South Carolina Farm Bureau Land Trust Preserves Farmland and Property Rights

Spurred by a lack of conservation trusts for working farm, ranch and forest lands in one of the fastest-growing states, South Carolina Farm Bureau members in 2021 directed state Farm Bureau staff to explore creating such a trust. A wholly owned subsidiary of South Carolina Farm Bureau, South Carolina Farm Bureau Land Trust was launched in 2023 and has since protected 4,801 acres of working agricultural land worth over $5 million for the farmer landowners. In addition, there are 17,304 acres worth over $15 million in various stages of the easement process.

Equally as important as protecting the land is ensuring farmers and ranchers can continue to grow a crop sustainably on those protected lands while still being able to make business decisions based on their operation’s viability, including changing the commodities grown or practices used.

Easing Development Pressure

The trust helps ease the pressure many of the states’ farmers and ranchers are feeling with high inflation and low commodity prices offering little chance for an acceptable return on investment, making selling or developing their land a more viable option than carrying on.

It also creates options for beginning farmers and ranchers. Rather than compete with developers with much deeper pockets for land, people just getting started in agriculture can talk with a retiring farmer about creating an SCFBLT easement for their land, providing the retiring farmer compensation for the development value from the trust, and the new farmer can pay the agricultural value.

New Relationships

South Carolina Farm Bureau’s 80 years of working on behalf of the state’s agriculture industry gave previously reluctant farmers the confidence to pursue a conservation easement agreement. The trust has also given the organization added credibility with the state’s other conservation groups, serving as a foundation for new relationships with other nonprofits, as well as companies looking to increase their environmental, social and governance efforts.

Benefits go Beyond the Farm

Supporting a strong agriculture sector in the state, as the trust does, benefits far more than farmers and ranchers. It keeps more than 250,000 people employed in agriculture-related jobs and contributes more than $52 billion to South Carolina’s economy. The green spaces the trust preserves are valued by people across the state, as are the many local farm- and ranch-grown products they eat and use in various ways.

New Horizon Award

The South Carolina Farm Bureau Land Trust garnered South Carolina Farm Bureau a 2025 New Horizon Award from the American Farm Bureau Federation. The award, which honors state Farm Bureaus with the most innovative new programs, is presented annually at the AFBF Convention.