State program permanently preserving farms in Delaware

DOVER, Del. (AP) - More than 120,000 acres of Delaware farmland have been permanently preserved through a state program.

WXDE-FM (https://bit.ly/1XnjCvZ ) reports that the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation has been protecting the state’s agriculture by ensuring that the farms within the foundation stay farms forever.

The program has purchased farmers’ development rights and placed a permanent agricultural conservation easement on the property.

Bob Garey, a famer who has been a part of the program since its inception, says he hopes other farmers join the program.

The program started its first round of easement purchases in 1996 and has since preserved farmland in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties.

There are currently 825 permanently preserved farms in the state.

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Information from: WXDE-FM, https://delaware1059.com