Farmland Preservation & Related Legal Strategies
Urbanization can increase the value of agricultural property and assets, while improving opportunities for marketing agricultural products. At the same time, farmers and ranchers may fear that their land and way of life will disappear. Farmland preservation initiatives respond to this concern, in addition to the need to preserve the national food supply and protect the environment.
One common way to preserve rural land is zoning. In this process, a government authority can determine the size of a property and the activities that can be conducted on it. These activities may be limited to agricultural uses, such as facilities for producing, processing, and marketing agricultural commodities, or housing for agricultural workers. Zoning also can prevent the sale of a property for non-agricultural activities. Some zoning regulations form areas dedicated to commercial agriculture. Others create areas that preserve a general rural character but may include large residential properties and non-commercial farming. Unfortunately, zoning is a double-edged sword. It may force farmers or ranchers out of a property if regulations prohibit a certain type of activity in an area. Unless an agricultural producer successfully challenges these regulations on constitutional grounds, land may lose its rural character.
Nuisance Cases and Right-to-Farm Laws
As suburbs extend beyond cities, some homeowners move into areas that historically were dedicated to agriculture. They may file nuisance cases, arguing that an agricultural producer in their area has interfered with their right to use and enjoy their property. While private nuisance cases involve limited harm to a small group of property owners, public nuisance cases involve harm to the community in general. These cases can have a devastating effect on farmers and ranchers. If a court finds that they have unreasonably interfered with the property rights of their neighbors, they may need to relocate their operations or pay substantial costs.
Fortunately for agricultural producers, state right-to-farm laws have built on the common law doctrine of "coming to the nuisance." This means that a farmer should be shielded from nuisance lawsuits if they operated an agricultural activity for a certain time (often more than one year) before the shift in land use that resulted in the alleged nuisance issue. The activity must not have been a nuisance under the prior land use system. To use this defense, a farmer must hold appropriate permits and licenses and comply with applicable state rules.
Agricultural Easements
Another strategy to preserve farmland involves creating agricultural conservation easements. If a property owner agrees to place development restrictions on their land, they may receive direct payments or tax benefits. The easement is recorded on the deed for the property, and it may attach to the land for a fixed term or indefinitely.
Government entities and non-profit organizations often operate purchase of development rights programs, or purchase of agricultural conservation easements programs. These provide compensation to property owners in exchange for easements. While a property owner might sell an easement to the government, they might donate an easement to a non-profit group in exchange for federal and state tax benefits. Meanwhile, transfer of development rights programs allow property owners to negotiate directly with developers. These programs classify areas as conservation areas or growth areas. Property owners in conservation areas can sell development rights to developers, who then can develop property in growth areas at a rate higher than zoning regulations would normally allow.
