Farmland Preservation

Kentucky farm numbers down 9% in the last 5 years.

500,000 fewer acres in Kentucky farms.

The February 13 release of the 2022 Census of Agriculture provided some sobering figures concerning farm numbers, reporting a loss of about 6,500 in the last five years. Land in Kentucky farms also decreased by 4 percent.

Farmland preservation was determined as a critical priority during the ongoing Strategic Roadmap for Kentucky Agriculture: 2025-2030 facilitated by the Kentucky Agricultural Council. Protecting farm transitions to the next generation and encouraging more young people to farm were among the strategies to tackle this problem. Those discussions among Kentucky's farm leaders and the development of action items will continue over the next few months.

PACE, or the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement Corporation administered through the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, was established in 1994 to address farmland preservation across the state. PACE uses protective easements, which are basically contracts between the property owner and the government, to preserve the land for agricultural use.

The American Farmland Trust (AFT), which uses the catchphrase No Farms, No Food®, was another organization formed to protect farmland in the early 1980s when America was losing 3 million acres of farmland a year. Among their approaches today are conservation easements, promoting regenerative farming practices, and lobbying for farm policy. They have a Kentucky office in Louisville.

Participants in the Kentucky Farm Bureau Discussion Meet Finals talk about helping young farmers, which is crucial to the farm preservation conversation.

Farmland Preservation and Transition Programs