Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Alex Moore, of Anathallo Acres. (Photo courtesy of Alex Moore)
Alex Moore, who grew up driving tractors on his family’s farm in Staunton, Virginia, fled the Shenandoah Valley to study business and work in the technology sector. “The last thing I wanted to do was be a farmer,” he said.
Now, he’s back as the fourth generation on the farm, and has launched Anathallo Acres, which produces cattle, pastured chickens and hogs and mushrooms.
His family chose to put a conservation easement on a 200-acre parcel they bought several years ago. The Moores are among thousands of property owners who have now permanently conserved a total of more than 1 million acres of land through Virginia’s Land Preservation Tax Credit Program, which began in January 2000. The program awards landowners a tax credit for 40% of the value of property they protect from development through the qualified donation of land or a conservation easement.
We spoke with Moore about the Land Preservation Tax Credit program.
Sitting behind a computer, I was underwhelmed, antsy and yearning for something more. Around that same time, I was introduced to the writings of Wendell Berry – one of the earliest contemporary voices writing around sustainable agriculture and the local food movement. As I read his stories and poetry about the merits, beauty, and joys of small-town agrarian communities working together to survive and thrive, I found myself remembering and reimagining what life back home on the farm was and could be. A minor injury for my dad (he’s fine now) served as the catalyst to get me to quit my job and moved home. I haven’t regretted the decision since.
The tax incentives were really helpful in making this a sustainable move for us, giving us the ability to buy this property and wiggle room to further invest in it as well.
With the help of an EQIP grant, we excluded the cows from the 1.5-mile stretch of Christian’s Creek running through the middle of this property. We started doing rotational grazing – where you move livestock from paddock to paddock to give the land rest after the animals have run through it, so the root structure can go deeper and the ground can recover and build more soil mat and capture more carbon. Right now, we are working on permitting to remove an old bridge that is causing serious erosion in the waterway. This project will include tree plantings within the riparian buffer for further bank stabilization.
Farmland is important land that has healthy biomass and soils and is a special place that ought to be used and not developed. More and more pressure from municipalities is pushing the real estate market and making it so the price of land is astronomically high. It is becoming closer and closer to prohibitive to buy a piece of land and farm it and make a living off that land. Which is tragic because at the end of the day, it’s removing affection, attention and care from the land in exchange for quick and often careless profit.
Perpetuity is a serious deal – but it’s also a gift – because it forces people to take a long-term look at land. It opens the door for meaningful conversation with family and neighbors by asking the question: “What does this look like after I’m gone and no longer caring for this place?” If people are land holders and have a heart for the long-term care of their souls and want to grant durability to the good work that you’re doing today to care for a piece of land, easements provide an extra layer of fortification beyond your own lifetime.
Categories
Conservation
