The Healey-Driscoll Administration is announcing more than $7.4 million in Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) funding to preserve land at three Massachusetts dairy farms: Pine Island Farm and Balsam Hill Farm, both in Sheffield, and Herrick Farm in Rowley. This investment guarantees that almost 600 acres of working farmland will remain in agricultural production forever. Two of these dairies represent the largest whole farm acquisitions in recent history of the APR program. Administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), the APR program purchases agricultural restrictions on farmland in order to improve farmland access, strengthen food security, and protect environmental resources.
“The Agricultural Preservation Restriction program plays a key role in keeping farmland in active use. Thanks to this program, nearly 1,000 farms – spanning over 75,000 acres – remain productive, growing food, supporting rural economies, and sustaining farming traditions that go back generations,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “As land prices rise, it becomes harder for farmers to compete. That is why this program matters. We are proud to have recently protected several historic dairy farms. These properties have long served their communities and remain vital to the state’s farming future.”
For nearly 50 years, the APR program has preserved Massachusetts farmland by partnering with local land trusts and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to pay farmers the difference between the "fair market value" and the "agricultural value" of their land. In exchange, a permanent deed restriction is applied to the land, preventing any future non-agricultural use of the property. The restriction also limits the resale value to its agricultural value, helping to keep the property affordable.
In December 2023, MDAR released a long-range strategic initiative to address farmland needs called the Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan. Chief among the tenets of the plan called for the significant expansion of protection among the Commonwealth’s remaining farmland including whole farms. “Whole farm” protection is a tool that gives the APR program the flexibility to protect infrastructure and natural resources that help keep the participating farm sustainable. The addition of Pine Island Farm and Herrick Farm, where the entire respective properties are now within the APR program, are a step towards fulfilling this goal of expanded farmland preservation.