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Connecticut’s farmland and open space—long protected as pillars of food security, environmental stewardship, and community identity—are now facing an unprecedented threat from within state government itself.
Recent changes to Public Act 490 (PA-490), the statute that was designed to shield farmland, forest land, and open space from speculative taxation, has instead produced extreme and unexplained land valuation increases, in some cases exceeding 2,300% in a single assessment cycle.
For family farms already operating on thin margins, the result is not a budgeting inconvenience—it is an existential crisis threatening their very existence.
A Statute that was meant to preserve agricultural land has, through administrative overreach and insufficient government oversight has become a destabilizing force that risks forcing farms (that can barely sustain themselves under current economic pressures) out of operation and permanently altering Connecticut’s rural landscape.
From a Green Perspective it may be the end of farm-to-table and the expansion of corporate farming and possibly the re-development of farmland to ….”Affordable Housing”
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Lawmakers and Farmers Draw a Line
Leading the pushback is Jeff Gordon, who has stood with Connecticut farmers and Senate colleagues (like Steve Harding, Ryan Fazio, Heather Somers and others) to oppose what he has called “huge and unfounded farmland tax hikes.”
“These increases are unacceptable,” Gordon has said. “There is no clear rationale for them. At a time when Connecticut families are already facing a serious affordability crisis, we cannot pile new burdens onto the people who keep our agricultural heritage alive.”
Gordon has emphasized that farmers deserve predictability, fairness, and a real seat at the table when decisions are made that directly affect their livelihoods.
What Went Wrong with PA-490
PA-490 was created to assess land based on current agricultural use, not speculative market pressure. Yet recent administrative changes that were implemented without meaningful farmer participation undermined the intended purpose of PA-490. (The law of unintended consequences prevails again…unless you stop it)
Those changes included:
No caps on valuation increases
No phase-in protections
No transparent explanation of taxation methodology
No consistent agency oversight
No formal process for farmer input
The result of these changes has been chaos. Farmers received tax bills untethered from reality, while towns—approaching the January 31 deadline to set mill rates—were left scrambling with many farmowners unable to pay for such increases.
Although municipalities technically retain flexibility in which valuations they apply, lawmakers and advocates agree that local discretion is not a substitute for statewide relief or policy correction.
Immediate Action and Structural Reform
In response, Senator Gordon and other lawmakers have called for a series of urgent and long-term reforms, including:
An immediate moratorium on PA-490 land value hikes before January 31, when towns finalize tax rates
Legislation requiring farmers and landowners to be included upfront in any future valuation or methodology changes
Statutory limits on how much PA-490 land values can increase at any one time, preventing sudden valuation shocks
Stronger agency oversight and accountability protocols to ensure transparency, consistency, and fairness
Gordon has also made clear that these steps represent only the first phase. He is actively working with fellow legislators, agricultural stakeholders, and policy experts on additional long-term solutions to permanently realign PA-490 with its original conservation mission.
From State Tax Policy to National Food Security and New Dietary Guidelines
This issue now extends beyond Connecticut tax policy and into the realm of national food security and national nutrition guidelines to eat real food.
Under the current Trump administration, federal policy has focused on protecting American farmers from foreign anti-competitive actions that drive up variable input costs such as feed, fertilizer, seed, and fuel.
Overseas market manipulation, supply-chain disruptions, and geopolitical instability have already placed heavy pressure on domestic agriculture.
PA-490 now compounds those pressures domestically.
In effect:
Foreign actors threaten farmers through rising input costs
State policy threatens farmers through fixed costs they cannot escape
This combination of foreign and state pressure creates a serious risk to agricultural viability, land preservation, and long-term food supply resilience.
When state tax policy actively undermines the working farmland, it is time for federal policymakers to take notice—particularly where state actions conflict with national goals around domestic food production and supply-chain security.
PA-490 also reduces the ability for local farm-to-table healthy foods and goes against the Reset of the U.S. Nutrition Policy released last week by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “The new Guidelines deliver a clear, common-sense message to the American people: eat real food.” (See Release [ [link removed] ])
Save CT Land: A Grassroots Demand for Accountability
The response from farmers and landowners has coalesced around Save CT Land, a statewide grassroots effort demanding immediate relief and lasting reform.
The initiative is backed by Fields of Support, founded by Kate Prokop, and represents a growing coalition calling on the Connecticut General Assembly to restore fairness and transparency to PA-490 and give farmers a fighting chance.
Their message is: You cannot claim to support farmers while taxing them out of existence.
What You Can Do Right Now
This fight is still winnable—but only if policymakers hear from the public.
Sign the Save CT Land petition today: [link removed] [ [link removed] ]
The petition calls for:
Immediate relief from extreme PA-490 valuation hikes
Farmer participation in future land-assessment decisions
Structural guardrails to prevent this from happening again
Protecting farmers means protecting:
Our food supply
Our open space
Our rural communities
Our economic resilience
This is a defining moment for Connecticut land policy.
Standing with farmers is standing with Connecticut.
Image Source Kate Prokop FB Page [ [link removed] ]

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