Legislative committee hears briefing on Vermonts current-use tax program and continuing farmland loss

A state legislative committee heard a briefing from the agencys agricultural climate and land use policy manager about Vermonts use-value appraisal (current use) program, continuing loss of farmland and how the current formula affects the size of tax benefits for enrolled properties.

The presenter, Ryan, agricultural climate and land use policy manager in the administration division, told committee members that use-value appraisal remains one of the states most important land-use protection tools but has not stopped farmland decline: "we've lost 50% of the farmland since current use was passed," he said, and the program has only attenuated, not reversed, the long-term trend.

The presentation summarized recent data showing active agricultural land now represents about 9% of Vermonts terrestrial land base, while farms manage roughly 20% when farm-managed woodland is included. Ryan said the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture agricultural census shows farms managed about 1.2 million acres in 2022, with roughly half in woodland and half in open agricultural land. He warned that open agricultural land is the most vulnerable to reverting to…