UDAF announces $1 million fund to protect Utah’s working farms and ranches

As Utah’s agricultural lands face increasing development pressure, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) has announced $1 million in funding to permanently protect working farms and ranches through conservation easements under the 2025 LeRay McAllister Working Farm and Ranch Fund.

Administered by UDAF, the fund helps preserve working farms and ranches. Through strategic partnerships with landowners, land trusts, local governments and other entities, the fund enables long-term conservation of Utah’s most productive and threatened agricultural lands.

Since 1999, over 68,855 acres of working farmland have been placed into conservation easements with funding from the LeRay McAllister Program in an effort to keep agricultural land in operation. In past years, the fund has helped preserve family farms in Cache Valley and ranchlands in Sanpete County.

“Once farmland is developed, it’s gone forever. In a rapidly growing state, protecting agricultural land is critical to ensuring Utah’s future food production, open space and rural character,” said UDAF Commissioner Kelly Pehrson. “The LeRay McAllister Fund helps us act now to protect agricultural land, keeping long-standing family farms in operation and ensuring land remains available for farmers and ranchers looking to enter into agriculture.”

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with two funding batches per year, UDAF said. Projects will be evaluated based on criteria including agricultural productivity, threat of conversion, water resource protection and the land’s contribution to local and regional conservation priorities. Eligible applicants include nonprofit land trusts and local governments as well as other entities qualified to hold conservation easements under Utah Code §57-18.

Projects may leverage matching funds through the USDA NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program or other complementary programs, such as local open space bond programs, county greenbelt rollback tax funds and landowner donations.

Application materials for the grants are available at https://ag.utah.gov/leray-mcallister-working-farm-and-ranch-fund/.