Have You Considered Conservation Easements?

Farmers and ranchers value and honor their family's heritage in their ag operation. As family businesses are passed from generation to generation, one of the estate planning tools to consider is conservation easements. Recently Colorado rancher Kelly Gates and her family partnered with the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust to conserve their Gates Cattle Company LLC.

Gates shares some advice for those who might be considering easements.

Gates: "So first of all you need to be sure that you are with a sound easement company because there are a lot of easement companies out there. So I think you need to research your community, your neighbors or in the area that have easements and which is a good one for your area. Secondly you need to very much be in mind of what you need down the road. Not only today, but 100 years from today. So you really have to learn to think in the future."

She says that land easements are not as complicated as some believe

Gates: "Things that people should really understand about easements: it is still your ranch. It is still your land. And the easement companies respect that — they want it to work for you as well as them. So I think there is a lot of false representation out there — that the government comes in and takes control — and they do not."

The CO Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust has some good resources available if you'd like to learn more, go to ccalt.org