Massachusetts recently required buyers of land in agricultural areas to use the lot for farming in an attempt to stop the building of estates. In fact, voters nationwide have passed 200 initiatives to protect agricultural land, according to a survey by the American Farm Trust. Although there are several ways to preserve land for farming, purchasing development rights is the most prevalent method. Generally, the county or state pays for the land, and, in exchange, the owner signs a deed that prevents development. Since the development value is usually far above the agricultural value, counties or states will try to to keep down the property value so other growers will keep farming and even expand their operations.
Some counties also offer tax incentives for property used in agriculture.
In many ways, the Northwest has been a leader in such programs. It also required a minimum 36-acre lot in agriculture zones to prevent the land from being broken into smaller, unfarmable parcels. More than 12,000 acres were preserved, but the program eventually lost momentum. People thought, 'We saved it' and went on to other things. The preservation program helped stave off strip malls and parking lots, but working farms were increasingly bought up and turned into tony residential estates for the new bevy of high-tech Microsoft millionaires.