In Michigan and across the United States, farmers are facing tough choices about how to keep their land productive as land prices rise, climate change poses new risks, and fewer young people are choosing to take over family farms. John Boyer, a farmer in northern Michigan, bought back his family’s 131-acre farm in 2018 to stop it from being developed and to preserve the area’s legacy of family-run farms. To protect the land, he signed a conservation easement with the Little Traverse Conservancy, which allowed him to sell the future development rights while still keeping ownership. This agreement ensures that even if Boyer passes the land to his children or sells it to someone else, the land will remain farmland and not be developed for housing or other purposes. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Michigan farmland was valued at approximately $6,800 per acre last year, a 7.8 percent increase from 2024, which is higher than the national average of 4.3 percent. In 2022, about 9.5 million acres in Michigan were used for farming, a slight decrease from 2017. However, the amount of farmland protected through conservation programs has grown, with an additional 22,000 acres added to easements between 2017 and 2022. Despite the drop in family-owned farms, the number of acres leased or rented for farming has increased slightly, showing a shift in how land is used and managed. Rebecca Carlson, a fourth-generation farmer in Northport, Michigan, runs Overlook Orchards and has expanded her operation from about 200 acres to 1,300 acres over eight years. She leases land from older farmers who don’t have younger family members to take over their farms. In Michigan, about 39 percent of agricultural land is leased, which is close to the national average. Leasing allows farmers to keep producing without the financial burden of owning land, but challenges remain, such as high lease costs and difficulty finding land that fits specific farming needs. A survey by Michigan State University in 2026 found that high lease rates and difficulty finding suitable land were the top concerns for farmers looking to lease property. The relationship between landowners and farmers also plays a key role in lease stability, with some farmers worried about the long-term security of their agreements. Meanwhile, farmland values in the Midwest remain steady or are increasing due to demand from both residential and industrial development. Tax-deferred exchanges allow landowners to delay capital gains taxes when selling land that has increased in value, which helps maintain high farmland prices. As Michigan works toward a cleaner energy future, renewable energy developers are interested in using farmland for wind turbines, solar panels, and battery storage. However, local communities often resist such projects, fearing they could harm productive farmland. In Wexford County, plans to build solar panels on nearly 1,500 acres of farmland sparked concerns about the long-term impact on the land. Researchers in Michigan are exploring ways to combine solar energy production with farming, a practice known as agrivoltaics. Solar panels can provide shade for crops or livestock, and leasing land to renewable energy developers can help farmers offset declining incomes. Charles Gould, a bioenergy educator with Michigan State University Extension, highlights the potential of using the same land for both purposes, saying, “If we can do both on the same acre of land, why wouldn’t we?” This approach could offer a way to balance energy needs with the preservation of farmland.