Senate committee advances bill to create Farmland Preservation Fund, cites loss of Tennessee farmland

Senate Bill 207, a proposal to establish a Farmland Preservation Fund to help Tennessee farmers place conservation easements on working farmland, cleared the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on a 5-4 vote and will move to the Finance Committee.

The bill’s sponsor, Leader Johnson, told the committee the state has lost “1,100,000 acres of farmland” between 1997 and February 2017 and another “432,941 acres” since 2017, and that the proposed fund—backed in the governor’s budget by $25,000,000—would provide grants to help families pay for conservation easements. “This is a voluntary program that landowners can utilize,” Leader Johnson said.

The nut of the bill is to create a state-administered fund, run by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, that would provide financial incentives for landowners who choose to place development restrictions on deeds to preserve farmland and forestland in perpetuity while retaining private ownership and agricultural uses.

Supporters said the program is intended for…