Farmland of Local Importance (FLI) is land that is locally important for crop production, but not categorized as prime farmland, unique farmland, or farmland of statewide importance. In Massachusetts, FLI may be designated by municipalities in collaboration with USDA-NRCS. This factsheet is designed to complement the FLI tool developed by American Farmland Trust in collaboration with NRCS, known as the Massachusetts FLI Screening Tool.

The intended use of the FLI Screening Tool and associated data is to help partner entities and researchers to screen farmland parcels in Massachusetts for eligibility for farmland protection programs, especially the federal Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Agricultural Land Easement (ACEP-ALE) program. You can request access to the Massachusetts FLI Screening Tool by filling out this form.

For general questions about FLI, or for questions about the Massachusetts FLI Screening Tool, please contact Kathleen Doherty (kdoherty@farmland.org) or Jamie Pottern (jpottern@farmland.org).