LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s farmland preservation program is not in danger of ending or being changed, despite discussions that took place last year suggesting the program might be eliminated.

That’s according to Richard Harlow, Farmland Preservation and Open Space Program manager, of a division within the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD).

“There was some discussion about eliminating the program in 2011 and that got some people concerned,” Harlow said. He explained the discussions weren’t about simply getting rid of farmland preservation efforts, but to change how such a program would be structured. He said there was some talk about changing it from a tax credit into something else.

“It was more of an accounting issue,” he said. “It appears there hasn’t been any more past the discussion stage. It would take legislation to make any changes, and nothing’s been brought up.”

Because of the talk last year of eliminating the program, many more people than usual have applied to renew their land preservation agreements and more than usual have applied to enroll for the first time. A total of 1,405 new applications were received in 2011, three times the number of new applications received in recent years.

The department also received requests to extend the 5,000 agreements that expired at the end of last year. In addition, the department received 25,000 requests to extend agreements that are not yet due to expire. According to Harlow, that’s 20,000 more than is typical.

State officials are trying to assure people the preservation program is working hard to get people’s documents processed so they can get their tax credits. Copies of Public Act 116 (P.A. 116) agreements that have been processed are available at county register of deeds offices. Questions about where a person’s application or extension request is in the process can be directed to 517-373-3328. Farmland preservation efforts in Michigan have been successful. Legislation called P.A. 116 started modern farmland preservation in the state; it was passed in 1974 as the culmination of decades of concern about the loss of farmland.

From the 1940s to the 1970s Michigan was losing about 104,000 acres of farmland each year to development. Over this 30-year period several studies examined this loss and recommendations were made on how to fix the problem.

“It was dropping precipitously up until the 1970s, when P.A. 116 came along,” Harlow said. “Farmland is still dropping off a little bit and cropland is staying about the same.”

Farmland can include land that isn’t being actively used for crops. For example, it can include wooded areas on a farmstead. Harlow added in addition to P.A. 116, other factors affecting the retention of farmland in Michigan include less development pressure overall, as well as higher commodity prices.

“Anyhow, the trend now is towards more redevelopment of urban centers,” Harlow said.

The state law is also set up to prevent so-called leapfrogging, he explained. Leapfrogging occurs when farmland or open space is established and development “leapfrogs” just beyond it. He said the law prevents local governments from special-assessing farmers for an extended sewer line. He said extended sewer lines are how the developments get started.