Purchase agricultural conservation easement programs

Development Potential : factors that identify the extent to which development pressures are likely to cause conversion of farmland to non-agricultural uses. County boards must use the three factors specified below and may use as many as seven additional factors.

Farmland Potential: factors that measure the potential agricultural productivity and farmland stewardship practiced on a property.

County boards must use the four factors specified below and may use as many as six additional factors. Clustering Potential: factors that emphasize the importance of preserving blocks of farmland to support normal farming operations and help to shield the agricultural community from conflicts with incompatible land uses.

The county board appraises the value of proposed conservation easements on farms with the highest ranked applications. The appraisal must be based on an analysis of comparable sales and be in accordance with the most recent edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice that estimate both the market value and the farmland value of the land.

County boards may choose to refer to one or more appraisal reports conducted by a state-certified general real estate appraiser. The value of an easement is the difference between the market value and the appraised farmland value. The purchase price offered for the purchase of an easement may not exceed, but may be less than, the value of the easement. A county may fund the purchase of agricultural easements in various ways. The county may use county general funds, proceeds from a bond or other form of indebtedness, funding from municipalities and private sources.

Demand for the program has consistently exceeded funding, resulting in long county backlog lists of farms that have been selected for easement purchases but have not yet been preserved.

Some county planning commissions and conservation districts also experience staffing shortages, making it more difficult to administer the program effectively. People often refer to the county boards "purchasing development rights" instead of "purchasing conservation easements. The counties do not actually obtain development rights; rather, they obtain a right to block development. Specifically, the following happens in the purchase of an agricultural conservation easement: The landowner places a restrictive covenant on their land that restricts the land's use to agricultural production and certain other activities; this is accomplished by recording a "Deed of Agricultural Conservation Easement.

For this, the government pays the landowner. The Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board reviews, approves, or denies recommendations of county boards to purchase agricultural conservation easements, and executes the purchase of agricultural conservation agreements on behalf of the state. The board consists of five members appointed by the Governor and nine members appointed by the House and Senate leadership.

In addition, the board has eight ex officio members: the Secretary of Agriculture, who serves as the board chairman; the Secretary of Community Affairs; the Secretary of Environmental Resources; the chairperson and the minority chairperson of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee; the chairperson and the Minority chairperson of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee; and the dean of the College of Agriculture of The Pennsylvania State University. The program was created through Act of , which amended Act 43 of Act 43, last updated in , enables the state and participating counties to protect farmland by purchasing agricultural conservation easements on eligible properties.

In the initial iteration of the law, there was a provision that allowed ACEPP easements to be extinguished after 25 years under certain, very particular, conditions. Act 44 of repealed the provision, the repeal applying to all ACEPP easements established after the repeal.

The audit report's 67 pages and nine-page summary covered a wide array of issues and concluded that:.

Pennsylvania has one of the most successful, if not the most successful, farmland preservation programs in the country. The ACEPP program, with its emphasis on quantitative rankings and local land use decision-making, is widely viewed as a model for selecting and preserving agriculturally important farms. The audit report noted concerns about the program related to Internal Revenue Code requirements for federal charitable tax deductions for farmers who sell their easements for less than fair market value:.

Nothing contained in this or any other document available at ConservationTools. The material presented is generally provided in the context of Pennsylvania law and, depending on the subject, may have more or less applicability elsewhere. There is no guarantee that it is up to date or error free. Text may be excerpted and reproduced with acknowledgement of ConservationTools. Typical End Users.

Conservation Impact. What You'll Need. Obstacles and Challenges. Private Conservation Alternative Rather than going through ACEPP, farmers can instead permanently protect their farms by donating or selling conservation easements to private charitable land trusts.

County Agricultural Land Preservation Programs A county that contains one or more agriculture security areas may establish an agricultural land preservation board and program to purchase agricultural conservation easements on farms within these areas using state funding.

Basic Requirements for Property Eligibility Properties must meet the state's basic requirements for the purchase program, listed below: The property must be located in an agriculture security area, which is comprised of at least acres of viable agricultural land in one or more ownerships.

Ranking of Farms for Easement Purchase Each county board establishes a ranking system for properties based on the state's minimum requirements and subject to approval by the state board. Land eligible for agricultural easements includes cropland, rangeland, grassland, pastureland and nonindustrial private forest land.

NRCS will prioritize applications that protect agricultural uses and related conservation values of the land and those that maximize the protection of contiguous acres devoted to agricultural use. To enroll land through agricultural land easements, NRCS enters into cooperative agreements with eligible partners.

Each easement is required to have an agricultural land easement plan that promotes the long-term viability of the land. Land eligible for wetland reserve easements includes farmed or converted wetland that can be successfully and cost-effectively restored.

To enroll land through wetland reserve easements, NRCS enters into purchase agreements with eligible private landowners or Indian tribes that include the right for NRCS to develop and implement a wetland reserve restoration easement plan.

Natural Resources Conservation Service Ohio. Stay Connected. Error: Javascript is disabled in this browser. This page requires Javascript.

Modify your browser's settings to allow Javascript to execute. See your browser's documentation for specific instructions. Loading Tree Development pressure in densely populated areas of the United States can be a cause of farmland consumption for residential and commercial development, which could in turn threaten the viability of existing farming operations.

Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement programs, also known as PACE programs, are one of the legal tools that have been used at the state and federal levels to protect farmland and farming viability against development pressures. Through PACE programs, the government purchases the development rights to agricultural land in exchange for the imposition of an agricultural conservation easement upon the land.

This webinar will provide an overview of, and background for, various state and federal PACE programs, including the recent consolidation of previous federal programs into one single program called the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. The webinar also will address how land is identified, evaluated, and selected for PACE programs as well as reviewing the pros and cons of the various methods employed.