The
State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC)
this spring will auction a record 10 farms totaling
more than 1,700 acres that have been permanently
preserved through the Farmland Preservation Program,
according to Agriculture Secretary Arthur R. Brown,
Jr. Brown is chairman of the SADC, which administers
the Farmland Preservation Program. The farms are
located in Warren, Hunterdon, Morris, Gloucester
and Salem counties. "In a matter of months, we
will have purchased and resold more than half of
what we were able to do through the fee simple
program over an entire decade," Brown said. "Clearly,
the new funding resulting from the Garden State
Preservation Trust Act has enabled us to substantially
accelerate our efforts to protect New Jersey's
farmland." Under fee simple, farms are purchased
outright through the Farmland Preservation Program
and resold with deed restrictions that ensure the
properties will forever be used for agriculture.
Governor Christie Whitman thanked the previous
owners of these farms for the foresight that added
these properties to New Jersey's growing roster
of preserved open space. "Because of their participation
in this program, we can all be secure in the knowledge
that these farms will continue to be productive
and contribute to a high quality of life here in
the Garden State for generations to come," the
Governor said. Brown noted that the upcoming auctions
are great opportunities for farmers to purchase
farmland at affordable prices and purchasers will
be able to have the land in production for this
growing season. In the 10 years since the program
began acquiring farms through fee simple, approximately
3,100 acres have been purchased and resold. The
10 farms represent an additional 1,718 acres, a
record number that reflects the increased availability
of preservation funding, according to Secretary
Brown. To date, 60,327 acres have been permanently
protected under the Farmland Preservation Program,
with an additional 16,575 acres approved for preservation.
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