The Benefits of Farmland Protection

The preservation of farmland is an important part of the Granby Land Trust’s mission. Productive agricultural land is a finite and irreplaceable natural resource that helps control flooding, protects wetlands and watersheds, maintains air quality, and helps mitigate climate change. By preserving it, we help preserve our town’s heritage, we improve our quality of life, we help ensure food security, and – perhaps most important of all – we help ensure that our children will have enough land on which to grow their food in the future. Local farms provide fresh, local food and good, local jobs. It's important that we support them.

How We Protect Farmland and Support Local Farms

Conservation

When real estate prices rise, farmland becomes less affordable, and farming becomes less profitable. At the GLT, we are working to support our local farmers by making land available and affordable. One way we do this is through conservation easements.

A GLT conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and the GLT that prohibits residential and commercial development and otherwise restricts the development of land to fulfill conservation values. By restricting certain uses on a property, the conservation easement lowers the value of the land, which 1) reduces the tax burden on the landowner, freeing up funds for farming; and 2) makes the land more affordable for buyers, including young farmers who may want to purchase the land.

Leasing Land to Local Farmers

Another way we support local agriculture is by leasing GLT-owned agricultural land to local farmers, free-of-charge. GLT fields currently are being tilled or hayed by Holcomb Farm, the Garlic Farm, the House of Hayes, Milborne Farm, and Rockwood Farm in Granville, among others.

Our Partner Farms

The following local farms are supported by the GLT:

• Clark Farms at Bushy Hill Orchard – when this property went on the market in 2010, potential buyers lined up. Proposals included a housing development and a cemetery. Instead, the GLT led a broad-based coalition to raise funds to purchase the development rights on the property. Once the development rights were purchased, for $450,000, the property became affordable for purchase by a local farmer.
• Coward Farms/Granby – working with the Town of Granby and the State of Connecticut, the GLT invested $30,000 to purchase the development rights on this property (then known as Maplewood Farm and owned by Dr. Forrest Davis), ensuring the property will remain affordable and preserved forever as open space suitable for agriculture use.
• The Garlic Farm – in 2019, the GLT purchased the 45-acre property at 143 Simsbury Road (now the Wilcox Family Preserve), which included the historic Wilcox/Hastings House and a large parcel of land that Gary Cirullo of the Garlic Farm was farming on the south side of Salmon Brook. Following the purchase and preservation of this prime agricultural land, the GLT leased the agricultural portion of the property, free-of-charge, to the Garlic Farm for its continued use.
• Holcomb Farm – the GLT holds a conservation easement on 277 acres of Holcomb Farm, guaranteeing this land will be protected from development in perpetuity. The GLT also leases its Holcomb Hill Preserve to Holcomb Farm, Inc. free-of-charge, for agricultural use.
• Lost Acres Orchard – 16 acres of Lost Acres Orchard are preserved in perpetuity through a GLT Conservation Easement, which was donated to the GLT by Tom and Ginny Wutka in 2000.
• Lost Acres Vineyard – 36 acres of Lost Acres Vineyard are preserved in perpetuity through a GLT Conservation Easement, which was donated to the GLT by Michelle Niedermeyer and Kevin Riggott in 2009.
• Milborne Farm – the GLT allows retired veterinarian and dairy farmer Morey Miller to hay certain open GLT fields (Ann Pelka Preserve/Granville Road).
• Stony Brook Farm  - in a partnership with Stony Brook Farm, the GLT allows Stony Brook Farm to hay certain open GLT fields (Mary Edwards Mountain Property, Ann Pelka Preserve/Silver Street, and Ann Pelka Preserve/Loveland Street).
• Sweet Pea Cheese / House of Hayes -- the GLT leases its Brockett and Loomis Pines Preserves, free-of-charge, to the House of Hayes for agricultural use.
• Valkyrie Equestrian Center – 29 acres of Valkyrie Equestrian Center are preserved in perpetuity through a GLT Conservation Easement, which was donated to the GLT in 1998 by Daniel and Pauline Cunningham.
• Wilhelm Farm – 45 acres of Wilhelm Farm are preserved in perpetuity through a GLT Conservation Easement, which was donated to the GLT by Fred and Edith Wilhelm in 1992.

VISITOR'S GUIDE to GRANBY

We've created a guide to Granby farms, art studios and hiking trails that are open to the public! CLICK HERE to download a copy before you hit the road!