Landowners with an expiring farmland preservation (FP) agreement can apply to re-enroll their lands into a new FP agreement for lands located within an Agricultural Enterprise Area (AEA). In order to prevent a lapse in tax credit eligibility, landowners must apply for a new FP agreement in the same year that their current agreement expires.
Landowners looking to re-enroll their lands into an FP agreement must fill out the Farmland Preservation Agreement Application to apply for a new agreement. All new FP agreements will be effective for 10 years from the date all landowners and DATCP sign the agreement contract.
What to Prepare to Re-enroll Your Lands Into an FP Agreement:
Legal Descriptions for Parcels
The landowner needs to submit recorded documents that
includes an accurate legal description of each of the parcels they wish to
re-enroll in an FP agreement. These legal documents could be, but not limited
to, a recorded deed, land contract, trust document, or certified survey map. If
the legal description for a parcel references a Certified Survey Map, a copy of
that should also be submitted as part of the application.
Landowners do not need to enroll the whole farm. They
may choose to enroll a portion of their farm in a farmland preservation
agreement. The re-enrollment period is a good time for landowners to evaluate
if they would like to exclude a portion of farmland if they intend on selling,
gifting, transferring, or using those portions of that farmland for any use not
allowed by the agreement, including non-farm residences, commercial uses, or
renewable energy utilities in the next 10 years.
If a portion of a parcel is to be excluded from the agreement, a legal description and a map showing the excluded portion of land must be included in the application. The county can help you create a map using GIS or a GPS to mark the points for the boundary of the exclusion area.
Some parcels may have additional recorded documents such as easements, leases, agreements, access rights, or other documents like a Managed Forest Law contract with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. If a parcel has additional recorded documents, a copy of each should be included in a re-enrollment application. Some activities described in these documents may not be compatible with an FP agreement and may require an exclusion from the agreement. FP staff will review these documents to determine if they are compatible or if a portion of a parcel must be excluded.
NOTE: While farmland excluded from the agreement is not subject to the farmland preservation land use restrictions, it will be required to meet all applicable soil and water conservation standards for the farm to remain in compliance.
Property Tax Statements
Print out the most recent property tax statement for
each parcel to verify the Parcel Identification Number (PIN). This is the
number used by the register of deeds for recording documents.
Organizing recent property tax statements is a good
time for landowners to verify the ownership of the parcels they wish to
re-enroll into an agreement. While an individual landowner may be a member of
multiple landowning entities, such as a trust or limited liability company,
each of those landowning entities must enroll in separate agreements. DATCP
uses the property tax statement to verify the owner of the parcels being
enrolled in an agreement.
Map of Parcels
A map of all of the parcels a landowner wishes to
re-enroll must be provided as part of the agreement application. This can be
created using an online GIS tool from the county’s website, a highlighted copy
of the most recent plat book map, copies of maps created by other agencies, or
created with help from county staff.
If a portion of a parcel is going to be excluded from
an agreement, it must be indicated on this map. Labeling the exclusion area can
help FP staff verify the exclusion and develop a legal description if one is
not already provided.
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