Delaware’s Vanishing Farms
By Jack Markell, State TreasurerWith the pressure to develop agricultural land stronger than ever, now is the time to renew our commitment to the future of Delaware’s farms.
Farming plays an essential role, not only in our state’s economy and environment, but also in our identity.
But given development pressures, we are fighting a very difficult battle.
Many changes can already be seen, as farmers throughout the state are offered huge prices for their holdings. And much of our pristine farmland is disappearing.
Since its creation in 1991, the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Program has permanently protected approximately 79,747 acres of farmland. In this program, landowners agree to sell the development rights to their farms; they may continue to own the land and farm it but they may not develop it, nor may the farm ever be developed.
The money available to purchase these development rights is limited, as the General Assembly has so many competing demands for the funds. Recently, Governor Minner signed Senate Bill 229, sponsored by Senator Nancy Cook, which provided a permanent source of annual funding for farmland preservation.
This type of funding is important for the Farmland Preservation program to work, but it may not be enough.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Delaware farmland is currently valued 40 percent higher than in 2004. Since 2001, the price has increased by 197 percent. Both increases were the highest in the nation over the respective time periods. We need to build on the success of our farmland preservation program, and do so very quickly, before we are simply priced out of the market.
The simple fact is that if we wait, we will lose. Delaware’s farmland is disappearing at an alarming rate of 5,000 acres a year, none of which can be replaced. Once a farm is gone, it is gone forever.
It is important to realize that when we lose a farm, we lose much more than simply a piece of scenery. Agriculture and farmland are important to our vibrant economy, help protect and maintain our healthy environment, and play an important role in our way of life.
Agriculture and related industries account for over 18,000 jobs in Delaware, contributing over $800 million to the state’s economy from farms alone. Farms themselves are just the beginning. A successful and stable agricultural base brings in industry, and along with it processing plants, machinery sales, transportation, and more. Each of these means more jobs and more revenue.
Farms are obviously a place where one can get that increasingly rare breath of fresh air. But land preservation is not just about farms. Governments around the country have recognized the public value of preserving working farms, forest land, open space and land with natural water production. In many cases, the purchase of development rights is combined with nutrient management and pollution abatement programs to maintain high quality sources of drinking water for communities - something often lost with commercial development. New York City's watershed protection projects in the Catskill Mountain region are an example of a response to this type of threat. In these projects, New York City actually paid to protect farmland hundreds of miles away.
Delaware’s farmland preservation program is one of the leaders in the country. It’s important to all Delawareans, whether or not we are farmers, and whether or not we live in rural areas, that it stay that way.
Jack Markell
State Treasurer
September 9, 2005
