Program helping young farmers buy land

Farmland protection goals in the Hudson Valley are shifting from keeping valuable agricultural land out of the hands of developers to putting it in the hands of a new generation of farmers. The sale of the late Bill Topp’s 196-acre farm in Mount Hope to Trish and Matt Southway represents the first time new affordability tools have been used in the Hudson Valley toward this end - and one of the first times in New York.“Conventional easements – also known as the purchase of development rights - simply restrict future development,″ said Matt Decker, director of conservation at the Orange County Land Trust. “They don’t guarantee the land will be farmed or be financially accessible to farmers. What we’ve done is ensure that this farm is a farm forever.”These additional provisions about the land’s use effectively reduced the price of the Topp house and farm from its market value, roughly $870,000, to its agricultural value, $300,000, and brought it within the Southways’ reach.