The new Intensive Agriculture Easement Template was approved by VOF’s Board of Trustees in October 2011. The template is a result of a partnership between VOF, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and others to make conservation easements more flexible for working farms.

A working group comprised of the above partners developed a variant to VOF’s standard easement template that, among other things, allows for the option of a “farmstead” area within the easement, where building and use restrictions would be less stringent. VOF would be able to control the size and location of the farmstead area overall, and would apply its normal restrictions to the rest of the property. In exchange for this greater flexibility, VOF would seek greater restrictions on division rights and other compensations to protect core public values.

Click here to Download the VOF Agricultural Easement Template. (.DOC)

Click here for a VA Farm Bureau Article on Agricultural Easements with VOF.