a landowner may wish to preserve his/her property through an agricultural easement, including many financial incentives. Some landowners consider preserving their land prior to selling it. They may feel better about selling it if they know the land can’t be developed in the future. It’s also fairly common for some farmland owners to carve out a parcel for themselves before preserving and selling the rest of their farm. In this case, placing an easement on the remaining property protects them from being surrounded by new development. It also increases the value of the lot they retain.
Beyond this, there are several financial benefits for there landowner to placing an agricultural easement on your property. The benefits differ dependent on whether the the agricultural easement is a donated easement or a purchased easement.
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A big part of what SSCFLT does is to help landowners consider if an agricultural easement is right for them. We can help landowners explore whether a donated easement or a purchased easement makes the most sense. SSCFLT will hold the easement as a means of supporting our mission to preserve farmland.
This Land Trust Alliance Fact Sheet provides more information on easements, tax incentives and how a land trust works.
Funding Sources for Easement Acquisition
There are several sources of funding that SSCFLT is eligible to apply to for that can pay landowners who wish to be compensated for selling the right to develop their farmland: the federal USDA NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) Farmland Preservation Grants and the Thurston County Conservation Futures program. The programs are very competitive, with the amount of requested funds typically exceeding the available funding.
Succession Planning Workbook
The Washington Office of Farmland Preservation has developed a workbook to aid families making farm transition decisions. Click here for information on how to get a copy.
Resources for land owners seeking farmers to farm their land
SSCFLT also works with landowners who are not farmers who would like to find someone to farm their property, and are interested in permanently protecting their land as farmland. In addition to working directly with SSCFLT, two other resources for these landowners are:
South Sound Farmlink
Land owners who complete the online form at the link above will be contacted by the Thurston Conservation District to discuss land lease options and make arrangements for a site visit.
Washington Farmlink
This is a statewide program of the Cascade Harvest Coalition
Understanding Agricultural Easements (from the Maine Farmland Trust)
An agricultural easement is a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and a non-profit land trust that restricts use of the land to agricultural production. Most agricultural easements are permanent easements. Such easements ensure that good farmland will remain available for farming forever.
An agricultural easement is a form of a conservation easement, but there are important differences between agricultural easements and classic conservation easements. Many conservation easements are designed to keep a piece of property looking the way it does now. Often the primary goal is to preserve open space, scenic vistas, or wildlife habitat. But with any agricultural easement, the primary goal is to keep land good for the production of local food available for future farming, and this usually requires very different easement provisions.
No one can say with certainty how a piece of property might be best farmed in the future. For that reason, agricultural easements are usually crafted with a high degree of flexibility that one would never see in many other conservation easements, such as provisions that allows for fencing, agricultural buildings, land clearing, and more.
Each easement is unique. What is and is not allowed depends on the specific terms of that easement, which are thoughtfully and thoroughly developed between and landowner and the land trust that will “hold” the easement.
There are many reasons why a landowner may wish to preserve his/her property through an agricultural easement, including many financial incentives. Some landowners consider preserving their land prior to selling it. They may feel better about selling it if they know the land can’t be developed in the future. It’s also fairly common for some farmland owners to carve out a parcel for themselves before preserving and selling the rest of their farm. In this case, placing an easement on the remaining property protects them from being surrounded by new development. It also increases the value of the lot they retain.
Beyond this, there are several financial benefits for there landowner to placing an agricultural easement on your property. The benefits differ dependent on whether the the agricultural easement is a donated easement or a purchased easement.
***************
A big part of what SSCFLT does is to help landowners consider if an agricultural easement is right for them. We can help landowners explore whether a donated easement or a purchased easement makes the most sense. SSCFLT will hold the easement as a means of supporting our mission to preserve farmland.
This Land Trust Alliance Fact Sheet provides more information on easements, tax incentives and how a land trust works.
Funding Sources for Easement Acquisition
There are several sources of funding that SSCFLT is eligible to apply to for that can pay landowners who wish to be compensated for selling the right to develop their farmland: the federal USDA NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) Farmland Preservation Grants and the Thurston County Conservation Futures program. The programs are very competitive, with the amount of requested funds typically exceeding the available funding.
Succession Planning Workbook
The Washington Office of Farmland Preservation has developed a workbook to aid families making farm transition decisions. Click here for information on how to get a copy.
Resources for land owners seeking farmers to farm their land
SSCFLT also works with landowners who are not farmers who would like to find someone to farm their property, and are interested in permanently protecting their land as farmland. In addition to working directly with SSCFLT, two other resources for these landowners are:
South Sound Farmlink
Land owners who complete the online form at the link above will be contacted by the Thurston Conservation District to discuss land lease options and make arrangements for a site visit.
Washington Farmlink
This is a statewide program of the Cascade Harvest Coalition