"No one is quite sure how many farms there are in New Milford right now," said Joanne Chapin, town historian and wife of Curtis Chapin, chairman of the town's Farmland Preservation Committee. "There are so many different kinds of farms now, like CSAs [Community Supported Agriculture], and the state is only tracking the dairy farms."
But the lack of firm identification of how many agricultural enterprises might exist within the town's borders does not reflect the town's commitment to preserve and promote its farms. New Milford has become proactive in trying to preserve the agriculture that remains, appointing a Farmland Preservation Committee and trying to ensure that those farmers retain the right to farm even in the midst of developing neighborhoods around them. Last year, New Milford became the first Litchfield County town to pass a Right to Farm ordinance and thus won the Working Land Alliance's Pathfinder Award.
"To me, if farmlands are preserved, the worst outcome is that they go into open space," said Steve Kleppin, a town planner and a New Milford Christmas tree grower who serves on the preservation committee. "We want the farms to remain an economic resource."
To that end, the group is intensifying efforts to preserve five Ridge Road farms for agriculture. It is joining forces with New Milford Hospital's Plow to Plate program, the New Milford Youth Agency and Weantinoge Heritage land trust to co-sponsor a Sept. 12 Farm Day at the Harris Hill Farm at 99 Ridge Road, seeking to acquaint the general public with the beauty and agricultural significance of the Ridge Road farms (see sidebar). In addition to entertainment, volunteers from the Conservation Commission will be on hand to show visitors where New Milford's surviving working farms and conserved lands are located.
The Ridge Road area farms-the Chapin, Davenport, Harris, Kimberly and Reimer farms-comprise more than 1,000 acres. Together they have one of the highest concentrations of prime agricultural soils and soils of agricultural importance in Litchfield County. While some gains have been made in preserving the farms for agriculture, a large percentage of the properties are still vulnerable to development.
The Davenport Farm, for instance, has about 40 acres currently under cultivation. The property, which abuts Weantinoge Heritage land on one side, is highlighted by a graceful Federal home and was once on the market for $4.2 million. But the family decided it would like to see the farm preserved and not subdivided, so it is negotiating with the state to sell the development rights. The state has put it in a queue for funding, a process that could take considerable time. If its development rights are purchased it would be the first New Milford farm in the state program since the 1980s when the Smyrski farm's rights were sold. That farm was later willed to Weantinoge.
"We understand that it meets many of the state's criteria for purchase of development rights, and that the state is looking to do an appraisal," said Julie Bailey, an organizational consultant and alternate member on the farmland preservation committee.
If the development rights are sold, the Davenports, or subsequent owners, retain ownership and can continue to farm in perpetuity, but it can never be sold for residential or business development.
If the state purchase does not materialize, the Davenports have agreed to give the town the right of first refusal, according to Mr. Chapin. "They would give us a year to raise the money," he said. "I presume if the town was in the process of raising the money, they wouldn't abandon us after a year."
The nearby Chapin family farm, a 145-acre former dairy farm, has apparently escaped development in the short run. It was recently sold to a New York City resident who has expressed his desire to see the land remain intact.
"There is one owner who wants to put one house on it and preserve the rest," said Mr. Chapin.
While that arrangement is not binding on the new owner, or any subsequent owner, it is, for the time, less draconian than earlier possibilities. The land was put on the market in the late 2006 with an asking price of $2.25 million. There was a firm offer of $1.9 million from a developer who wanted to split it into 30 housing lots.
"It would be a great end of the year if we could put that land into an easement," commented Mr. Kleppin.
The Kimberly farm, consisting of about 320 acres on Chestnut Land Road, has perhaps the happiest fate. It is actively farmed by the owners and the next generation wants to continue farming. There appears to be no immediate threat of sale or subdivision of this large block of land.
But the Reimer Farm, the largest of the Ridge Road farms, is facing that most perilous of moments: the death of the family matriarch has triggered a disposition of her estate.
An appraisal is ongoing for the two heirs and there is already significant interest from developers.
At present, according to heir Chuck Reimer, George Whiting, a dairy farmer from Northville is grazing about a dozen cows on Reimeridge Farm. There are about 170 acres of tillable land, from which Mr. Reimer harvests hay, leasing a portion of the property to another area farmer, who raises corn and hays part of it.
The most immediate crisis for farmland preservation in the Ridge Road area, then, is the Harris Farm, the site of the Family Farm Day event. A former dairy farm with about 110 acres, it is on market and has been subdivided into three sections for more than 30 house lots. The farm offers sweeping vistas of the townships of Washington and Roxbury and promises to be a developer's dream.
Even with those plans in place, the Harris family would like to see the land preserved for farming. It has just offered the land to the town and, if no sale is made there, would then offer it to Weantinoge Heritage. If neither avenue proves fruitful, it will be placed on the open market. Mayor Patricia Murphy has asked for an appraisal of the property as a first step toward possible town acquisition.
"Farmland Preservation is very hopeful a solution will be found to preserve it as a working farm," said Ms. Bailey, noting that New Milford Youth Agency uses the Harris Farm greenhouse and some of the land for its highly successful farming operation. The farm has been visited by up to 1,600 school children in the past 15 years, she said.
She said that the Farmland Preservation Committee is circulating a petition asking that the town preserve and protect the farm. "We have about 2,400 signatures already," she said. "Another 600 and we will have the 10 percent of the population we need to ask for a vote."
Mr. Chapin expressed the opinion that preservation of the Harris farm would probably come through a combination of funding sources, possibly including the town, the state, federal grants and the like. If preserved, he said, he hopes the land would be leased to farmers. "That is one of the things we are looking at," he said. "Preserving farmland is worthless if no one is going to farm it. We are trying to build public awareness."
That awareness seems to be dawning on the public. A recent survey conducted as part of the development of the Conservation, Natural Resources and Open Space Plan showed that 89.8 percent of New Milford residents feel the town should do more to preserve existing farmland and 79.8 think the community should set aside funds to purchase undeveloped open space when it becomes available. Seventy-seven percent endorsed designating funds to purchase existing farmland.
Preservation of the land will facilitate a growing trend in New England farming toward local production of produce. In the past decade organic farms and CSAs have sprouted over the landscape, offering area residents fresh produce with a known origin-a matter of growing importance to Americans who are worried about what chemicals have been used in cultivation and what the effects of genetic engineering might be.
"My wife and I live in New Milford and have five-mile walk we take," said Daniel Readyoff, a farmland committee member, who grew up on a farm. "It's like a five-mile shopping trip, buying local produce from farms. We appreciate that there has to be haying, but we would like to see more locally grown crops. Fort Hill Farm, [a CSA] has a waiting list that goes for years."
The New Milford Youth Agency, which raises vegetables for sale at its outlet on Route 202, can't keep up with the demand either, added Ms. Bailey.
"How many times do you hear about problems with food coming from wherever?" Mr. Readyoff asked. "Last year we had that big scare about salmonella in tomatoes-it just seems like more and more we are hearing these stories. We live in a society where convenience is a priority, but we are sacrificing a lot for that convenience. "
Mr. Chapin agreed. "You know there is a problem when spinach is killing people," he said. "I was looking at some fish in a store about a month ago and one sign said it was from China. I said, 'No way.' When you consider that all the chemicals we've banned in the United States are still used in other countries. ... And then the mega-farming thing. They have bred tomatoes to withstand shipping and to ripen after picked. They are not the same tomatoes we ate as kids. You forget how good food can taste. We started raising our own chickens and it was a surprise. It tasted like chicken again."
Farm-fresh produce is devoutly to be wished by many residents, but farms are not always easy neighbors. Mr. Readyoff, a lawyer who drafted the "Right to Farm" ordinance, said he shares Mr.Kleppin's concern about maintaining the viability of farming even once the land has been preserved. "One of my concerns is what goes on on the farms," he said. "When housing developments go in, eventually residents are living next to farms, with all of the noise and odors and machinery that are associated with that activity. [Our] ordinance says that if there are any issues between neighbors and the farmers that these types of disputes should go before a mediation board. We want to keep nuisance actions out of court, even though the neighbor's right to go to court is not abrogated. It makes a statement that New Milford supports farming-it's basically the town's way of saying to neighbors, 'You have to deal with this.'"
"We want people to know that they moving into community that supports farming, that they are moving into situation where there are farms. This used to be kind of expected but now [new residents] want the beauty of area, but without [the reality of farms].This is part of living in country.
"New Milford is the starting block for a lot of the northern area [of the state]," Mr. Klappin said of the Farmland Preservation Committee's efforts. "We have to draw a line in the sand somewhere."
Volunteer Katy Francis has developed a Web site for the group where additional information can be found by going to www.saveridgeroadfarms.org.
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