When Ken Bates sold his family farm in 1996, the new owner wasted no time in ripping out the native plantings that took Bates and his family years to grow. He was devastated.
Luckily, he got a second chance at a land legacy when he purchased a 26-acre parcel of land outside of Green Lake in 2020. He wanted to restore it to native oak savannah, a unique and endangered habitat of the Midwest, which is a middle ground between deciduous forests of the east and tall grass prairies of the west.
“I’m an Aldo Leopold guy”, says Bates. “This is my land ethic.”
To protect his second-chance legacy, and make sure his conservation efforts would not disappear after he was gone, Bates is partnering with Green Lake Conservancy to put a conservation easement on his land.
In a nutshell, conservation easements are flexible legal agreements made between a landowner and a land conservation organization that protects farms and other special places for future generations.
They’re always voluntary and are designed specifically for each situation to capture the land’s special values and the family’s goals.
The flexibility means Bates can allow for regenerative agriculture with his easement by including terms for managed grazing but not allowing chemical applications.
Beyond the conservation value, an easement can also ensure that Bates’ land stays in farming by restricting non-farm development and land use. These restrictions can lower the fair market value of the land, making it more affordable for beginning farmers.
This is critical because nearly 1 in 3 farmers across the Great Lakes region is over 65 and will likely be transferring their farms in the next 15 years. At the same time, the loss of U.S. farmland to developmental sprawl and investor portfolios is making farmland nearly impossible for beginning farmers to access due to sky high prices.
As Bates said, “Even the worst farm makes a great subdivision. Non-farm folks will put up expensive houses here because it’s pretty. You’ll never get the farm back.”
To help cover easement costs and access other resources throughout his land conservation journey, Bates works with Foxhead Regenerative Ag Project and Golden Sands Resource Conservation & Development Council.
FoxRAP and Golden Sands are Farm Navigators in the Great Lakes Farm Navigators Network, a project led by American Farmland Trust to support farmers with planning for the future while supporting farm conservation and soil health outcomes for entering and exiting generations.
One result of this collaboration is the upcoming Soil Health and Land Protection Field day which will showcase the projects Bates has underway at his farm. Many service providers will be on site for the afternoon to talk with other landowners who may be interested in exploring conservation practices themselves.
Topics to be covered include managed grazing, large-scale biochar production, prairie restoration, and, of course, conservation easements.
Soil Health and Land Protection Field Day
September 20, 2024 3-6pm
Hyggelig Farm
W997 Brooklyn J Road
Green Lake, WI, 54941
Free with refreshments provided!
Please RSVP to Kristin McAdow at (715) 343-6215 ext. 715 or grazing@goldensandsrcd.org
Farmers and landowners of all experience levels and backgrounds are invited to attend.
“The key is to start,” Bates’ suggested for other landowners considering conservation practices.
“Be proactive”, he says. “You can talk about it forever. Just make a long-term plan, then start with one tree.”
Foxhead Regenerative Agriculture Project 