A handful of states are considering expanding their conservation easement programs, which offer tax breaks to landowners in exchange for giving up development rights to their farms and natural lands.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and private landowners have partnered to protect more than 5 million acres of wetlands, grasslands, and prime farmland — an area the size of New Jersey. Since October, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has enrolled 110,000 acres in new conservation easements, bringing USDA to this important conservation milestone.

It may be a slow process, but one that has many in the farming community concerned; the loss of farmland due to urban sprawl. According to the American Farmland Trust, between 2001-2016 eleven million acres of farmland was removed from production nationwide. That comes out to roughly 2,000 acres per day.