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Georgia’s legislature has allotted $2 million for the first year of the Georgia Farmland Conservation Fund. Farm landowners across the state have applied for a piece of that funding to protect their land from development — for housing, warehouses, data centers and other uses. Applicants will find out in August if they’ve been selected.
Some 30 states have what are known as “purchase of agricultural conservation easement” programs, though the amount of funding varies a great deal from state to state. Texas allocates $2 million annually, while Florida set aside $300 million in 2022 and $100 million in 2024.
Georgia’s law modeled after these initiatives passed in 2023, establishing a formal program to coordinate federal, state and local match funding and created an advisory council to review and approve proposals. The legislature passed the initial round of funding in 2024, and the first round of applications closed May 20.
The easements allow landowners to sell the future development rights for their land to an organization like a land trust. An appraisal process determines the value of those development rights, and the farmer and easement holder negotiate the details of their agreement. The landowner receives an up-front payment, half of which comes from the state funds. The rest is match funding, which could come from a land trust, local government or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which allocates $450 million annually to match dollars in state conservation programs. The landowner can continue farming, growing and harvesting timber, or making other uses of the land. Farmers can even sell the land — just not to a developer who will turn it into housing, a strip mall or an industrial site.