KEEPING CONNECTICUT FARMERS ON THE LAND & GROWING

Benny Bienlonko’s 265 acre farm is located in Suffield, Connecticut in the exceptionally fertile land of the Connecticut River Valley. In fact, his farm, where he raises vegetables, corn, hay, and large leaf tobacco, is designated as 94 percent prime and important farmland soils. However, Suffield is also home to intense development pressure and much of the surrounding land has been lost to subdivisions in the past 40 years. With the help of Connecticut’s Farmland Preservation Program, funds from the Town of Suffield, and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), Bienlonko was able to permanently protect his farm from development using an agricultural conservation easement. Now, not only will his farm be protected from development for generations to come, but he is also able to purchase an adjacent farm that he is currently leasing, thereby strengthening his business. Thank you to Working Lands Alliance for contributing this story.

The continuing loss of farmland across the Northeast challenges the viability of the region’s remaining farms. Between 1992 and 2012, almost 31 million acres of agricultural land were lost to development across the U.S. To address this threat, state Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement (PACE) programs in the NEASDA region have collaborated with USDA, towns and counties, land trusts, and philanthropic organizations since 1978 to raise over $4.2 billion to permanently protect over 1.2 million acres of the region’s most productive and threatened farmland. An important source of funding is the ACEP, which provided $22.4 million for farmland conservation in the region in FY 2016 alone. These investments not only protect an invaluable natural resource, but also help facilitate farm expansion and improvements and the transition of land at a more affordable price for next generation farmers. According to a 2013 survey by American Farmland Trust and the University of Nebraska, 84 percent of farmers and ranchers who sold an easement with the help of ACEP funds used that money to reinvest in their business or in agricultural land. Thank you to American Farmland Trust for contributing this story.