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Updated Monday, March 24, 2025
The Kentucky Farmland Transition Initiative is working on a number of fronts to increase the incentives for land to stay in the hands of active farmers:
In the Kentucky General Assembly, HB 703 was introduced by Representative Myron Dossett to make changes to the Kentucky Selling Farmer Tax Credit to make the credit work for more farmers and provide greater certainty for sellers. Provisions of this bill were included in HB 775 sent to the Governor's desk for signature.
In Congress, S. 930 was introduced by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell to create a federal tax provision similar to the Kentucky state credit if land is sold to actively engaged farmers and the gains from the sale are invested in a retirement account.
Through these measures and others, we hope to find new ways to keep land in production.
Pulling Together Your Records: This publication from the University of Kentucky covers what records you need to pull together to help make the plans for your estate and farm.
KET Call-in Show on Estate Planning: KET's call-in shows with attorneys, estate planners, and other experts answer a number of estate planning questions.
Starting the Conversation: How do you have conversations about farm transitions? This guide offers some tips for both farm owners and people who want to farm the land.
Upcoming Events and Opportunities to Talk About Farmland Transition
Farmer meeting season is slowing down as spring arrives, but feel free to reach out directly if you are looking for resources, have questions, or are looking for a speaker to talk about farmland transition with your group.
April 8 -- Ag Credit Lunch and Learn in Marion County
In April 2024, Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB) launched the Kentucky Farmland Transition Initiative (KFTI) with a goal of helping farm families find ways to keep their acreage in active agricultural production as they consider the future of that land. At the buttons below are resources and updates regarding the initiative.
Since that launch, the website for the Initiative, www.kyfarmlandtransition.com, has been viewed by over 3,600 visitors. Talks and presentations on the Initiative have been given at all July KFB Policy Development District meetings, KFB Advisory Committees, numerous county extension programs, and commodity organization events. KFB also formed the KFTI Network. The Network consists of organizations, businesses, and institutions across Kentucky who are interested in, or working on, this issue. Their objective is to spread the word about the resources available and provide feedback on what measures need to be taken to preserve farmland. To date, there are 26 members of the KFTI Network.
As the policy development season continues, we are focused on education and sharing resources. Attached you will find the two most recent documents: KFTI Frequently Asked Questions and Options for Organizations to Incorporate Farmland Transition into Their Programming. These, along with numerous other resources, are available at www.kyfarmlandtransition.com/resources. We encourage you to explore these documents and find ways to utilize them in your operation and community.
KFB is a member-led, member-driven, grassroots organization. When we come together to look at issues, we always look for ways that we, as an organization, can help and my hope is that you will continue to help promote this initiative, utilize it for your own needs, and reach out if you have any suggestions or comments as we move forward.
KWOA joins the Kentucky Farmland Transition Initiative (KFTI). Many members are concerned about preserving forests for our future and have expressed concerns about preventing the transition of our lands to non-agricultural/woodland purposes. Part of the issue relates to personal estate planning tools. Another aspect relate to having incentives in place to encourage future owners to continue the productivity and conservation of the land. KWOA began a 3 part Legacy Series in our Fall Kentucky Woodlands Newsletter.