Agricultural Land Preservation

How can the foundation help you?

If you are the owner of eligible farmland and/or woodland, the Foundation can help you by purchasing an agricultural preservation easement on your property. This will ensure that your property remains agricultural in perpetuity.

An “easement” is a tool for you to protect prime productive farmland from development by selling its development rights and restricting the use of the land to agricultural use now and in the future.  The land remains under your private ownership to sell or transfer without interference.  The Foundation, in purchasing your easement, agrees to monitor the property forever to ensure compliance with the terms of the easement.  No public access is required by such an easement.        

The amount that the Foundation will pay for your easement is your asking price, the difference between the appraised fair market value of the land and its agricultural value, whichever is less, or a maximum of 75% of the appraised fair market value of the land.  Depending on where you live in Maryland, the value of your property, and your asking price, the Foundation has in recent years paid from $600 to over $10,000 per acre for agricultural preservation easements.  If you sell an easement for less than the full value of the restrictions as determined by appraisal, you may qualify for certain tax benefits (consult your tax advisor).

Easement purchases are made through a competitive application process.  For your property to qualify for the program, it must meet minimum size and soil eligibility criteria, be located outside a ten-year water and sewer service area, and you must commit to not develop, subdivide, or transfer the property while you have a pending easement application before the Foundation.  MALPF and local governments rank properties relative to other properties applying to the program and then make offers based on how much funding is available.

After selling an easement to the Foundation, you, as a property owner, will continue to own and operate the farm as before.  You may sell or transfer the property, but the land will be permanently preserved for agricultural use.  The original seller of the easement may retain limited development rights.

Landowners have used the sale of their easements for many purposes, including:

• To finance the purchase of their farm or additional farmland;
• For retirement;
• For estate planning and settlement;
• To finance the improvement of an existing farming operation;
• To invest in the production and marketing of new farm products;
• To finance the renovation of a home, barn, or other farm building​; and/or
• To pay off existing debt.

The most recent version of available forms will be provided here as Adobe Acrobat or portable document format (.pdf) documents and, when possible, as Microsoft Word template documents as a convenience to program administrators and for landowners interested in making specific requests for which they are eligible.  Information contained on these forms is useful to understand the review process and the conditions to be met for approval of requests.  All requests using these forms must first be submitted to your county’s program administrator for local review.  After local review, the county will forward your requests to the Foundation for consideration.  Unless otherwise indicated, please do not submit requests directly to the Foundation.  Please consult with your local program administrator before using these forms.

Change of ownership​ 

When the title transfers or otherwise changes on an easement property, please provide a copy of this form to the county program administrator and to the Foundation.  

Download the change of ownership form

Easement application and instructions for completing the application to sell an easement

This application to sell an agricultural conservation easement to the Foundation should be completed and submitted with the required documentation to the county program administrator no later than July 1 for the offer cycle of that fiscal year.  Offers are usually made by the Foundation late the following winter or early spring.

Download the easement application and instructions form 

Baseline documentation​​

(for use by county program administrators) Program staff is required by MALPF policy to inspect​ a property before the purchase of the agricultural easement.

Download the baseline documentation form

Unrestricted lot release request

The original landowner whose option contract to purchase the easement was approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works after October 1, 2003, is given a choice when applying to sell an agricultural conservation easement to the Foundation to retain eligibility to request up to three family lots (one lot for the personal use of the owner and/or two or three for the personal use of the owner’s children) or one unrestricted lot.  This same choice is available to the original landowner who placed his or her property in a district after October 1, 2003, and who has not sold an easement.  If you have chosen the unrestricted lot option or if you are a district owner and wish to request a lot release under the unrestricted lot option, please use this form to request the release of an unrestricted lot.

Download the unrestricted lot release request form

Agricultural subdivision request

Under current regulations, landowners can request the subdivision of their property for an agricultural purpose, if the property is at least 100 acres in size, each resulting division is at least 50 acres in size, each resulting division meets the minimum eligibility requirements of the Program, and each resulting division can support an economically viable farming operation.  An agricultural subdivision will not be approved for a non-agricultural purpose, such as to settle estates, increase lot sizes, etc.

Download the agricultural subdivision request form

Monitoring form​

(for use by county program administrators). Program staff is required by MALPF policy to inspect at least 10% of MALPF-preserved properties annually and 100% of properties preserved with federal funding commitments. Program staff has a right under the easement to on-site inspections of all MALPF-preserved properties. This monitoring is done either by local county staff and/or State staff. Monitoring usually involves a site inspection and a review of the land records to ensure that the property is in compliance with the terms of the deed of easement representing the restrictions purchased by MALPF and, therefore, the State's interest in the property. Among the issues considered in an inspection are: the status of any new residential structures on the property; the status of the soil erosion and water quality plan; the status of the forest stewardship plan (if required); identification of any off-conveyances from the property, including agricultural subdivisions; any dumping or other stewardship issues on the property; conformity to allowable tenant house usage; and any non-agricultural uses of the property. Such visits are also invaluable to update landowners on changes in the program, to update records on ownership and other property information, and to listen to landowner concerns. A Microsoft Word template version of this monitoring form is also available that can be downloaded and completed on the computer.  To download this file on a PC, right-click on the following link and use the command “Save Target As…”  To download this file on a Macintosh, hold down the “control” key while clicking the mouse, using the command “Save File As…”  MS-Word Monitoring Form Template.

Download the monitoring form

Re-inspection form

Download the re-inspection form