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.

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) New
Key Points (47.71 KB) New
Questions and Answers(42.68 KB ) New
Program Description (56.94 KB) New
FY 2004 Request for Proposals (RFP) due to NRCS by May 3, 2004, Federal Register March 17, 2004 (70 KB)

Additional Information

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

Request for Proposals

Program Information by Fiscal Year

• 2002 Unfunded Easement Application Information
• 2002 Easement Information
• 2003 Allocation Information
• 2003 Unfunded Easement Application Information
• 2003 Easement Information
• 2004 Allocation Information

State Fact Sheets

• 2001 State Fact Sheets
• 2002 State Fact Sheets

Program Contact

Denise C. Coleman, National FRPP Manager, 202-720-9476