Over the past three decades, Rocky Ellsworth has watched as the once plentiful dairy farms on the west side of Monroe County have disappeared.

Ellsworth is one of only two dairy farmers left in Hamlin. In 1969, when Ellsworth started his farm, 19 were in business.

Monroe County loses about 700 acres of farmland a year to development. But preserving farmland has not been a priority for Monroe County government as it has for other counties.

While other counties are actively chasing dollars to preserve agricultural land, Monroe County has been sitting on money earmarked for open space protection that has been collecting interest for five years.

In 2002, the county set aside $2 million for its Green Space Initiative. To date, $1.4 million has been used, with none going to preserve farmland on the county's west side, where farming is most extensive. Only five farms have been helped.

" This was a one-shot opportunity that we saw," said county Planning Manager Paul Johnson.
By contrast, Dutchess County started a farmland protection program in 2000 and twice a year seeks new applications.

" We have three more in the chute," said senior planner Noela Hooper, who noted that the county has helped buy the development rights for five farms and is completing negotiations for four more.

Farmland preservation is important not just because farming produces an estimated $97 million for the local economy. Preserving agricultural land can be cheaper for taxpayers because residential development often results in higher school and town taxes.

The principle of farmland protection is that the farmer is paid an amount comparable to what would be received were the land developed. The farmer, in turn, agrees to keep the land undeveloped, even if it's sold.

For others, preserving farmland is a priority. Gov. Eliot Spitzer wants to increase farmland protection funds 30 percent to $28 million.

On March 14, the Livingston County Board of Supervisors voted to submit three applications for this state funding. Wayne County for the past eight years has been working with towns to secure state funds for farmland preservation. Suffolk County has an ongoing program that has protected about 12,500 acres on Long Island since the mid-1970s.

Experts say that Monroe County should do more.
" Both the county and towns have roles to play. The towns know where the investment in farmland protection can be most effective. But the county can play a leadership role," said Nathan Jaschik, whose career in planning included work with the Common Good Planning Center, which promoted smart development.

Johnson said that the remaining money will be spent, which with interest now totals almost $900,000. He also said that there are other ways to help farmers, such as increasing the acreage of agricultural districts in the county that give farmers protections against nuisance complaints from nonfarmers.

In Monroe County, towns have taken the lead. Pittsford's Greenprint for the Future was established in 1996. The eastern towns of Penfield, Perinton, Henrietta and Webster have also purchased development rights of farmland.

On the county's west side, using public funds for preserving farmland had little support among officials. But Hamlin, Ogden and Riga are reconsidering.
" Part of the reason farmers have brought it up is because it happened too late on the east side. Too much farmland was gone before they thought to preserve it," said Ellsworth, who owns the 200-acre dairy farm with his wife, Pat.

Shrinking farmland
New York is losing almost 26,000 acres of farmland a year. A recent report by the American Farmland Trust found that the state has the lowest percentage of protected farmland in the Northeast.

In Monroe County, 105,100 acres of the county's 430,725 acres are considered agricultural, according to surveys by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. That's a drop of 14,500 since 1993. The county has 605 farms, according to Bob King, director of the newly formed Agriculture and Life Sciences Institute at Monroe Community College.

But these figures include anyone who makes as little as $1,000 a year from farming. The number of full-time farms is much smaller — just seven Penfield families make a living from farming, compared with about 300 in 1940, said Doug Fox, director of planning for Penfield.
Much of the land farmed in the county is rented. The owner typically does not want to farm but is willing to keep the land in agricultural use, even though more money could be made by selling it for development. However, the farmer's children often don't have the same commitment, Fox said.

The county program helped stabilize farm loss on the east side. But no town on the west side submitted an application, said Johnson, who oversees the program.
Clarkson Supervisor Paul Kimball said his town is only 30 percent developed and he doesn't see the need for such expenditures.

The county program dates back to 2002. Then-County Executive Jack Doyle set aside the $2 million from $142.6 million that the county had raised from the sale of bonds. Those bonds are financed by annual payments that the county receives from major tobacco companies under terms of the national settlement reached regarding smoking-related illnesses.

Towns, villages, Rochester and land trusts were asked to submit proposals either to buy the development rights of farmland or to purchase undeveloped private land for public use.

The local government or land trust was expected to pay for a portion of the purchase, although that amount could be reduced with grant money or state and federal funds. Sixteen properties were identified for possible grants — including the five farms helped.

Penfield's calculations
Penfield began implementing its open space plan about the same time the county made its funds available.
A Center for Governmental Research study done for the town concluded that a Penfield house in the Penfield Central School District would have to be valued in the "upper $200,000 range" to generate enough tax revenue to pay for the school and town services required.

Farmland parcels would be much cheaper for the town to maintain. "They don't require ambulances. They don't require new town roads. And farmland doesn't send kids to school," Fox said.

At the time, Warren Beardsley and his three sons wanted to sell their 184-acre East Penview Farm in eastern Penfield.
The town applied for county help in purchasing the development rights of 77 of those acres — and received a grant of $113,500 from the county's $2 million pot.
About $1 million was spent for purchasing all of the Beardsley farmland at $5,600 an acre. The cost to Penfield taxpayers was reduced significantly because the town had been awarded a $750,000 state grant.

The purchase ensured that the land would be kept as agricultural use — and the land has since been sold to another farmer at $1,086 an acre.
" It's better than building. It preserves the land," said Beardsley.

Other counties
Suffolk County has come up with the most sweeping farmland protection program in the state.
When the western section of the county — the part closest to New York City — experienced a growth spurt in the 1950s and 1960s, officials worried that Suffolk would lose its rural character.

Residents also realized that rampant development increased taxes because of the additional town services and schools that were needed, said Suffolk Planning Director Tom Isles.
Now, three decades old, the program has the county working with the towns on an ongoing basis. About $120 million has been spent to buy the development rights of about 12,500 acres of eastern Long Island farmland, said Roy Fedelem, who manages the program.

The county puts in its own money — including some from an open space fund financed by sales tax revenue — and helps to get state and federal grants.

Fedelem said that the biggest lesson from the Long Island experience is to plan ahead and buy the development rights when they are cheap. When Suffolk began its protection program, development rights could be bought for $2,000 an acre. Today's prices average about $100,000 an acre, but some areas are as high as $200,000 an acre.

In Wayne County, Ora Rothfuss, an agricultural development specialist in the Planning Department, has been working with towns and farmers on a regular basis to get state and federal grants for purchasing development rights.
Over the past eight years, about 3,400 acres of farmland have been secured.

Rothfuss, who grew up on a farm in Macedon, Wayne County, said that buying farmland protection rights isn't a silver bullet, but it can be a useful tool for preserving farmland.

" Our farms define the rural landscape," he said. "Not only do they help us, they create our small-town atmosphere."
JGOODMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com

Towns' perspective
Pittsford was the first of the towns in 1996 to come up with a plan to purchase development rights of farmland.
Spending about $9.5 million, the town purchased the development rights on seven farms, totaling 1,150 acres, said Pittsford Supervisor Bill Carpenter.

The town figured that it would cost the average taxpayer $67 a year to pay for the borrowing over 20 years, but the cost would be about $250 a year— to cover the cost of additional town and school services — were those farms developed, Carpenter said.

The actual cost to Pittsford taxpayers, Carpenter said, turned out to be more in the $43-a-year range because the town received state and federal grants to reduce the need for borrowing.

Penfield, Perinton, Webster and Henrietta have also come up with farmland development purchases, while Brighton has used bond money and reserve funds to buy open space because the town has no farmland left.

On the west side, Clarkson Supervisor Paul Kimball said that a survey of town residents done two years ago confirms the town's decision not to buy development rights. Chili, Greece, Sweden and Wheatland also have no plans to buy development rights.

But Hamlin's new comprehensive plan provides for possible purchase of farmland development rights. And so does the draft of the new comprehensive plan for Churchville and Riga. A survey of residents and businesses four years ago shows support for such an option.

The open space plan adopted by Ogden last year also raises the possibility of purchasing development rights of farmland. A survey of town residents showed farmland protection was a top priority.Go online to share your opinion about protecting farmland in Monroe County.

What's at stake
Buying farmland development rights saves open space and prevents development that creates demand for more services — and higher taxes. Acting early can preclude paying more for land later.