Finding Common Ground

A Q&A with Brooks Lamb on what a Farmland Preservation Fund means for Tennessee

In this conversation, Land Protection and Access Specialist, Brooks Lamb, speaks with me about Tennessee’s new Farmland Preservation Fund, a $25 million, state-funded initiative designed to help farmers voluntarily protect their land from development through conservation easements. Brooks explains that while federal tax incentives existed in the past, they weren’t accessible to many working-class farmers. This new fund provides direct financial support, making farmland protection more viable and equitable. For Brooks, the fund represents both a policy win and a deeply personal milestone in protecting the land that sustains us all.

Emeran Irby: Hi, Brooks! How’s it going? 

Brooks Lamb: Hey, Emeran! Things are going well. I spent this last weekend on my family’s farm in Marshall County, Tennessee. We ear-tagged some cows, chopped weeds out of the garden, and celebrated my niece’s birthday. It was really nice to be back. My wife and I love our community in Memphis, but the farm will always be “capital H” Home for me, if that makes sense. 

EI: That sounds like a lovely weekend! I saw a recent story you wrote in The Daily Memphian about the new Farmland Preservation Fund in Tennessee. Can you tell me a bit about this new program? What is it, and what will it do for farmers in Tennessee? 

BL: For sure. The Farmland Preservation Fund is a new, completely voluntary program to help farmers across the Volunteer State protect their land from development and secure their agricultural legacy. Until now, there hasn’t been a state-funded source to compensate farmers for placing conservation easements, which permanently limit the real estate development potential on land, on their farms. Farmers who want to protect their land have generally had to “donate” their development rights. They could get a federal tax deduction for that donation, but for many working-class farm families with limited income, a tax deduction isn’t all that helpful. A lot of people who wanted to protect their land just couldn’t afford it.  

Now, the state has set aside $25 million to purchase conservation easements on agricultural land, which will protect more farmland from development, enhance economic viability for farmers who participate, and help next-generation farmers more easily afford and access acreage. 

So… This is a huge win for the agricultural community. But the benefits don’t stop there. The program will help every Tennessean. Protected farmland provides a lot of benefits to the non-farming public. It secures important wildlife habitat and helps control floods, it’s the backbone of many rural economies, it offers scenic and cultural value, and it supports local and regional food systems. For all these reasons and more, we’re very grateful that state leaders have created this program.   

EI: It really feels like a rare win all around—for farmers, rural communities, and the broader public. This new program couldn’t be more timely for Tennessee, where farmland has faced intense pressure from development in recent years. I’d love to hear your perspective on what that looks like on the ground. How is this pressure reshaping agricultural communities where you are? 

BL: In the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of farmland loss in Tennessee, where open agricultural acreage has transformed into subdivisions, strip malls, and low-density housing. That loss has been most acutely felt in communities within an hour's drive or so of the state’s major cities—Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Memphis—but it has also been occurring in much more rural places.  

The University of Tennessee Center for Farm Management, for example, has done some county-by-county analysis of farmland conversion in recent years, and they estimate that the state converted 1.1 million acres of farmland between 1997 and 2017. The pace of conversion has picked up even more in recent years.

So, these data sources analyze this issue from different perspectives and say slightly different things, but they both highlight the same theme: We’re losing a tremendous amount of agricultural acreage here, and we’ve got to do something about it. That’s yet another reason the Farmland Preservation Fund—as well as other efforts to stem farmland loss, like investing in more local government planning efforts—is so important. 

EI: A million acres is a huge loss for a state known for such beautiful landscapes. Given that amount of loss, legislators must’ve been quick to jump on this solution, right?  

BL: Well… Not necessarily. Conservation leaders have been talking about the need for funding support like this for a long time. And last year, a different version of the Farmland Preservation Fund was introduced in the state legislature. We were thrilled that this conversation, that this movement, was gaining ground. But that bill didn’t move beyond the Senate Agriculture Committee. 

This year, a coalition of dozens of diverse partners worked together to educate lawmakers about the need for this program. People called their legislators. They scheduled meetings in Nashville. They shared policy briefs and offered testimonies in hearings. Lawmakers began to see the urgency of addressing farmland loss, and as they grew to understand how conservation easements really work, they became more comfortable with creating the Farmland Preservation Fund. Some legislators from both sides of the aisle spoke passionately in its favor. It also helped that Governor Lee was a vocal proponent of the bill; so was Dr. Charlie Hatcher, the Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture. 

Ultimately, an idea that failed to generate substantial support among lawmakers last year was strongly supported this year. The House passed the bill in an 84-8 vote, while the Senate passed it 25-4. The win was a result of thoughtful collaboration, strategic education and communication, and willpower. 

EI: Your persistence through the early roadblocks is genuinely inspiring—it speaks volumes about the dedication it took from everyone involved. I’d love to hear more about your connection to this work. What drives your passion for farmland preservation, Brooks? How did your journey with it begin? 

BL: As I mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, I grew up on a small family farm in Tennessee. I learned to love that land from my family, especially my parents. I am who I am largely because of that place and the people who have tended it for generations.  

That’s true for me, and it’s true for many others, too. After I finished my studies at Rhodes College in 2017, I worked for two years with The Land Trust for Tennessee. I spoke with many farmers around kitchen tables, on truck tailgates, and in feed stores about their connections with the land. They talked about their love for and commitment to it. I remember feeling heartbroken, even angry, when some of them realized they couldn’t afford to protect it. 

Since then, a lot of my work and writing has focused on how we can strengthen and support relationships with the land, particularly in rural and agricultural communities. This new Farmland Preservation Fund does that. It assigns value, economic and otherwise, to the devotion some farmers practice for their land. That’s one reason among many that this matters so much to me. 

EI: It’s been so inspiring to watch your journey—from our early conversations about rural foodways and neighboring roots to this incredible milestone. Seeing your work come full circle with the Farmland Preservation Fund is truly something to celebrate. I hope you’re taking a moment to soak it all in. I’m also really curious: what’s next on the horizon for the Fund? 

BL: Soon, leaders will start the “rulemaking” process for the new program. They’ll set guidelines and parameters, and they’ll iron out the details for how this effort will move from an idea into practice. People and organizations, including AFT, will try to raise awareness of the Farmland Preservation Fund and educate farmers about it. And then, hopefully sometime in the next year, it will formally begin.  

There’s still work to be done; there always will be. But for now, for everyone who worked so hard to make this new program happen, the win feels immediate. As I’ve written elsewhere, it’s a testament to what can happen when the land itself is common ground.  

EI: What a beautiful idea—finding unity in the land we all share. Brooks, I truly appreciate you taking the time to speak with me.  

BL: It’s a joy and an honor, Emeran. Thank you.