Farmland Protection: Not Just a Luxury for the Good Times

NPR’s Marketplace last Wednesday, December 9, 2009 ran a story on an effort by Kent County, Michigan to allocate local funds to support the protection of farmland (audio imbedded above) through the purchase of agricultural conservation easements.  The Marketplace story in part probed how prevalent such activity is during tight economic times.  As reported on a prior post of mine, the public’s support for land conservation and land protection has not waned despite gloomy economic news. 

Protecting farmland is not a luxury item reserved for only when times are good and budgets are flush with surpluses.   Farmland is the building block of our working farms and farm communities, producing food and fiber, contributing to local economies and jobs, defining local character, providing wildlife habitat and other important ecosystem services.  Recognizing these benefits, the integration of the protection of farmland and support for local agriculture into community economic development strategies easily follows suit. 

The action being considered by Kent County, Michigan is not uncommon.  In addition to state-funded programs to protect farmland with conservation easements, many of which partner with local communities, there are more than 75 independently-funded local farmland protection programs.  These communities are making a commitment to farming, farmers and farmland in good times and bad as an important part of their economic profile, as a hedge against infrastructure and community service costs demanded by development and as a sound investment in their future. 

About the author: Bob Wagner has been on the staff of American Farmland Trust since 1985 and worked in the field of farmland protection since 1981. In his current position, Wagner helps communities nationwide build support for and create policies to protect agricultural land.