At the close of 2000, there were 343 agricultural districts in
existence, comprised of approximately 21,758 farms and 8.58 million
acres. These districts were all voluntarily formed by agricultural
landowners and adopted by county legislative bodies following state
certification. Through the Division, farmland owners have the opportunity
to receive real property assessments based on the value of their
land for agricultural production rather than on its development
value. Farmers participating in the agricultural assessment program
save over $55 million in real property taxes annually.
Local governments shall not unreasonably restrict or regulate farm
operations within agricultural districts when exercising their powers
to enact or administer comprehensive plans and local land use laws,
ordinances, rules and regulations unless it can be shown that the
public health or safety is threatened. The Divisionās staff and
Counsel were engaged in 35 cases involving the review of local ordinances
and the Commissioner provided comments to several towns regarding
changing their proposed local law to be compatible with agricultural
uses and practices. (See Guidance Documents)
Under Article 25-AAA of the Agriculture
and Markets Law, the Commissioner of the Department is authorized
to administer two matching grant programs focused on farmland protection.
The first program was designed to assist county governments in developing
agricultural and farmland protection plans to maintain the economic
viability of the State's agricultural industry and its supporting
land base. The second program was established to assist local governments
in the implementation of local farmland protection plans that focus
on preserving the land base by purchasing the development rights
on farms using a legal document called a conservation easement.
This program can help where the benefits and protections available
through agricultural districting and other planning tools may not
be sufficient to overcome local development pressure.
Program Funding
State assistance payments for farmland protection projects may
be authorized under the State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF)
to cover up to 50% of the costs for counties to develop agricultural
and farmland protection plans, and up to 75% of the costs for the
purchase of development rights (PDR) on farms (see GRANTS
for more details). Since the inception of these programs, the Department
has awarded over $1.8 million to 46 counties across the State to
conduct agricultural and farmland protection planning, and nearly
$40 million to counties and towns for PDR on over 90 farms in 14
counties.
More on Conservation Easements
Title 3, Article 49 of the New York State Environmental Conservation
Law allows for the creation or conveyance of a conservation easement
on real property. A conservation easement is a legal document written
in the form of a deed, in which a landowner permanently restricts
the future development of real property for the purpose of preserving
or maintaining the scenic, open, historic, agricultural, or natural
condition, character, significance or amenities of that property.
Under the Farmland Protection Program, agricultural conservation
easements must be held, monitored and enforced, in perpetuity, by
a public body (the state or a municipality) and/or a qualified conservation
organization, such as a land trust, which has the authority to acquire
interests in real property.
For more information regarding conservation easements and other
farmland protection tools,
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