For Immediate Release                        
Date: Thursday, May 08, 2008
Contact: Jay M. Matteson

Farmland Protection Meeting for Agricultural Landowners
Those Interested in Permanently Protecting Farmland Must Attend

Watertown, NY. The Jefferson County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board recently announced there will be a meeting for agricultural landowners to learn about a new farmland protection program in the County. The Farmland Protection meeting will occur on Wednesday, May 21st at 7pm in the conference room of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson at 203 North Hamilton Street in Watertown. During the meeting, information will be provided about the Jefferson County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board’s initiative through Jefferson County to apply for grant funding to purchase the development rights of valuable farmland in Jefferson County. Anyone interested in learning more about this initiative must attend this meeting. Please register by calling (315) 782-1806. The meeting is free but registration is requested. More information is available at www.comefarmwithus.com.

The Jefferson County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board has been evaluating the creation of a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program in Jefferson County for over two years. The Farmland Protection Board hired American Farmland Trust, through Jefferson County, to help with the final feasibility study and development of a pre-application process. American Farmland Trust provided recommendations and a tailored process to allow the Board to receive applications and make selections in an open and fair process. Pre-applications will be ranked based on quality of the land for agricultural production, environmental importance, owner commitment, potential for development pressure, and farmland viability. The Board recently made a recommendation to the Jefferson County Board of Legislators that such a program be initiated. The Jefferson County Board of Legislators approved a resolution endorsing acceptance of pre-applications from agricultural landowners and the potential submission of an application to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets for funding.

The purchase of development rights involves paying a landowner a fee, based on the difference between the development value and agricultural value of the land, to permanently extinguish the development rights of a piece of agricultural property through a conservation easement. The easement is a permanent restriction on the deed regarding potential for further development on the property. The restriction is enforced through the yearly monitoring by a participating local land trust. Non profit land trusts serve to protect open spaces, environmentally sensitive areas and agricultural lands. The farms are able to continue farming the land and developing the land for agriculture. The landowner still owns the property in the easement but must abide by the terms of the agreement.

In 2006, there were approximately 970 farms operating on 326,000 acres of land in Jefferson County. One of the goals of the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Plan is to retain a critical mass of agricultural land needed to support farming and agribusiness. This is being accomplished first by supporting efforts to keep active farms in production, then by attracting new farms and agribusinesses into the County, and now by providing a method of permanently protecting the most valuable lands. This initiative will, if funded by NYS, protect the best agricultural lands first, support the protection of agricultural lands that allow farmers to be good environmental stewards, and protect the quality of life and rural character that is associated with active farms. Because of the highly competitive nature of the State grant program and very limited funding, purchase of development rights offers protection to a limited number of farms in any given area.

Jay Matteson, Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator, in talking about this initiative said, “this effort is a tool that is becoming increasingly important in Jefferson County.” Matteson added, “the fast growth our County is experiencing has placed some of our best lands under increasing pressure for development.” “It’s not just the subdivisions and large scale development that deter farming in an area, agriculture dies house by house by house,” he finished.