Grants to Massachusetts farmers to continue using their land for agricultural purposes. Funding is intended to protect productive agricultural farmland from developers and rejuvenate the state's agricultural industry. The program allows farmers to retain their property and to more easily transfer ownership to their children.

It is essential to keep the agricultural industry in Massachusetts thriving. The APR Program helps to preserve agricultural land to keep valuable farmland soil from being built on by development companies for non-agricultural purposes that could be detrimental to the environment. The program offers to pay farmland owners the difference between the "fair market value" and the "agricultural value" of their farms in exchange for a permanent deed restriction which prevents any use of the property that will negatively impact its future agricultural viability.

It is a voluntary program for farmers who are faced with a decision regarding the future use of their farms. The main objective of the APR program is to protect productive farmland with the deed restrictions and revitalize the agricultural industry by making land more affordable to farmers and their operations more financially secure. 

The purpose of the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program is to protect farmland. Related benefits are:

• Strengthening the local farm community by keeping farmland in productive agricultural use and in the hands of farmers
• Offering estate planning and retirement options such as the continued operation of the farm (for example land can be transferred to one child with cash disbursements to other children), or the owner can retire now or in the future without having to sell the farm for development
• Providing experienced and beginning farmers with the opportunity to purchase farmland near or at its fair market agricultural value
• Stabilizing farmland values in regions with escalating land values to guarantee long-term availability of farmland for farmers who want to rent or purchase land to farm
• Providing farmers access to the equity in their land so they can keep their land instead of having to sell for development, making it possible to reinvest in their farms with the purchase of more land, equipment, buildings, or the retirement of farm debt, or to provide for other family needs
• Ofering a resource for farmers to transfer ownership to their children by reducing the value of restricted farmland to its fair market agricultural value, which may greatly reduce inheritance taxes and the need for second generation farmers to sell the farmland to pay taxes
• Contributing to food security by making fresh, healthy, local agricultural products available to people in Massachusetts
• Responding to climate change with farmland conservation practices that contribute to soil health and the reduction of greenhouse emissions
• Securing a better future for all Massachusetts residents by contributing to the scenic beauty of the state, tourism, agricultural economy, local food availability, wildlife habitat, quality of life, recreational opportunities, and the preservation of natural resources that might otherwise be lost to development