Economic critique of U.S. prime farmland preservation policies. Towards state policies that influence productive, consumptive, and speculative value components of the farmland market to prevent urban sprawl and foster agricultural production in the United States

All states comprising the United States of America attempt to preserve prime agricultural farmland. An economic critique of the effectiveness of those policies is offered. It first creates a theoretical framework for evaluation. Farmland value has three components: productive use value which is the value of land for agricultural use, consumptive use value which is the value of the site as a single-family homesite to the owner whether the owner farms or not, and speculative use value which is that value over and above the first two for non-farm uses including urban development. Speculative use value and to a lesser extent consumptive use value stimulate urban sprawl. Special taxation, right-to-farm, development right acquisition, and agricultural zoning policies are critiqued using the theoretical framework. A set of policies is offered as having the greatest potential for achieving preferred results.