A comparison of techniques for preserving farmland and forestland
by Theodore A. Feitshans
Interdisciplinary Environmental Review (IER), Vol. 9, No. 2, 2007

Abstract: Techniques for preserving farmland and forestland may be classified as restrictions on alternative uses, measures to reduce the cost structure of agriculture and forestry, measures to enhance income from agriculture and forestry, and systematic programs to preserve infrastructure critical to agriculture and forestry. This paper compares measures in each of these categories and demonstrates that no government whose voters have directed it to protect agriculture and forestry can afford to ignore techniques available under any of these categories. Restrictions on alternative land uses include zoning, conservation easements, and urban growth boundaries. Measures to reduce the cost structure of agriculture and forestry include preferential tax treatment and cost-share for adoption of conserving production practices. Measures to enhance income include direct income support, supply restrictions, and a wide variety of marketing and business assistance. Systematic programs include a variety of agricultural district programs and planning measures. In this paper selected measures are compared in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of each. The discussion, in this paper, illustrates that successful programs to preserve farmland and forestland include a variety of techniques. Use of a variety of techniques allows the strengths of one technique to offset the weaknesses of another technique. Use of a combination of techniques allows for flexible programs that make agriculture and forestry profitable. Profitability is essential to providing the incentives to private landowners that are necessary to maintain land in agricultural and forest uses. As markets for agricultural and forest products become increasingly global and competitive, finding a mix of techniques that allow landowners to respond to these pressures is one of the greatest challenges facing programs designed to preserve farmland and forestland.

Online publication date: Mon, 13-May-2013

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