2005-04-10
PLANNING FOR AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION
At some point in the future, we'll have to return to pulling ourselves up by our boot straps and growing our own | Right now, we may feel immune to change, but as the global competition for oil and it's byproducts intensifies, we'll need to look closer to home |
Some of the "tools" to help protect our agricultural resources have been around for a long time | They include farm preservation trusts | Here’s how it works: A landowner and a municipal government enter an agricultural conservation easement agreement | This legal agreement prohibits non-agricultural residential or commercial development, subdivision, and uses or practices that would be destructive to the agricultural value of the land | The easement is recorded and future owners are bound by its terms in perpetuity | The land remains privately owned and on the tax rolls | The value of a conservation easement is the difference between the land’s restricted and unrestricted value |
Community Supported Agriculture | CSAs are ystem in which consumers receive food directly from the farmers who produce it | But unlike a farmers' market system, supporters of community agriculture actually share in part of the farmers' risk | The UMASS Extension Program provides a good, comprehensive description of CSAs and their benefits to the communities they serve |
Getting kids involved, either through conventional programs like Future Farmers of America, and even younger by teaching about farm safety for kids |
Innovative farm efficiency programs such as zonebuilder or niche farming help in targeting markets while making more profitable use of the land |
Locally, communities can be more aggressive about developing comprehensive town plans of conservation such as was done for Williamstown, Massachusetts to ensure farmland preservation | Working to create innovative solutions to the social and economic challenges faced by seasonal farmworkers families, and to empower farmworker families and the surrounding community to help bring about necessary changes and improvement are all important tools to develope and hone |
At some point in the future, we'll have to return to pulling ourselves up by our boot straps and growing our own | Right now, we may feel immune to change, but as the global competition for oil and it's byproducts intensifies, we'll need to look closer to home | Some of the "tools" to help protect our agricultural resources have been around for a long time | They include farm preservation trusts | Here’s how it works: A landowner and a municipal government enter an agricultural conservation easement agreement | This legal agreement prohibits non-agricultural residential or commercial development, subdivision, and uses or practices that would be destructive to the agricultural value of the land | The easement is recorded and future owners are bound by its terms in perpetuity | The land remains privately owned and on the tax rolls | The value of a conservation easement is the difference between the land’s restricted and unrestricted value |Community Supported Agriculture | CSAs are ystem in which consumers receive food directly from the farmers who produce it | But unlike a farmers' market system, supporters of community agriculture actually share in part of the farmers' risk | The UMASS Extension Program provides a good, comprehensive description of CSAs and their benefits to the communities they serve |
Getting kids involved, either through conventional programs like Future Farmers of America, and even younger by teaching about farm safety for kids |
Innovative farm efficiency programs such as zonebuilder or niche farming help in targeting markets while making more profitable use of the land |
Locally, communities can be more aggressive about developing comprehensive town plans of conservation such as was done for Williamstown, Massachusetts to ensure farmland preservation | Working to create innovative solutions to the social and economic challenges faced by seasonal farmworkers families, and to empower farmworker families and the surrounding community to help bring about necessary changes and improvement are all important tools to develope and hone |
RELATED INFO LINKS: from the Northwest Capital Press | Sustainable Communities Network Agricultural & Food Systems Links | Less directly, but a resource for Grants and resource information would include the National Association of Counties | There's always Plenet Friendly | Finally understanding the priniciples of permaculture planning will also help |
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