Protecting farmland, keeping farmers on the land, and supporting sound farm practices.
American Farmland Trust has helped to shape agriculture in the Pacific Northwest for more than twenty years. In Oregon, we work with partners to advance policies that strengthen the statewide land use system, permanently protect farmland, and advance practices that build soil health and sequester carbon.
Oregon has the strongest land use protection policies in the country, as ranked in our nationwide spatial analysis for Farms Under Threat. A statewide land use planning system was established by Senate Bill 100 in 1973 that created zoning exclusively for farming. However, these protections are only as strong as the political will to keep them in place.
Over the years, land intended to be used exclusively for Oregon agriculture has been chipped away as lawmakers introduce more and more competing uses.
Learn more about the threats that face farmland by reading Death By 1000 Cuts, a report from 1000 Friends of Oregon.
AFT’s Oregon Policy Priorities for Agriculture
- Support Oregon agriculture policies that strengthen the outcomes of the statewide land use planning system, while defending from policies that would weaken its ability to protect farmland.
- Fund the permanent protection of agricultural land to preserve farmland that falls through the gaps of statewide planning.
- Advance soil health and other conservation practices that support farm viability, ecosystem services, and carbon sequestration.