LEXINGTON. Ky. — One year ago, the Kentucky Farmland Transition Initiative (KFTI) was launched by the Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB) to address the loss of the state’s farmland.

Specifically, KFTI is helping farm families access resources related to farmland transition and learn their options, connecting providers of services to transitioning farmers from one another and to people who need their services. KFTI is helping determine how existing state and federal policy is working and figuring out what policy changes may be necessary to increase the amount of farmland going to active farmers.

 Throughout the last year, the initiative has gained momentum and support from other ag organizations, commodity groups and lawmakers.

 For starters, the KFTI received a major boost with passage of state legislation and the introduction of a federal act. In the Kentucky General Assembly, HB 703 was introduced to make changes to the Kentucky Selling Farm Tax Credit, making the credit work for more farmers and provide greater certainty for sellers. Provisions of this bill were included in HB 775, which received final passage and became law.

On a national level, Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell introduced the Protecting American Farmlands Act, which intends to take farmland transition to a new level.

“The Protecting American Farmlands Act not only helps ensure that our nation’s farmland remains in the hands of active farmers, but it also provides retiring farmers with a viable pathway to transition their operations to the next generation,” KFB President Eddie Melton said. “The farms we know and love as Kentuckians are at risk. At the current rate of farmland loss, the number of Kentucky farmers will be cut in half over the next 60 years. We have a great opportunity to make real progress in preserving our farmland, and the passage of the Protecting American Farmlands Act is an essential step in this effort.”

The Act would allow landowners who sell to active farmers to defer taxes on their proceeds of the sale if they sell their land to those who will keep it in agricultural production for a minimum of 10 years. The profit from the sale is invested in a retirement savings account. As a result, landholders can sell to other farmers, while also investing in their future with more liquid assets in retirement. 

Renee Carrico, Commodity Division Director at Kentucky Farm Bureau, said that the KFTI has reached more than 4,400 individuals through the website (kyfarmlandtransition.com) for more than 9,900 page views and presented to large gatherings through extension workshops, Kentucky Farm Bureau events, and other meetings.

 “At our first gathering in April of last year, we attracted more than 1,900 landowners,” Carrico said. “Then, at our next meeting last December we noticed a lot of repeat attendees in the audience, so that’s good. That’s telling us that those people are bringing a spouse, partner or friend so we think that’s huge. It all tells us that the interest and need is there. Above all, we’ve built a network of 27 organizations united in promoting farmland retention.”

 Carrico said some of the hot topics the audiences wanted to hear about were easements, revoked trusts and capital gains breaks. She noted that the loss of farmland was front and center as the gatherings.

 “We’d love to see the trend of lost farmland turn around, even slow down,” Carrico said. “We’d like to see more people involved in production agriculture. That would be great, but the problem is once it gets into development it’s hard to turn things around. We won’t be able to halt development, but it would be nice to get it to stall out or even slow down. There’s a reason and a need for economical development. We just have to be farming on the right ground and put economical development in the right areas.”

Since its inception, Aleta Botts has served as the project coordinator for the KFTI program. She said the Initiative puts Kentucky farmers at the center of the discussion for how best to keep farmland in the hands of active producers.

 “The best outcomes of the past year have been hearing from farm families who have ideas for keeping land in production and who have also been prompted by the Initiative to reach out to determine the best path forward to keep their land going as a farm long into the future,” Botts said.

While the program is marking its year anniversary, Botts noted that there is still a lot of work to do.

 “This year, in addition to building support for the federal legislation, we will be developing more resources in response to the needs we have heard about and continuing to spread the word to ensure that farm families know what tools they have available to them to make the transition of their own farmland successful,” she said.