Purchasing South Carolina Farmers’ Development Rights

South Carolinians pushing to retain land in farming seem now to prefer to accomplish this through purchasable development rights (PDRs) rather than regulatory means. While some development rights may be protected by donation to land trusts those that are purchased in voluntary transactions will require public funds. Research findings indicate that public willingness to pay often falls short of the value of development rights. These findings simulate economic behavior, whereas the PDR program will be determined by politics. The debate is likely to focus on the amount of funding to buy development rights, the criteria for targeting funds, and whether a bidding process will be used.