Agricultural Easements

Land trusts can be used to provide permanent protection for designated land areas. Perhaps the most common tool used by land trusts to permanently protect farmland is an easement.

An easement is a legal agreement that determines permissible and restricted land use on a property. It is forever tied to the title of the land and is held and monitored by a land trust. The landowner, in consultation with the land trust, determines the terms of the easement, which can be as strict or as flexible as the landowner and the land trust deem appropriate. Like all land preservation strategies employed by land trusts, easements are always a voluntarily tool agreed to by the landowner.

For example, if a farmer wanted to ensure that their farm would never be developed for uses other than agriculture, they could put an easement on the property and rest assured that the terms of the easement will be enforced by the farmland trust, even long after the farmer has passed.

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Farm Ownership

Occasionally, farmland trusts will acquire farmland in order to protect it. Farmland can be donated to trusts, or in some circumstances, purchased directly. Land deals involving direct acquisition of farmland by trusts often occur at the time when a landowner is retiring from farming: part of the farm may be sold for development, leaving the owner able to donate the remainder, or sell it at a lower price. Acquiring land can enable a farmland trust to provide affordable access to land for farmers.