The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) has announced the availability of $1 million in funding aimed at permanently protecting working farms and ranches in Utah. This initiative is part of the 2025 LeRay McAllister Working Farm and Ranch Fund, which is administered by UDAF.
The fund seeks to preserve agricultural lands that are essential to Utah’s economy, food security, and rural heritage. It does so through partnerships with landowners, land trusts, local governments, and other entities. The goal is to ensure long-term conservation of Utah’s most productive and threatened agricultural areas.
Since its inception in 1999, the LeRay McAllister Program has placed over 68,855 acres of farmland into conservation easements. These efforts have helped maintain agricultural operations on these lands indefinitely. The program has previously supported the preservation of 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 longstanding family farms in operation and ensuring land remains available for farmers and ranchers looking to enter into agriculture.”
Applications for this funding will be accepted on a rolling basis with two funding batches each year. Projects will be assessed based on criteria such as agricultural productivity, threat of conversion, water resource protection, and their contribution to local conservation priorities.
Eligible applicants include nonprofit land trusts, local governments, and other entities qualified under Utah Code §57-18 to hold conservation easements. Projects may also use matching funds from programs like the USDA NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP-ALE).
Interested parties are encouraged to review program guidelines on the UDAF website or contact UDAF staff for further information regarding project eligibility.
For more details or inquiries: Jeremy Christensen can be reached at [email protected] or (385) 441-4106.
