LANSING, Mich. – A state of Michigan farmland preservation fund board has awarded $1.8 million to several local governments to help complete the purchase of development rights of farmland. Purchase of development rights programs provide a way to financially compensate willing landowners for not developing their land. 

Although the program allowing the creation of permanent agricultural conservation easements has been in place since at least 2005, the program was not sufficiently funded for about 10 years, according to Elizabeth Brost, the conservation easement coordinator for the state’s Farmland Preservation Program. However, starting in 2016 there was a new funding mechanism to help pay for such easements. “In 2016 we got sustainable funding,” Brost said. “We should have the funding every year from now on for $2 million plus.”

For this cycle, 24 local programs were eligible to submit grant applications for funding from the state. According to Barry Lonik, a consultant for Webster Township and Scio Township – each located due west of Ann Arbor, Mich. – there were 12 applicants for funding and seven of those received grants. Grants can only be awarded to municipalities, not individuals or other entities.

To qualify, a county or township must have zoning authority, be covered under a master plan that includes farmland preservation, passed a purchase of development rights ordinance and created a plan for monitoring conservation easements. Local programs are selected for state grants based on a scoring system adopted by the board, which focuses on quality agricultural parcels and program achievements.

The grantees included, Scio Township in Washtenaw County ($825,000), Ottawa County ($157,000), Kent County ($201,294), Webster Township in Washtenaw County ($200,000), Washtenaw County ($244,800), Eaton County ($46,725), and Barry County ($130,000). Those farmland preservation programs will preserve 730 acres.

Farmer Mark Amsdill has sold development rights to his 120 acres of farmland in Webster Township, Mich. “It’s what our parents would have wanted,” Amsdill said. “My father was huge into farming. My father and mother passed, but it’s what they both would have wanted. I feel great about this. I haven’t heard anything negative about this program at all.”

Amsdill said if he wants to he can still sell the land to another farmer, and he plans to do so at some point. He explained the purchase of development rights is the retail value of the land less the agricultural value of the property. As an example, he said if the retail value of the property is $9,000 per acre, and the agricultural value $3,000, then he would receive $6,000 an acre for the development rights.

The fund will distribute $1.8 million in grants covering up to 75 percent of the costs to purchase the development rights on the properties. In order to qualify for funding, the property must be an active farm. The state program also helps pay for some of the closing costs associated with the conservation easements. Local governments must come up with matching funds, however, a federal program at the USDA, called the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, also awards grants for that purpose and money from that program can be used to satisfy the local matching requirement, Brost said.

Brost noted that any land in the Ann Arbor, Mich. area and the Traverse City area are quite expensive due to development pressure. According to Lonik, the Scio Township and Webster Township properties are receiving 26 percent of their required funding from the state program, 49 percent from the USDA conservation easement program as well as a portion from the respective township governments. “Webster Township has a millage for this purpose,” Lonik stated. “Voters passed on three separate occasions by at least 60 percent. We’ve also been very thankful to tap into the state program money,” Lonik added. He explained that without the state grant, the Scio Township project could not have happened.

“At $3 million, it’s the biggest project that we’ve ever taken on, but we’re confident now that we can do it, thanks to the state award,” Lonik said. “The state award was really key to doing this.”

To learn more about the preservation fund board and the program, visit www.michigan.gov/farmland.