Protect Farmland

Yes. If you grant an agricultural easement on your property, you are NOT giving up title to the land. An agricultural easement restricts nonagricultural development; it does not transfer ownership from you to a land trust or other entity.

Yes. An agricultural easement does not restrict the rights to sell or lease the property, or to leave the property to someone else through a will. The same is true for future owners. (The easement’s terms transfer with ownership and apply to all future landowners.)

Generally, an agricultural easement limits future development that interferes with continued farming, but allows future development that supports farming, including fencing, land clearing, and new agricultural structures (such as barns or farmworker housing). Agricultural easements restrict future division of the property and require that the property’s fields are maintained. Agricultural easements on properties with high estate development pressure may also contain restrictions intended to ensure the farmland remains affordable for farmers in the future.

No. You are under no obligation to provide public access to farmland you protect. Some landowners who grant easements choose to include language that permanently allows access (for hunting, fishing, recreation, or traditional indigenous uses), but MFT’s agricultural easements never require it.

Farm properties that are good candidates for protection with an agricultural conservation easement are those with characteristics that are favorable to supporting successful agricultural operations. These typically include things like presence of good agricultural soils, sufficient open field acreage, minimal slope, well managed forest resources, access to water, functional infrastructure, and access to markets. The amount of compensation MFT can provide through its purchased easement program is based on a combination of the above factors and the appraised value of the easement. The appraised value of the easement is tied to the development pressure surrounding any given farm property and varies throughout the state.

Granting an easement on your property may or may not affect your property taxes, depending on a number of factors. Under Maine law, property tax assessments should be based on the market value of the property, except when the property is enrolled in one of three “current use taxation” programs: Tree Growth, Farmland, and Open Space. If your property was previously enrolled in one of these programs, there may be little change in your tax assessment after an easement is placed on your property; however, some towns give a larger tax reduction on permanently protected land than they do on land enrolled in a current use taxation program. Alternatively, if your property was not previously enrolled in a current use taxation program, you may see decreased property taxes after an easement is placed on your property. Contact your town assessor to find out how an easement might affect your property taxes.

In addition to being fully advised as to the legal and financial impacts of an easement, you should discuss the easement with your family or anyone else who might have a future interest in the property. Knowing how these people think about the value and potential of your property may help you decide whether or not to proceed.

Depending on your goals and financial situation, you can donate an easement to ensure that your land will continue to be available for farming far into the future. Donated easements can provide a landowner with certain tax and financial benefits.  

We often purchase easements from farmland owners, which means you would receive direct compensation for selling the development rights on your farmland. These funds could allow you to re-invest in the farm, pay off debt, make a farm purchase more affordable, or extract some equity before passing the farm along to the next generation. We can also purchase an easement at the same time that a farmer is purchasing a farm property with the easement compensation going toward the purchase price of the farm.