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.

These documents require Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Word Reader.

Fact Sheet (PDF; 369 KB)
News Release (DOC; 56 KB)
Application Form for the entity requesting assistance and information required for submission (DOC; 110KB)
Ranking Form for NRCS to rank applications submitted statewide (DOC; 102KB) 
Landowner program application for land to be enrolled in FRPP (DOC; 80.5KB) 
 

Additional Information

• Federal Register Notice (PDF; 114 KB)

Program Contact

Peggy Hughes, FRPP Manager, 775-857-8500 x103

Last Modified: 04/13/2009