The Conservation Fund and Regional Partners Awarded $8.9M for Farmland Preservation in the Austin area

The Conservation Fund, in partnership with the City of Austin and the Central Texas Food Bank, has been awarded $8,913,000 through the USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) to advance farmland preservation in Central Texas. This investment will support protecting at-risk farmland by purchasing conservation easements on small farms that play a critical role in preserving Central Texas’s food system.

In Central Texas, agricultural land is being lost every day. This rapid urbanization converts farmland into homes, businesses, and industrial sites. Once prime farmland is developed, the soil is lost for good, along with the benefits that healthy agricultural land provides, such as water soaking into the ground, aquifer recharge, and productive plant growth. Ongoing development threats also make it harder for new farmers to find land, which limits the region’s local food supply. The RCPP award will help stabilize farmland loss and directly advance several priorities of the Austin/Travis County Food Plan, including long‑term farmland preservation, support for small and mid‑sized producers, and improved resilience of the region’s food supply. 

Specifically, the $8.9 million award will protect threatened farmland by purchasing the development rights from farmers through conservation easements. Conservation easements will allow farmers to keep their land and continue farming it while establishing permanent development protections that will keep the land producing food for generations to come. The project area spans 16 counties in the region and includes a large share of Blackland Prairie, which has some of Texas’ most productive soil. This project will support growing food for people to eat, including crops like salad greens, tomatoes, peppers, root vegetables, and melons.

“This award is an exciting development in our efforts to protect working lands and strengthen our regional food system,” said Zach Baumer, Director of Austin Climate Action and Resilience. “It demonstrates what’s possible when community partners and the City unify around a shared vision for a more sustainable, equitable food future for Austin and our region.”

“This investment represents an important step toward protecting Central Texas’s most vulnerable farmland. We are proud to partner with regional leaders to make this effort possible,” said Ellen Gass, Texas field representative at The Conservation Fund. "This funding will help safeguard the working lands that feed our communities and preserve the agricultural heritage that defines Texas for generations to come.”

Through this partnership, the RCPP funding will help ensure that high‑priority agricultural lands remain productive and accessible, supporting local growers and the communities that rely on them. Program funding will be available through 2031, providing continued support for agricultural land conservation across Central Texas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service made this award possible, recognizing the importance of this work and the critical need for conservation funding in Central Texas.

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About The Conservation Fund

The Conservation Fund protects the land that sustains us all. We are in the business of conservation, creating innovative solutions that drive nature-based action in all 50 states for climate protection, vibrant communities and sustainable economies. We apply effective strategies, efficient financing approaches, and enduring government, community and private partnerships to protect millions of acres of America’s natural land, cultural sites, recreation areas and working forests and farms. To learn more, visit www.conservationfund.org.

About Austin Climate Action and Resilience

Austin Climate Action and Resilience works to ensure a thriving, equitable, and resilient community by providing leadership, influencing positive action through engagement, and creating measurable benefits for Austin. The office advances citywide efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, build a healthy and just local food system, protect and expand Austin’s urban forest, and strengthen the city’s resilience to a changing climate. Learn more at austintexas.gov/climate.