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By CASEY CAMPBELL Staff Writer Nearly 1,000 acres of farmland in Otsego and Herkimer Counties will remain free of commercial and residential development under a deal being negotiated by the Otsego Land Trust. The Otsego Land Trust will negotiate to purchase the development rights of a 999.81-acre dairy farm using more than $2 million in state Farmland Protection Fund money made available for the two counties. "We’re really excited about the opportunity to protect a working farm in Otsego County and preserve open space for the future," said Otsego Land Trust executive director Peter Hujik. "The goal is to protect the land from residential or further commercial development so that it’s available for farming in the future. It’s a valuable resource." The grant is part of a $58 million Farmland Protection package released from the Environmental Protection Fund, which assists communities with projects to revitalize waterfronts, preserve historic properties, acquire parkland and protect farmland, according to a media release sent out by Governor George Pataki’s office. "We know that even our most efficient and profitable farms are tempted with the potential income associated with developing their land," said State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick H. Brennan. "However, those farms also realize the price they will pay if they lose productive farmland, and are now seeking to utilize their equity by selling off the development rights." Hujik said because the deal for the development rights is still pending, he could not name the owner of the farm. State Agriculture and Markets spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden said Stitzel’s Waterpoint Farms, owned by Paul, Brian and Kevin Stitzel, is the focus of the $2 million grant, the first such grant received in Otsego County. According to a press release from the Otsego Land Trust, the farm is completely self-sufficient and is a profitable dairy farm, with more than $1.2 million in milk sales annually. Of the 1,000 acres, 700 are tilled to feed the farm’s 600-head herd of Holstein cows. The farmland has been used for agriculture since the 1880s. Hujik said the owners had some interest in seeing the deal go through and had been in contact with the Otsego Land Trust prior to the application’s submission. He said there was no indication that the farm would cease operating anytime soon. "As a dairy farmer, I’m encouraged to see farmland being preserved for the future," said Jennifer Huntington, a dairy farmer with Cooperstown Holstein Corporation and board member of Otsego Land Trust. |
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