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State to Hold Record-Setting Auction
of 10 Preserved Farms in 5 Counties
 
For Immediate Release: February 9, 2000 Contact:

Hope Gruzlovic
(609)292-8896
hope.gruzlovic@ag.state.nj.us

     

The State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) this spring will auction a record 10 farms totaling more than 1,700 acres that have been permanently preserved through the Farmland Preservation Program, according to Agriculture Secretary Arthur R. Brown, Jr. Brown is chairman of the SADC, which administers the Farmland Preservation Program. The farms are located in Warren, Hunterdon, Morris, Gloucester and Salem counties. "In a matter of months, we will have purchased and resold more than half of what we were able to do through the fee simple program over an entire decade," Brown said. "Clearly, the new funding resulting from the Garden State Preservation Trust Act has enabled us to substantially accelerate our efforts to protect New Jersey's farmland." Under fee simple, farms are purchased outright through the Farmland Preservation Program and resold with deed restrictions that ensure the properties will forever be used for agriculture. Governor Christie Whitman thanked the previous owners of these farms for the foresight that added these properties to New Jersey's growing roster of preserved open space. "Because of their participation in this program, we can all be secure in the knowledge that these farms will continue to be productive and contribute to a high quality of life here in the Garden State for generations to come," the Governor said. Brown noted that the upcoming auctions are great opportunities for farmers to purchase farmland at affordable prices and purchasers will be able to have the land in production for this growing season. In the 10 years since the program began acquiring farms through fee simple, approximately 3,100 acres have been purchased and resold. The 10 farms represent an additional 1,718 acres, a record number that reflects the increased availability of preservation funding, according to Secretary Brown. To date, 60,327 acres have been permanently protected under the Farmland Preservation Program, with an additional 16,575 acres approved for preservation.