 MARYLAND AG LAND PROGRAM APPLICATIONS DUE BY APRIL 9
Westminster, Monday, February 11, 2019-The Carroll County Agricultural Land Preservation Program is accepting applications for the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program through April 9.
Owners of farmland of any size that has development potential and is adjacent to lands already preserved may call the Carroll County program to see if their property might qualify for preservation. Call 410 386-2214 for more information. Owners of farmland that is not adjacent to other preserved land but is at least 50 acres and has development potential will be eligible to apply.
Lambert farm, Uniontown Rd., preserved 2018 through the Carroll County Ag Land Preservation
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The program will have funding available but the amount is not yet known, according to Carroll County Program Manager Deborah Bowers.
“It’s important that we have qualified applications for the state program to take advantage of any available state dollars,” Bowers said.
The state program will help Carroll reach its long-established goal of preserving 100,000 acres. The county has preserved to date 74,218 acres. “We anticipate reaching the milestone of 75,000 acres by the end of this calendar year. That will be very exciting, and we have some truly excellent large farms in all parts of the county coming into the program this year.”
The county’s farmland preservation effort ranks in the top five most successful locally operated programs in the United States, and the top program in the State of Maryland. The program has been underway since 1980 with strong public support. Agriculture is the county’s No. 1 industry and farmland preservation is key to investment in family farms and all agriculture related businesses, Bowers explained.
Carroll County operates four land preservation programs: the County Ag Land Preservation Program, which is now processing FY19 applications and offers two payment options; the Critical Farms Program, which provides purchase assistance of 52.5% of fair market value to buyers of qualified farms; the Rural Legacy Program, which is funded through grants from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources; and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) program.
For additional information, contact:
Deborah Bowers,
Program Manager, 410 386-2214
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