and the acquisition of development rights (conservation 

 easement) to agricultural land by local governments. 



Concerns 



Rationale: The rate of farmland loss in some 

 districts is so critical that the ability of farmers and 

 ranchers to maintain their operations under 

 pressure of increased costs is threatened. Programs 

 and incentives to preserve agricultural land in 

 these areas are needed. 



In Montana, conservation districts are the 

 logical entity to act, with local planning boards 

 and other local governmental agencies, to mitigate 

 this problem. 



Objectives 



A) To provide local level incentives to keep 

 productive land in production. The CDD will assist 

 interested CDs with the development of 

 agricultural preservation programs. See Part A, Ob- 

 jective 7 of the Work Plan. 



B) To increase support of farm and ranch 

 organizations and real estate agencies for preserva- 

 tion of prime agricultural land. The CDD will en- 

 courage CDs to incorporate preservation of 

 agricultural land in their education and informa- 

 tion programs and to emphasize reaching farm 

 organizations and real estate agencies. See Part B, 

 Objective 35 of the Work Plan. 



Rationale: Farm organizations and real estate 

 agencies can influence where development takes 

 place. Their support is needed in placing develop- 

 ment on lands that are not agriculturally produc- 

 tive. 



RURAL DEVELOPMENT 



Situation 



Agricultural land must be considered as a natural 

 resource necessary to the well-being of the citizens of 

 Montana, and as such, it must be guarded from loss. 

 Changes in land use present a serious constraint on 

 agricultural production throughout the U.S. From 1967 to 

 1975, 30.5 million acres were lost to agriculture nation- 

 wide. In Montana 350,000 acres of agricultural land were 

 converted to urban, built-up, transportation, and water 

 uses from 1967 to 1977 (National Agricultural Lands Study 

 1980). In the past two decades, outmigration from urban 

 areas, speeded by severe problems in the cities, has turn- 

 ed thousands of acres of prime farmland into one-acre 

 "country estates." Other losses of agricultural land are 

 due to strip mining, commercial development, highway 

 easements, airports, and other uses. 



Expansion of urban development into rural areas 

 causes many problems: demand for increase in public ser- 

 vices such as roads and utilities, conflicts between farm 

 and urban activity, and depletion of land that might be 

 held in reserve for the future. Often "leapfrog" develop- 

 ment puts pressure on farmers to sell, or makes it difficult 

 for them to conduct their normal activities such as spray- 

 ing crops or moving farm machinery. 



Inflated land prices sometimes make it financially un- 

 profitable to pass a farm on from one generation to the 



next; this situation threatens the future of the family farm 

 or ranch. Some states, Wisconsin for example, mitigate 

 the problem by allowing limited sale of agricultural land 

 for homesites on a sliding scale that depends on the size of 

 the principal holdings. This solution makes it possible for 

 farmers and ranchers to benefit from escalating land 

 prices without sacrificing extensive crop and pasture lands 

 to development. Canada's Saskatchewan Province uses a 

 land-bank system that allows the government first pur- 

 chase rights on farmland when it is sold; it is then leased to 

 the operator with an option to buy; Oregon provides tax 

 benefits as one facet of its comprehensive Agricultural 

 Lands Protection Plan, which has a farm-zone mechanism 

 established by the Oregon legislature. Whatever solution 

 is decided upon, retention of productive land in its pre- 

 sent use for cropland and pasture is basic to food and fiber 

 production. 



Concerns 



Loss of Montana's agricultural land is an 

 urgent problem, and so is loss of rangelands. Tradi- 

 tional family farm and ranch operations are also 

 threatened. 



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