Farmland Preservation Act headed to Governor Lee’s desk
UPDATE (5/12/25): Gov. Lee signs Farmland Preservation Act into law
JACKSON, Tenn. — The Farmland Preservation Act, aimed at strengthening rural Tennessee, has now been passed in both the Tennessee House of Representatives and Senate.
House Bill 1325 creates a special fund called the “Farmland Preservation Fund,” which would help protect farms and forests by providing a one-time capital incentive to those who promise to keep their land safe and not sell it for business or industrial purposes.
Landowners could join this program, where they would sign a “conservation easement” agreement to keep their land the way it is.
This means no one could ever utilize this land to build living quarters, shopping centers, etc.
“Knowing that the agricultural economy is the #1 sector within the Tennessee economy, to me, this signals that it’s an option for them,” said Charles Martinez, Director of UT Center of Farm Management. “To continue that, you know, moving forward in time, but also, it offers a producer a opportunity to keep their land in production over time.”
According to the Tennessee Farm Bureau, 9.8 acres of farmland are lost across the state per hour.
This preservation fund would designate $25 million to help landowners who join the program.
“In our analysis, from East to Middle,” Martinez said, “we’ve already seen a rapid growth, a rapid expansion of urban areas that’s overtaking farm and forestry land, but then as we look to West Tennessee, it’s kind of logical to think that that’s going to be the next spot where we see a lot of expansion or development occurring.”
It’s important for landowners to understand that once they sign this agreement, they cannot change their minds. While they may think it’s a great idea in the present, future generations may not agree.
“The thing that producers are gonna have to think about is if you do enroll into the program, that is a pretty much forever guarantee that the land is gonna be in production, and you really have to think about what is that going to look like for whoever’s owning the land, whether it’s family members or someone that they sell it to, but also, 60 or 70 years down the line, what does that look like,” Martinez said.
This bill now heads to Governor Bill Lee’s desk for a possible signature. Recently, he has expressed his support in getting the act passed.
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