Farmland Protection

Over two-thirds of Onondaga County’s land area is actively farmed land, forests, and open space, with over 150,000 acres in farms alone. Our farm landscapes and vistas are one of the most prized assets in the region. The agriculture industry in the County also contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy and creates rural job opportunities.

Farmland Protection is a program through NYS to protect farmlands from commercial or residential development.  Why?  As the American Farmland Trust states, "No Farms, No Food!"  Through an application process, landowners may be able to protect their land and keep it farmland forever. The state Farmland Protection Program makes it possible for agricultural land trusts to purchase the development rights of eligible farmland property from the landowner.  The land trust becomes an easement holder and monitors the property forever to prevent it from being developed for anything other than farming. 

Learn more at the Farmland Protection General Information Session on April 5, 2024 at 10 am.

Register at: https://cceonondaga.org/events/2024/03/11/farmland...

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County can answer your questions about Farmland Protection. Contact Janet at 315-424-9485 x243 or jto32@cornell.edu.

Resources:

View the current full Onondaga County Agriculture & Farmland Protection Plan: https://agriculture.ongov.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Ag-Plan-Full-Plan-.pdf

For more information on the State’s farmland protection program, visit https://www.agriculture.ny.gov/land-and-water/farmland-protection or Onondaga County Farmland Protection (OCDOP) at http://www.ongov.net/planning/farmland.html. For applicant/partner information, you are encouraged to contact OCDOP or a land trust. For land trusts, visit the New York Agricultural Land Trust at https://www.nyalt.org/ or the Finger Lakes Land Trust at http://www.fllt.org.

• Farmland Protection Pre-application workshops will be in November 2024. Stay Tuned!

• A Site Plan Overview Workshop will be held in person at CCE-Onondaga in  December 2024.   Site plans illustrate how the property may be used once a conservation easement is placed on the land. They are a key requirement for state FPIG applications and are strongly encouraged for Pre-applications. Please be prepared to provide a list of your Project's parcel Tax IDs when you attend the Site Plan Workshop.

Last updated March 25, 2024