Dairy producers and other farmers are looking into the future and taking steps to make sure their land is protected.
Two farms situated on more than 1,400 acres combined in Tompkins County, New York, recently received grants for $1.8 million from the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets Farmland Protection Implementation Program (FPIG). Considering only 22 farms received funding from the state in 2006, the amount is significant, accounting for 8.4 percent of the total.
In the decision-making process, FPIG considers the farm’s succession: Will the land most likely remain in farming? Are there stream corridors protecting the water quality? What is the proximity to other protected farmland? The application process involves proof that the farm owner is receiving pressure from developers and outside sources that want to build on their property. Once the award has been announced before closing on the conservation easement, the process can take up to two years to complete.
Experts say that there are fewer than two million farms left in the United States. Preservationists have formed two-dozen coalitions nationwide to try and save the barns that remain with a few states that have allocated funds for restoration. With so much of the countryside patch-worked with farms, New York has led the way, spending $6 million to rehabilitate 340 historic barns throughout the state since 2001.