The Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) was founded in 1995 when Colorado Cattlemen’s Association members voted to create it and work directly with farm and ranch families in Colorado.  It was the first land trust in the U.S. founded by producers for producers. 

Erik Glenn, Executive Director of CCALT, says the reason for creating it was to help provide options for their members and other ag families across the state struggling to transfer ownership to the next generation. 

“This land trust was designed to be an estate planning tool for farm and ranch families,” says Glenn.

“In the early 1990’s the Cattlemen’s Association realized there was need for an ag-focused land trust in Colorado; some members were located near resort communities like Aspen, Vail and Steamboat and were struggling with significantly appreciating land values (and taxes) and minimal exemptions in the estate tax.”

One of the challenges facing farm and ranch families was generational transition. The state was losing multi-generational farms and ranches; they couldn’t afford to pay estate tax on inherited farm and ranch land.

“Easements inherently devalue the property, thus bringing the taxable amount down, and provide a strategy for reducing potential impacts of estate tax at the time of the parents or grandparents passing,” Glenn says. “The purpose of the CCALT was to create additional strategies to help keep family farms and ranches in the family. This continues to be one reason people utilize conservation easements.”

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Another plus is that a conservation easement is a way to get liquidity out of a farm or ranch without having to sell it. 

“This can be used in a number of ways by the family—to pay down debt, expand the operation, buy new equipment, re-invest in the property and increase its productive value, diversify revenue streams, etc. Conservation easements are an effective tool for helping families stay in business and not have to sell, thus avoid further reduction of available land for agriculture.”

805,000 acres conserved

In the 30 years since its creation CCALT has worked with more than 500 families across Colorado, conserving more than 805,000 acres. All partnerships are voluntary.

“The CCALT is unique in that we cannot solicit landowners for easements. In every transaction, the landowner has approached us. That was one of the limitations that the Cattlemen’s Association put on the Land Trust when it was created,” he says.

“We get more calls today than ever, and I think it’s because people have seen someone who has done one, and it hasn’t changed the way they do business; they are still managing the land the way they want to. If a person can continue to operate their farm or ranch, with ability to generate additional revenue without having to sell portions of the property—or sell it entirely—it becomes more attractive to families who don’t want to see their land developed or altered,” he says.

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“The CCALT has proven a successful model that has now been replicated in other states across the West and more recently in the Midwest. CCALT has also done a good job of getting other organizations to adopt a more flexible approach—more user-friendly for farmers and ranchers,” says Glenn.

He tells people that one of the most important choices is to determine who will be their partner in a conservation easement, since that partnership will last forever. Having an organization of like-minded individuals as your partner, with a mission related to agriculture, the farmer or rancher can have more confidence that it will be continued the way they would want it.

“A great thing that evolved from this innovative land trust is that likeminded organizations formed a larger group, to collaborate and help each other. The Partnership of Rangeland Trusts (PORT) is celebrating its 20^th anniversary. It started with six members and now we have nine.,” he says.

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Original members are CCALT, Montana Land Reliance, Wyoming Stockgrowers Land Trust, Ranchland Trust of Kansas, California Rangeland Trust, and the Northwest Rangeland Trust (Oregon, Idaho and Washington.). PORT now includes the Nebraska Land Trust, South Dakota Agricultural Land Trust and Texas Land Trust, which also serves Oklahoma. Port has helped more than 2000 families voluntarily conserve more than 3 million acres across 12 states.

Farms embrace option

Farmers and ranchers in some regions embrace this option readily. Other areas more remote from population centers and resort attractions—less demand for property or development and resultant increases in land values--haven’t had as much impact yet, but will eventually have some of the same pressures that make it difficult to pass a farm or ranch to the next generation. This tool won’t work for everyone but it gives people additional options for keeping farms and ranches in the family.

Our country tends to take agriculture and food production for granted, especially in recent decades; it has become harder for many families to make a living producing the food we depend on. If there are subdivisions next door, or increasing demands for and constraints on resources agriculture depends on (less water for irrigation, reductions in livestock numbers allowed on public lands, etc.) it becomes harder to operate.

The economics of operating a sustainable enterprise are more challenging, with continually rising input costs and periodic low prices for what farms or ranches produce.

“People often don’t understand that if you make investments in your operation (to try to improve your land and production), those investments can be significant financially and the return on investment is generally very small,” Glenn says. “In contrast, in many other businesses--in which people make investments in technology--return on investment can be huge.” Ranchers must watch input costs because it’s such a thin line between profit and loss.

Conservation easements can forestall the transition away from family farms and ranches. “They may not be able to entirely prevent it, long term, but we can keep these families on the land for now, at least another generation. Our goal is to think about what we can do to help that next generation. When the easement is not a tool anymore, and they need other tools, what can we do to help the next generation face the challenges? One of the things I’m excited about is an additive conservation program, designed to help our landowner partners carry out additional projects that not only benefit their ag operations but also improve conservation outcomes on their land,” he says.

Sustainability needed

Farmers and ranchers need to be sustainable so our country can be self-sufficient in food supply. A conservation easement can be helpful for families interested in using one. “They just need to understand how it works, and who their partners will be--to make sure they trust those partners and what that organization might be in 20 years, if they don’t have a land trust through their cattlemen’s association or Farm Bureau.” 

Some easements become complicated if there are multiple parties involved, depending on where they are located, the situation, and purpose of the easement. There might be an environmental group, a wildlife group, and in some cases a Fish and Game department, a water resources department, etc. as partners holding the conservation easement, and it is difficult to get everyone on the same page.

“Some landowners have more of an environmental or wildlife interest and want land preserved for that reason, and there are many organizations that support this. For ag families, however, they need a partner with an ag alignment, so they can depend on that partnership long term,” says Glenn. “The tendency for policy makers today seems to be to restrict the amount of options landowners have, whereas we need to be expanding them,” he says.

Agricultural land trusts are a way to preserve open space, ecosystems, etc. but focus on the farm or ranch family for continuity—keeping them in business so it can pass to the next generation. The land can still be sold; it simply provides an opportunity to let the next generation decide. If at some point they don’t want to be on the ranch, the property can be sold, passed on or traded, but it can’t be chopped up.