Purpose
The Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation has been in existence since 1977 and provides a unique opportunity to assure that agricultural land will remain in Maryland. Landowners have used the sale of their easements for many purposes, including: 

• To finance the purchase of their farm or additional farmland;
• For retirement;
• For estate planning and settlement;
• To finance the improvement of an existing farming operation;
• To invest in the production and marketing of new farm products;
• To finance the restoration of an historic home; and/or
• To pay of existing debt.

Program Summary
The Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation permanently preserves land by purchasing agricultural preservation easements on properties. For your property to qualify for the program, minimum size and soil eligibility criteria must be met.

Qualifying Criteria
Location: Land must be located outside the 10-year water and sewer service area.
Size: The minimum size for a MALPF agricultural preservation easement is 50 acres. Landowners of smaller parcels may join together to form an eligible tract as long as each parcel has development rights to extinguish and each parcel meets soil eligibility.

Application Process
All applications shall be submitted to the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District. The District shall review applications to verify that the properties meet the program's minimum qualifications. Next, each application goes through a county approval process which includes review by the local agricultural preservation board, the County Planning Board, the County Council and the County Executive. Once approved by the county, the application is evaluated by the Foundation for final approval.

Value of Easement
Two independent fee appraisers are selected by bid to establish a Fair Market Value (that which a developer might pay) for your property. Appraisal reviewers at the Maryland Department of General Services will select one of the two appraisals (or three if you submit an appraisal) which reflects the most accurate and documented work. Appraisals calculate Fair Market Values only for the land, and not the improvements on the property.

The Foundation calculates an Agricultural Value for the property, which is its agricultural production value. The Agricultural Value is determined by a formula that calculates land rent based on the soil productivity or the five-year average cash rent in the county, whichever is lower. The Easement Value of the property is then calculated by subtracting its Agricultural Value from the Fair Market Value. The maximum price that the Foundation can pay for an easement is either the landowner's Asking Price or the Easement Value, whichever is lower.

       Lump Sum Cash Payment
           A landowner will receive a lump sum cash payment for the
           purchase of their development rights.

       Installment Purchase Agreement
           This option is not available at this time. However work is being
           done so that this option will be available in the near future.
 

Children's Lots
The owners of record at time of easement sale have the choice of an unrestricted lot or a family lot. The number of lot exclusions available varies according to qualifying acres. Location of the children’s lots must be approved by the local preservation board and the MALPF board.

[See MALPF fact sheets 3,5] www.malpf.info/

As of July 1, 2007, two parcels for 565 acres have been permanently preserved. An additional nine parcels for 635 acres are going through the easement process.