Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program

The Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranchland in agricultural uses. Working through existing programs, USDA partners with State, tribal, or local governments and non-governmental organizations to acquire conservation easements or other interests in land from landowners. USDA provides up to 50 percent of the fair market easement value of the conservation easement.

To qualify, farmland must: be part of a pending offer from a State, tribe, or local farmland protection program; be privately owned; have a conservation plan for highly erodible land; be large enough to sustain agricultural production; be accessible to markets for what the land produces; have adequate infrastructure and agricultural support services; and have surrounding parcels of land that can support long-term agricultural production. Depending on funding availability, proposals must be submitted by the eligible entities to the appropriate NRCS State Office during the application window.

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Fact Sheet (46.83 KB)
Key Points (47.71 KB)
Questions and Answers(42.68 KB)
Program Description (56.94 KB)
FY2007 Announcement of Program Funding  (138.06KB)
Interim Final Rule, 7 CFR 1491, July 27,2006 (73.72KB)

Additional Information

• Public Law - Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002
• Public Law - Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996
• Final Rule, 7 CFR 1491, May 16, 2003
• NRCS Policy, 440-V-CPM, Part 519, FRPP
• Farmland Information Center
• Important Farmland Maps
• National Environmental Policy Act Documents

Program Information by Fiscal Year

• 2007 Allocations by Program
• 2007 Easement Information
• Cumulative Easement Information
• 2006 Allocations by Program
• 2006 Unfunded Easement Application Information
• 2006 Easement Information
• 2005 Allocations by Program
• 2005 Unfunded Easement Application Information
• 2005 Easement Information
• 2004_Unfunded Easement Application Information
• 2004 Allocation Information
• 2004 Easement Information
• 2003 Allocation Information
• 2003 Unfunded Easement Application Information
• 2003 Easement Information