How a new incentive may help Delaware farmers on the fence about preserving their land

The power to preserve farmland in Delaware often rests in the hands of farmers. 

Like many other states and counties, Delaware’s Department of Agriculture runs a voluntary farmland preservation program, which offers financial incentives and protections to farmers who wish to preserve their land and continue using it for agricultural purposes.

While this may sound instinctual to people who want to see open spaces preserved in Delaware, this is not an easy decision for farmers.

If they choose to permanently sell their development rights to the state – what’s known as an agricultural conservation easement – they submit a confidential bid to sell the rights for a percentage, or discount, of the appraised value of their land.

That means landowners may be selling the development rights for less than half of what they would get from another buyer. And with a growing population and a hot housing market, farmers may often feel pressured to sell rather than preserve.

But the Delaware Department of Agriculture has a message for those farmers who are on the fence about preserving their land: The time to preserve is now.

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The department announced in a news release last week that the average discount on the appraised value of the farmland has been decreasing for the last five years.

This ultimately means farmers are getting paid more for preserving their land.

While the average discount was 74% in 2018, it has plummeted to 54% in 2021, according to Aglands Program Administrator Jimmy Kroon.

He said this is likely due to increased funding for the program in recent years, which has reduced the competition during the selection process for permanent preservation.

Less competition also means more bids are being accepted, Kroon said, with 90% percent accepted over the last three years.

The preservation program has already received $10 million for the fiscal year, said Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse, and the state expects to receive “significant federal funding” from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“For anyone who hesitated to enroll their farm or submit a bid because of high discounts, this is a great time to participate in our program,” Scuse said.

Farmers choose to preserve land for a variety of reasons, whether that’s to invest money back in their farms, to continue family farming traditions, or to protect the rural character of their hometowns. 

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Before permanently selling their development rights, landowners must first enroll in a temporary agricultural district. After 10 years, they can continue renewing that district status every five years or leave the program.

They can also decide to permanently preserve their land at any point after enrolling as an agricultural district. 

The Delaware Department of Agriculture announced in July that it permanently preserved 3,695 acres this year, raising the total to more than 143,000 acres.

That’s more than 27% of all farmland in the First State, including 1,100 farms, that will never be developed.

In this year’s round of easement selections, there were 23 farms in Kent County and 22 farms in Sussex County preserved.

Farmers can now apply to enroll land in an agricultural district through Oct. 31. After enrolling, they are eligible to submit a bid for the next round of preservation easements announced in 2022.

Delaware farmers interested in preserving their farms must meet certain requirements:

• The property must be zoned for agriculture and not subject to any major subdivision plan.
• The property must meet the minimum Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) score of 170 out of 300. LESA is a process that attempts to estimate the farm’s long-term viability based on the farm’s soil productivity and the land use and agriculture infrastructure on and around the farm. Program staff calculate the LESA score when applications are received.
• The property must meet the state’s Farmland Assessment Act (10 acres or more which generate at least $1,000 in agricultural sales annually; farms under 10 acres which create at least $10,000 annually in agricultural sales).
• Farms must be 200 acres or more to constitute an agricultural district.
• Farms under 200 acres can enter the program if they are within three miles of an existing agricultural district. It is rare that a farm under 200 acres does not meet these criteria.

Entirely forested properties in managed timber production can also enroll in the Forestland Preservation Program, which purchases forestland preservation easements through a similar process.

The Delaware Agricultural Preservation Foundation may spend up to $1 million of the $10 million appropriation on forestland easements.

Landowners interested in preserving their farm can find information and application forms online or contact the Aglands Preservation Program at 302-698-4530.