Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP)

Providing cooperation and funding to acquire conservation easements on farm and ranch lands containing prime, unique, or other productive soil or historical and archaeological resources to prohibit conversion of lands to nonagricultural uses

The Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (formerly known as the Farmland Protection Program) provides funds to help purchase rights to keep productive farm and ranch land in agricultural use. Working through existing programs, USDA joins with state, tribal, or local governments or eligible nongovernmental organizations to acquire conservation easements from interested landowners. USDA provides up to 50 percent of the appraised fair market value of the conservation easement.

For the FRPP, a conservation easement is an assigned right prohibiting any development, subdivision, or practice that would damage the agricultural value or productivity of the farmland. It is legally recorded in an agreement between a landowner and a qualified organization and restricts land to agriculture and open space use. Transactions may qualify for a tax deduction.

The FRPP was designed to help protect quality farmland in the face of urban growth. Since 1960, an average of 1 million acres of farmland have been converted to other uses each year, often resulting in permanent loss of valuable topsoil and agricultural land.

Application and Financial Information
When funds are available, an annual notification is published in the Federal Register informing the public that applications will be accepted. If you are considering participation in the FRPP, contact your Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) state conservationist.

The state conservationist may consult with the NRCS State Technical Committee and review the requests for participation by using a ranking system of USDA priorities to determine the likelihood of conversion considering

Developmental pressure
Zoning
Utility availability and related factors
The quality of the land considering the soils
Economic viability
Size and product sales
Other factors including its historical, scenic, and environmental qualities.

Eligibility, Uses, and Restrictions
To qualify, farm and ranch land must:

Contain prime, unique, or other productive soil or historical and archaeological resources
Be part of a pending offer from a state, tribe, or local farmland protection program
Be privately owned
Have a conservation plan
Be large enough to sustain agricultural production
Be accessible to markets for what the land produces
Have adequate infrastructure and agricultural support services
Have surrounding parcels of land that can support long-term agricultural production.

The pending offer must be for the purpose of protecting topsoil by limiting non-agricultural uses of the land.

The NRCS will not enroll land that is owned in fee title by an agency of the United States or land that is already subject to an easement or deed restriction that limits the conversion of the land to non-agricultural use. The NRCS will not enroll otherwise eligible lands in which it determines that the protection provided by FRPP would not be effective because of on-site or offsite conditions.

To be selected for participation in the FRPP, a pending offer must provide for the acquisition of a permanent easement or 30-year easement, where State law prohibits a permanent easement.

Congress has authorized $497 million in FRPP funding from 2002 to 2007. Future opportunities for funding will be published as a notice in the Federal Register.

Contact
Denise Coleman, Farm and Ranch Lands
Protection Program Manager
National Program Office
Room 6107S
USDA-NRCS
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20013
Phone: (202) 720-9476; Fax: (202) 720-0745
E-mail: denise.coleman@usda.gov

Internet
www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/frpp/

Last Updated December 27, 2004