The Oregon Capitol.

A key Oregon budget committee has approved $2 million for a program that funds conservation easements meant to protect farmland from development.

In addition to the $2 million for Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program grants, the Joint Ways and Means Committee has approved nearly $1 million for several staff positions to oversee the program.

Though the amount of funding is far lower than the $17.3 million sought by proponents, which would have paid for up to 25 proposed easement projects, they expect it would further lay the groundwork for future investments.

The funding for grants and support staff must still be approved by the House and Senate, but clearing the Joint Ways and Means Committee is considered a crucial step for any spending bill before the Legislature.

Funding for the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program was included in broader legislation, House Bill 5039, which pays for grants aimed at improving and preserving water quality and similar projects.

Lawmakers originally created the program in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2022 that they allocated $5 million to actually pay for easement projects, which was followed up with another $5 million in 2024.

Buying conservation easements from farmers can help them raise money for expenses related to succession planning, instead of having to sell a portion of their land, said Nellie McAdams, executive of the Oregon Agricultural Trust, which works with the program.

With conservation easements, farmers are paid to give up the right to construct homes, commercial buildings or other structures on their property, which they can continue using for cultivating crops and livestock.

“You can get cash in exchange for property rights that are unneeded and you can keep that land in ag production into the future,” McAdams said.

Supporters say that investments in such conservation easements are a bargain, as each state dollar is eligible for nearly $2 in federal matching funds from the USDA.

If the program had received the $17.3 million for 25 projects currently in the pipeline, in other words, that could have unlocked $32.5 million from the USDA and protected about 38,000 acres, McAdams said.

Up until now, the program has acquired nine conservation easements that span more than 12,000 acres of farmland.

Proponents want to scale up the program to better leverage the federal funding available, but also due to the major transition facing much of Oregon’s farmland.

The Oregon Agricultural Trust estimates that about roughly two-thirds of the state’s farmland, or about 10 million acres, will be changing hands in the next two decades, but the vast majority of farmers don’t yet have succession plans prepared.