Iowa farmers getting squeezed out by land preservation tax credits, Farm Bureau says

Between 2008 and 2013, Iowa landowners received $6.3 million in tax credits for donating $19.4 million in land or conservation easements. In all, they gave away 9,200 acres. Even with those donations, Iowa ranks second-to-last nationally in the amount of publicly owned land, experts say.  But that's still too much for the tax credit's opponents. The state's largest agriculture group contends that the land donations shrink local property taxes and idle acreage in a state where competition for farmland is intense. Craig Hill, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, said if property owners want to give land for parks and preserves, they should do so without tax cuts, which are expected to grow to $12.1 million by 2021, based on revenue department projections. "Government incentives for donations eliminates opportunities for young farmers," Hill said. "A lot of our young farmers think it’s wrong."