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In 2021, the Farmland Information Center tracked 113 bills across 24 states that seek to protect agricultural land and improve agricultural viability, address racial and social inequities in agriculture, improve soil health as a climate change mitigation strategy, and consider whether and how to site solar development on farmland. Twenty-seven of these bills were passed or enrolled as of July 28, 2021; two were resolutions expressing the opinion of the legislative body.

The following list highlights major themes in the legislative sessions. Most bills addressed more than one topic and may be counted in more than one bullet. Legislators sometimes linked issues through program implementation. For example, changes in climate and conservation programs sought to include underserved populations.

• Farmland protection, including policy around permanently protected agricultural land, and property tax relief - 39 bills / 10 enacted
• On-farm conservation practices and soil health - 27 bills / 8 enacted
• Equity for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers - 20 bills / 3 enacted
• Beginning farmer incentives - 14 bills / 2 enacted
• Solar siting - 11 bills / 5 enacted
• Local land use regulation - 10 bills / 3 enacted

Also enacted were a few bills related to climate change, grazing, wildlife, and agritourism/right-to-farm. 

In the summary below, the symbol after a bill number indicates its status as of July 26, 2021.

Farmland Protection 

This session, states with programs that buy agricultural conservation easements on farm and ranch land (i.e., PACE programs) sought to expand the pool of entities that are eligible to participate, enable greater land access for historically underserved producers, and ensure sufficient funding is available for farmland protection and long-term stewardship.

• Pennsylvania SB 64⇔ proposed making a number of significant changes to its PACE program, including allowing non-profit entities to participate as sole easement holders with certain reimbursement limits and match requirements, and adding easement eligibility requirements.

• California AB 352⇔ would significantly modify the California Farmland Conservancy Program, which is the state’s first PACE program. It proposes providing additional grants for technical and acquisition assistance, directs that at least 25% of funds go to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, requires that deeds include a farmer-purchaser preference and land acquisitions include option to purchase at agricultural value (OPAV) provisions, and expands the list of eligible entities to include cooperative extension programs and Native American tribes.

• Indiana HB 1521⇔ would establish a PACE program where one does not currently at the state level.

Funding

• California AB 125⇔ and AB 1500⇔ would authorize several billion dollars in general obligation bonds for a number of climate projects, including programs that protect agricultural land, grassland, and grazing lands. 

• New York S 1461⇔ seeks to raise money for farmland protection by authorizing local governments to impose a tax on real estate transfers.

• Maine HP 31⇑ modified the state’s farmland protection program to allow a portion of funds to be used for minor capital investments in the stewardship and management of acquired properties. This bill was passed in April.

Buy-Protect-Sell and Option to Purchase at Agricultural Value

California and Connecticut both proposed making changes to their PACE programs to enable easement transactions that ensure vulnerable land is protected and made affordable and accessible for future generations of farmers.

• California AB 352⇔, further described above, would require an option to purchase at agricultural value (OPAV) and a productivity provision, meaning the land under easement must be managed for productive commercial agriculture, to be included on all new acquisition projects. In addition, California AB 125⇔ would include grants to improve land access and tenure among socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Eligible projects would include the acquisition of fee title agricultural land for the purposes of selling or leasing the land to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and beginning farmers and ranchers.

• Connecticut SB 471⇓ would increase the amount of funding available to use for fee simple acquisitions, which could be used for buy-protect-sell (BPS) projects. According to Chelsea Gazillo, New England Policy Manager for AFT, “Connecticut has some of the most expensive farmland in the country. Increasing the amount of funding that the state Department of Agriculture can spend on buy-protect-sell or buy-protect-farm projects from $2 million to $5 million annually would give the agency more flexibility and opportunity to protect Connecticut’s farms from development and promote farmland access for the next generation”.

Tax Incentives for Farmland Protection

Lawmakers considered proposals providing additional financial incentives in the form of tax exemptions, extended farmland protection tax credits, and farmland inheritance tax deductions to landowners protecting their land or conveying permanently protected land. Connecticut and New Jersey each had bills that provide special tax and fee exemptions: Connecticut’s bill exempted the sale of development rights from being subject to income tax while New Jersey’s bill exempted the sale of protected land to a beginning farmer from the realty transfer fee. See CT SB 153⇓, NJ A 5051⇔, NJ A 5189⇔, and WI SB 68⇔.

Climate Change

Legislation proposed to study, mitigate, and adapt to the impacts of climate change can be broadly placed into two categories: bills that change a state’s goals or governance and bills that seek to implement climate-smart agricultural practices.

• Bills that impact state goals and governance include those that set or modify greenhouse gas emission limits, establish effective means of tracking emissions and progress toward climate change goals, and identify practices and barriers to meeting these goals. Legislation in a number of states also specifically call out the need for environmental justice and for including communities that have been the most negatively impacted by climate change in policymaking. Agriculture is mentioned in these comprehensive climate change bills generally as an industry that both acts as a source of emissions and presents an opportunity to improve carbon sequestration, and one that acutely feels the impacts of climate change. See CA AB 284⇔, NY S 4264⇔, VA SB 1284⇑, and CT HB 6441⇑.

• One common type of legislation seeks to create new commissions, special commissions, or task forces for the purpose of responding to climate change or performing research on opportunities for action. See MA S 571⇔, NY A 4049/S 5200⇔, and VA SB 1374⇑.

• Another strategy amends state enabling legislation to expand and direct the responsibilities of agencies and local governments toward soil health, carbon sequestration, and climate adaptation. See CT HB 6496⇑ and SB 467⇓, NH HB 199 (this bill is enrolled but not signed), and WA HB 1099⇓.

Implementation Bills

In addition to proposing legislation that establishes or impacts how states govern soil health and conservation practices, state legislators also proposed bills to provide direct funding for implementing desired practices and/or technical assistance to help farmers, ranchers, and landowners understand how they can make improvements that benefit their land and the environment.

A variety of methods for funding conservation practices were proposed in bills across the country.

• New programs were proposed to provide financial and technical assistance for sustainable or climate-smart agricultural practices. See CA AB 125⇔, CA AB 1289⇔, KY HB 560⇓, ME SP 179⇑, RI S 468⇓, and RI H 5955⇓.

• Illinois HP 1792⇔ sought to re-direct other state funds to use for conservation practices.

• Virginia HB 1750⇑ and SB 1163⇑ will refund federal margin coverage premiums and offer income tax credits for operations with soil or nutrient management plans in place. These policies do not provide direct funding but provide incentives to producers who are mindful of the conservation practices they use. Both bills have passed this session.

• States have proposed bills that fund technical assistance for farmers and landowners to implement conservation practices on their land. Legislation that includes strong technical assistance components enables states to address their most critical resource concerns on agricultural land with the input of a network of experts. All three bills envision partnerships between state agencies and subject matter experts in universities and agricultural cooperatives to provide education, training, and research. For example, according to Katie Patterson, AFT’s California Policy Manager, California AB 350⇔ "has been unanimously approved in every committee hearing to date and continues to have support for linking practical technical assistance to farmers to implement conservation management plans that would help them address California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and to prepare them for a future where climate and water is more variable." See also CA AB 125⇔ and PA SB 465⇔.

• New York A 5386-A/S 4722-A⇔, known as the Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act, includes a new definition of soil health and soil health practices, a directive to set up soil health standards, and creates a soil health initiative. This bill has passed both chambers. Per Samantha Levy, AFT’s New York Policy Manager, “This bill is a critical next step, building on the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act that passed in 2019, to support farmers in adopting soil health practices and being a part of the climate solution in New York. If signed by the Governor, the adoption of soil health definitions and the setting of voluntary standards will help farmers economically while assisting them in adapting to and mitigating climate change.”

Solar Siting

• Connecticut HB 5175⇓ and HB 6498⇓ dictate the state’s role in siting solar arrays on prime and important farmland. These bills would require that agricultural sector representatives be included in solar siting decision-making, lower the threshold for review for projects proposed on prime or statewide important farmland, require decommissioning bonds, and establish a solar mitigation fund. Chelsea Gazillo of AFT explains that “although HB 6498 did not pass, this legislation has started a conversation among policy makers and state officials as to how Connecticut can actively work to meet its alternative energy goals while protecting farmland.”

• Three states had lawmakers who proposed legislation considering how to handle solar array installations on agricultural land enrolled in current use value tax assessment programs. See MA S 1896⇔, NY S 4100⇔, VT H 9/S 61⇓.

• New Jersey A 4554/S 2605⇑ and A 5434/S 3484⇑ would influence solar development on agricultural land in the state, including on protected agricultural land. Each bill has been significantly amended since introduction to further reduce the impact of solar on farmland and have both passed.

• Washington SB 5206⇓ related to how solar arrays on farmland are handled through local land use planning. Washington has strong existing land use planning laws and relies on these laws to ensure agricultural land is protected to the extent possible. In Washington, energy projects are currently permitted through the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC). SB 5206 would have granted more authority to counties in making these decisions, who are mandated by the state to protect farmland through the Growth Management Act. Per Dani Madrone, AFT’s Pacific Northwest Policy Manager, “Even though SB 5206 did not pass, it provided the opportunity to engage with lawmakers about the importance of protecting farmland when deciding where to site solar development, which led to a budget proviso that will fund a least-conflict process to engage many stakeholders on future solar energy projects."

• Florida SB 896⇑ states that the intent of the legislature is to encourage solar energy throughout the state and declares that solar facilities are considered a permitted use in agricultural land use categories in all local comprehensive plans and are permitted in the agricultural zoning districts of unincorporated areas. This bill was enacted on July 7, 2021. According to Billy Van Pelt II, AFT’s Director of External Relations and Senior Advisor, “Solar facilities should be evaluated in a manner where the state's most productive soils and farms are not taken out of production. According to AFT's Farms Under Threat: State of the States, Florida is one of the top 12 most threatened states due to the loss of agricultural land. Nearly 2 million acres of Florida’s agricultural land is considered ‘Nationally Significant,’ or land best suited for growing food and crops. This report identifies the urgent need for action to protect this land that is critical for Florida’s agricultural economy and its ability to grow food and other crops.”

Equity

Heirs’ Property

The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) is a uniform law states can legislatively adopt to preserve the rights of co-tenant heirs who receive property as a result of a landowner passing without a will. When this happens, real estate investors can initiate a partition action and force the property’s sale at an artificially low value, which results in the reduction of a family’s inherited wealth. This tactic is frequently used to force the sale of agricultural land, and most greatly impacts the generational wealth of Black farmers and ranchers. The uniform law seeks to change this by adding a number of due process protections to state probate law, like notice, appraisal, right of first refusal, and court-supervised sales that help to keep the land in the family, and if the property is sold, it helps to ensure all co-tenant heirs receive a share of the proceeds.

According to the Uniform Law Commission, seven states (plus Washington D.C.) introduced the UPHPA in 2021, including New Jersey, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah, and Kentucky. In 2020, four states passed the UPHPA (Virginia, Mississippi, New York, and Florida), the most in one year since the origination of the uniform act. California AB 633⇑ was signed into law on July 23, 2021. North Carolina HB 367/SB 363⇔ has passed one chamber. The current session adjourns on July 30^th. New Jersey AB 5510/SB 1869⇔ was reported favorably from committee.

New Strategies

• California AB 125⇔, known as the Equitable Economic Recovery, Healthy Food Access, Climate Resilient Farms, and Worker Protection Bond Act of 2022, is a bond authorization bill that would create several opportunities for disadvantaged communities, including farmworkers, to have reliable, green housing, safe and dependable drinking water access, and investments in school kitchens for locally sourced and prepared foods. These opportunities would be in addition to state-funded farm linking programs and agricultural training programs that work directly with tribal entities. The bill is requesting that 40% of its bond funding be prioritized for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. According to Katie Patterson, AFT’s California Policy Manager, “Assembly Bill 125 will place the Food and Farming Resilience and Economic Recovery Bond on the 2022 ballot. The bond’s investments will accelerate our state’s economic recovery and improve the state’s climate change readiness while also increasing healthy food access for Californians and protecting our essential farmworkers. The bond will invest $3.302 billion over five years to accelerate California’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while combating climate change, improving food security, and protecting our essential farmworkers." AFT is a bill sponsor on AB 125.

• Illinois HB 3501⇔, known as the Black Farmer Restoration Program Act, would create a program and a designated fund to purchase farmland and grant it to eligible individuals. The bill establishes requirements and limitations for the program, establishes the Farm Conservation Corps to provide training in an on-field environment for socially disadvantaged residents, and establishes the Equity Commission to study historical and continuing discrimination by the Illinois Department of Agriculture against Black farmers and ranchers and recommend actions. It also provides for the collection and reporting of program data and related conditions.

• Illinois HR 46⇑ is a resolution that directs the state to study land loss of Black farmers and calls for the state to build support and capacity for Black farming communities across the state. Because it is a resolution, it does not provide for detailed policy actions. The resolution was adopted by the house in April.

• Vermont H 273⇓ would establish a Land Access and Opportunity Fund and create an independent board to direct investment of the fund into grants for land access, financial education, and anti-racist mutual aid.

• New Jersey S 3559⇔ directs the state Department of Agriculture to establish a New Jersey Minority, Women, and Underserved Farmer Registry to register minority, women, disabled, LGBTQIA+, socially disadvantaged, and historically underserved farmers to receive notification of opportunities to apply for farm loan assistance programs and business assistance.

 
AFT’s Farmland Information Center Legislation Tracking

American Farmland Trust’s Farmland Information Center tracks bills to support practitioners and policymakers working to protect farmland and ranchland. This summary provides information and insights about trends in legislation in 24 states during 2021. In addition, we also created a downloadable legislation tracking spreadsheet. You can refer to this spreadsheet to find out the status of each bill mentioned above, as well as a brief summary of the bill and supporting information. The spreadsheet will be updated periodically. Selected legislative updates are also posted in the Laws section on the Farmland Information Center website. Nothing in this blog is meant to indicate support on the part of the Farmland Information Center for any piece of legislation. Bills are tracked according to relevant topic areas only, not according to preference. We welcome submissions for legislation we may have missed in the states identified. Please send a message to Kayla Donovan using NALN community platform direct messaging, or email kdonovan@farmland.org.