Tennessee governor revives farm conservation bill with $25 million fund
Tennessee Sen. Steve Southerland was stripped of his post as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee after opposing a 2024 bill by Gov. Bill Lee designed to slow down the development of farmland and forests.
Southerland, a Morristown Republican, was worried that farmers who accepted state money for an easement to help them preserve their property wouldn't be able to borrow against their mortgage at a later time because the state would hold a lien on the property. The bill never made it out of the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in 2024, even though Southerland said he found a way to assuage concerns with a plan allowing the state to be 'subordinate' to lenders.
Now removed as chair and no longer serving on the agriculture committee, Southerland, with more than 30 years in the mortgage industry, is out of the loop.
But asked whether he has concerns about this year's version of the legislation, Southerland said, 'Not as long as they put that subordinate agreement in there. If a farmer doesn't want to borrow on his property, that's fine with me.'
No major revisions have been made in the legislation, though, as Senate leadership overlooked Southerland's objections, instead receiving assurances from the lending industry that farmers would be able to borrow against mortgages.
The Lee Administration is predicting passage of Senate Bill 207 and putting $25 million into a grant fund handled by the state Department of Agriculture to pay farmers across the state for easements that will protect their land from development. The funds are supposed to be recurring but will be subject to the legislature's approval.
The governor, who owns a Williamson County cattle farm, spoke about the initiative during his State of the State address Monday, saying Tennessee is losing 10 acres of farmland every hour.
'Which is a staggering number when agriculture is our number one industry,' Lee said.
His bill would create a grant program for farmers who volunteer to preserve their land. The agriculture commissioner would administer the fund.
Another provision designed for preservation groups says a 'qualified easement holder' with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status could acquire a conservation easement through a purchase, donation or some other type of transfer and would not be allowed to sell, transfer, release or otherwise divest of the conservation easement.
Sen. Shane Reeves, the new chairman of the Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said Wednesday he believes concerns with the bill have been resolved.
'An enormous amount of work's been done on that,' Reeves said, involving the executive branch, Farm Bureau and other groups. 'It's no longer an issue.'
State easements on farmland were to be temporary under last year's bill. But Reeves said they would be permanent under the new iteration, and farmers would be able to borrow against their mortgage even if the state holds a lien.
'For it to help farmers preserve their land, losing (10) acres an hour, that seems like a fairly affordable price to pay,' Reeves said of the $25 million injection into a state fund.
The committee is set to consider the measure next week, he said.
Sen. Page Walley, a member of the agriculture committee, also said he is 'comfortable' with the bill after dealing with it in 2024 and hearing from involved groups.
Banks and lending institutions assured legislative leaders that liens held by the state wouldn't be 'an issue,' according to Walley.
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