Farmland Preservation Program

In 2025, Governor Bill Lee signed Public Chapter 470, commonly known as the Tennessee Farmland Preservation Bill, into law.

It tasks the Tennessee Department of Agriculture with development of a grant program to incentivize farmland and forestland owners to voluntarily enroll their land in a permanent conservation easement.

TDA is currently developing rules and guidelines for the program. These rules are not yet finalized. We anticipate filing a Notice of Rulemaking Hearing in autumn 2025 to gather public comment on the proposed rules, which will be available to the public then. After the hearing, the timeline for finalizing the rules will depend on both the content and volume of public feedback. However, TDA anticipates launching the program by late summer 2026.

Information will be available on this webpage, in our newsroom, and on Facebook.