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On August 20th, The Connecticut Farmland Trust (CFT) announced the successful preservation of over 1,000 acres on 12 farms across the state since its founding in 2002.  “We are all very proud that CFT is among the leaders in statewide, private farmland preservation in Connecticut,” said Henry Talmage, Executive Director of the organization.  “Reaching 1,000 acres is an important milestone as we continue our work of protecting Connecticut’s working lands for future generations.”

Each year in Connecticut, approximately 8,000 acres of farmland are lost to residential and commercial development, making Connecticut’s rate of loss one of the fastest in the country.  Land is protected by CFT through a method called an agricultural conservation easement, an agreement by which a conservation organization acquires and retires the development rights on a willing landowner’s property.  The landowner is commonly compensated for the value of these rights through funds provided by government agencies, nonprofit partners and private donors.

The Connecticut Farmland Trust plays a vital role in preserving the state’s farmland as it is able to protect land that may not meet the requirements of other public and private preservation organizations.  CFT’s criteria for easements focus on viable, active farms with prime and important agricultural soils.  There is no restriction on property size. 

“It is critical for Connecticut to have a state-wide land trust whose mission is to protect vital and viable farmland,” said Joseph Dippel, CFT board member and Farmland Preservation Program Manager at the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.  “The Connecticut Farmland Trust provides many opportunities for farm owners to preserve their land that were not available just a few years ago.  Their efforts add to the well-being of the people of Connecticut.”

By protecting Connecticut’s farmland, the Connecticut Farmland Trust not only supports farmers whose families have been working the land for generations but also supports consumers who wish to purchase Connecticut-grown products.  Several farms protected by the Connecticut Farmland Trust are open to the public

Scaglia Fruit Farm in Glastonbury was the first conservation easement granted to CFT in 2002.  The 17-acre orchard and berry farm, which overlooks the Connecticut River and the Hartford skyline, runs a seasonal “pick-your-own” operation and farm stand.  Cold Spring Brook Farm, which CFT purchased a conservation easement from with funding from the USDA NRCS’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, also operates a seasonal farm stand.  The 41-acre Berlin farm was preserved in 2004.

Also open to the public is 20-acre Stone Wall Dairy in Cornwall, one of the most recent properties to be preserved by CFT in 2007.  The farm sells raw milk from its store and also markets it to local health food stores and grocery stores.

The farms protected by the Connecticut Farmland Trust are as varied in size as they are in what is produced on their land.  Hamden’s 19-acre Humphrey Evergreen Farms, which operates a “cut-your-own” Christmas tree business, and the over 200 acre Random Farm, a dairy and beef operation in Ashford, offer an example of the diversity of CFT’s protected land.

William Paradis, of Random Farm, donated an agricultural conservation easement on his over 200-year-old farm to ensure that the land would continue to be farmed in the future.  The property, preserved in 2004, is part of 400 contiguous acres of protected land.  “Connecticut Farmland Trust is much needed and fills an important gap,” said Bill.  “[We] considered many different preservation options; none of them satisfied our desire to insure our land would remain a working farm.  The Trust presented us with the best possible alternative.”

Most recently, on September 17th, the Trust closed on the donation of a conservation easement on the Tollmann/Stoney Hedge Farm in Lebanon.  The 22-acre farm's hay and pasture land is leased to the neighboring Stebner Farm, a 180-acre dairy operation that was just protected through the state's Farmland Preservation Program.  Stoney Hedge Farm is located in one of Lebanon's key agricultural areas and is part of a near-contiguous block of approximately 600 acres of active farmland, a majority of which is owned and farmed by just 4 families.  With the preservation of Stoney Hedge Farm, the Connecticut Farmland Trust has now protected 1,082 acres. 

 The Connecticut Farmland Trust is the only private, statewide nonprofit conservation organization dedicated exclusively to protecting Connecticut’s working farmland.  For more information about the Trust, please visit www.ctfarmland.org. 

 

Nature picture credits - top to bottom: © CT Farmland Trust (Apple tree and blueberry bushes at Scaglia Fruit Farm, Glastonbury), © CT Farmland Trust (Ed Tollman from Stoney Hedge Farm, Lebanon), © CT Farmland Trust (Stone Wall Dairy Farm, Cornwall).