CONSERVATION EASEMENTS: CASH ON THE BARRELHEAD
A conservation easement doesn’ t equal profitability, but it can help you be more efficient. By Burt Rutherford
Getting the most out of what’ s out there. That’ s what ranching is all about— operating efficiently and looking for ways to diversify economically and maximize cash flow.
That’ s also the idea behind conservation easements, according to Erik Glenn, CEO of the Colorado Cattlemen’ s Agricultural Land Trust( CCALT), the first such organization formed to help agriculture producers craft conservation easements designed to help keep ag operations in the family while at the same time conserving natural resources.
How does a conservation easement do that? By increasing profitability?
Possibly, Glenn said. Your cattle won’ t sell for more because you have a conservation easement. But the conservation easement can generate cash which can help achieve many goals including increasing operational efficiency and profitability.
CCALT and other state farming and ranching-oriented land trusts partner with a variety of different organizations— local, state, federal, private and non-profits— for the funding to fuel individual conservation easements. That money goes to the landowner in the form of a one-time cash infusion. And that’ s where the potential for profitability comes from.
That money can be used how each landowner wants. It can pay down debt, invest in more infrastructure to increase grazing capacity, buy more land to bring the next generation back to the ranch, or be invested to pay taxes, annual operating expenses, college or retirement. The key, Glenn told producers, is to do your homework and pick your partner very carefully.
“ What it really comes down to is a partnership. And it’ s a partnership that’ s supposed to last forever, so you’ ve got to make sure that you’ re choosing wisely,” he said.“ There are a lot of land trusts that do good conservation work. That doesn’ t mean they do good conservation work for cattle producers. That’ s because their mission may be to preserve biodiversity or protect river corridors, or something like that. It’ s not to ensure grazing land can continue to produce food and maintain a cattle operation forever.”
A conservation ethic is important to ranchers. Indeed, beef producers have long kept conservation goals in mind, Glenn said, simply by being good stewards of the land.“ Every producer we’ ve worked with is managing that resource in a way that’ s increasing the conservation value of their ranch.”
Maintaining and improving the conservation value of a ranch can yield additional cash flow and thus potential profitability through recreational leases and other opportunities. But, Glenn said, those conservation practices need to be part of the management and grazing plans, not prescribed in a conservation easement. That’ s because management practices and goals change over time. For example, he points to carbon credits. CCALT is part of the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts
( PORT), a group of nine agriculture-focused land trusts that work across 12 states.
“ We spend a lot of time talking about how to draft easements that do not infringe on a landowner’ s ability to tap into future markets that they can generate additional revenue from. Carbon’ s a good example. We’ re seeing more and more landowners look at carbon as another revenue stream.”
Landowners should be able to stack conservation programs on top of an easement. But, if not designed properly, easements can restrict the landowner in the future from taking advantage of other emerging market opportunities. This is an issue which Glenn stressed landowners should pay attention to when designing a conservation easement.
“ We’ re really good at designing conservation easements that work for farm and ranch families and designing those easements in a way that will allow them to have a successful farm or ranch operation in the future,” he said.“ We’ re not necessarily good at carbon projects. Our job is to find and vet organizations doing that work and make sure we’ re bringing the right partners to the table that are going to have the best interest of landowners in mind.”
It’ s really all in the design of the easement he said,“ You can design an easement that absolutely won’ t work for cattle production and grazing, but you can certainly design easements that are synergistic with your long-term goals and allow you to evolve in your operation.”
Because a conservation easement is a perpetual, legally binding arrangement, it’ s important to consider those longterm ramifications as producers navigate through the question of whether or not a conservation easement is right for them, their family and their operation. In many cases it is; the key is to keep the focus where it needs to be when designing a conservation easement.
10 MARCH 2026 www. NCBA. org