It’s been a busy couple of months for Peconic Land Trust. They put out a request for proposals to find a farmer to till two acres of preserved land at the Hayground Farm. As part of their Farms for the Future Initiative, the trust developed a leasing program for new and established farmers with an emphasis on food production, who are looking to begin or expand their businesss. For more information, including the application requirements, please read the Farmland Leasing Program Information and Application Packet . Applications are reviewed and accepted throughout the year.
They also announced that 33.4 acres of farmland in Sagaponack had been preserved with a covenant that would keep the land in food production in perpetuity. The land was donated by the Galban family. More specifically, the land was covered by a Affirmative & Affordable Farming Covenants and Resale Restriction, which ensures the land will remain in active agricultural production, restrict the use of the property to food production, set a maximum resale price, limit future sales of the property to qualified farmers, assign the Trust as the buyer of last resort and protect the property’s scenic and open space values. Similar covenants and restrictions are increasingly being used in New York State and elsewhere by land trusts and municipalities, especially in Massachusetts and Vermont, to ensure protected farmland continues to be farmed and that farmers have access to it.
For the hat trick, they also announced the donation of a conservation easement on a 2-acre meadow adding to land previously protected by Samuel W. Seymour and Karen Patton Seymour in 2007. As a consequence, the acreage under easement has increased to 18.6 acres that includes a significant natural area with scenic views from West Neck Road on Shelter Island.
