The Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, provides financial assistance to eligible partners to protect the agricultural use and conservation values of eligible land through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program-Agricultural Land Easements Program. A part of the conservation title of the 2018 Farm Bill, the ACEP-ALE Program helps farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture. The program also protects grazing uses and related conservation values by conserving grassland, including rangeland, pastureland and shrubland. Eligible partners include American Indian tribes, state and local governments and non-governmental organizations, including land trusts, that have farmland, rangeland or grassland protection programs.

Across our nation, we are seeing success in implementing ALE funding to conserve our farmland and ranchland for future generations. The following case studies show how ALE programming has helped conservation of farmland and ranchland.