New England Farmland Protection and Access

Our Farmland Protection and Access programs work to secure the future of New England’s farms, farmland, and farmers. We provide resources, training, and technical support, and advocate for policies to protect our region’s farmland and get more farmers onto land.

Since 1980, American Farmland Trust has played a vital role nationally and here in New England advocating for programs and policies to save farmland and help keep farmers on the land. 

New England is fortunate to have a large number and diversity of land trusts, conservation groups, farm support organizations, and agency partners. Our AFT New England Farmland Protection and Access program works to support this rich network of organizations through providing outreach and education, technical assistance, advocacy, research, and creative partnerships and collaborations across the region. 

What’s at stake? 

New England has some of the most expensive and highly developed farmland in the nation, and we are losing farmland faster than we can save it. Our Farms Under Threat 2040 study projects a loss of at least 267,000 acres of New England farmland by the year 2040. New England is projected to convert a much higher percentage of its farmland than other parts of the country.

Advancing Land Protection in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is rapidly losing farmland, and we are working to help increase the pace of farmland protection across the state. AFT is partnered closely with our state office of the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers the federal Agricultural Conservation Easement Program-Agricultural Land Easement (ACEP-ALE ) program and with our state’s Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resource (MDAR) Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program staff. We also work closely with the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition and other conservation organizations and agencies across the state.