Administered by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS), the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, established in 2014, provides financial and technical assistance to help conserve agricultural lands and limit non-agricultural uses of the land. Agricultural Land Easements protect the long-term viability of the nation’s food supply by preventing conversion of productive working lands to non-agricultural uses. Land protected by agricultural land easements provides additional public benefits, including environmental quality, historic preservation, wildlife habitat and protection of open space.