Conservation easements can keep farmland intact, though they carry trade-offs
A Missouri farmer used a conservation easement to prevent his 30-acre produce farm from being subdivided as development spread. The legal tool can preserve agricultural land, but it may reduce the financial return when the property is sold. Advocates say such easements are increasingly important as millions of Midwest farmland acres are expected to change hands.
Dan Kuebler raised produce on 30 acres near Ashland, Missouri, and spent more than three decades selling at the Columbia Farmers Market. He began farming at 40, also worked as an in-home physical therapist, and later made fermented foods. When he sold the property in 2025, the easement let him keep a cabin there for life.
The Greenbelt Land Trust of Mid-Missouri oversees the easement, which bars subdivision and housing or business construction. Nationally, roughly 2,000 farmland acres daily are converted or degraded, and 18.4 million acres could be converted by 2040.
Conservation easements may help keep farmland available for agriculture and local food production, but they could also lower sale prices or limit owners’ options. Farmers nearing retirement, heirs, and buyers may weigh permanence against financial flexibility. Communities facing development pressure could see some fields remain undeveloped, while land trusts may take on long-term monitoring duties. The broader effect may depend on how many landowners choose such tools.