Town roads are exempt from the impact statement requirement. They can be used by local governments in the planning process. The purpose of the agricultural impact statement program is to inform affected farmland owners, the project initiators, and the public about the potential impacts of the project on agriculture. The premise of the program is that wise public investments cannot be made unless all the costs and benefits associated with projects are considered. An agricultural impact statement considers the agricultural costs and benefits and recommends ways to minimize the costs.
Public projects affect both individual farmland owners and the farmland resources of an area.
For example, a new highway can directly remove farmland from production and indirectly encourage urban sprawl by improving access to rural areas. Urban sprawl can lead to conflicts between relocated urbanites and farm operations, increase property taxes, and put further pressure on farmers to convert farmland to other uses. Land use decisions are important to the agricultural impact statement program because they provide the setting and need for public projects. Public projects, in turn, can affect future land use decisions by encouraging behaviors that put additional pressure on rural resources.