The Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation reaches a new milestone - permanently preserving over 150,000 acres of farmland.
The 27th round of easement selections by Delaware Aglands brings the number of permanently preserved acres of farmland to 151,257.
In this latest round, four farms in New Castle County, 16 in Kent County, and 40 in Sussex County were preserved.
Farms approved for easement were picked through an impartial discounted ranking system maximizing benefits for taxpayers.
Delaware Department of Agriculture Administrator Jimmy Kroon explains other benefits of preserving the farmland.
"It is going to ensure that our farmers and even more importantly new farmers - the next generation of farmers that would be coming along - are going to be able to have access to land that hopefully is more affordable than land that they would have to compete with the developer," said Kroon.
Since the first round of easement purchases in 1996, Delaware’s statewide program has preserved 22.6% of New Castle County farmland, 41.9% of Kent County farmland, and 21.7% of Sussex County farmland.
The agricultural industry is worth billions to the state’s economy – one report has food and agriculture at $9 billion in Delaware – and Kroon says access to land is important to keep that going.
"If we get to a point where there is not enough agricultural land available then some of those industries that thrive off that agricultural land base may wind up leaving Delaware," said Kroon.
And the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation voted to extend district enrollment until the end of October to any agricultural landowners who want to preserve their farms.
