Materials from the 2009 PDR informational meeting held March 30, 2009 at Cayuga County Cooperative Extension (CCE) are available below including this year's pre-application.

Informational Meeting Agenda

2009 PDR Pre-Application (for first time applicants)

2009 Supplemental PDR Pre-Application (for those who applied last year)

American Farmland Trust PDR Presentation

Cayuga County SWCD AEM Program Presentation

Applications should be submitted by April 27, 2009 at 4:30 PM to the Cayuga County Department of Planning and Economic Development.

For more information contact: Geoff Milz, Planner at 315.253.1276 or gmilz@cayugacounty.us

Cayuga County's Farmland Protection Program launched in 2001 with the award of over $1,000,000 dollars from New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) for protection of 680 acres on the DeGroff Farm in the Town of Fleming, through purchase of development rights on that farm. Since then, Cayuga County has secured funds to protect another 7380 acres - a significant block of highly productive farmland nestled between Cayuga and Owasco Lakes in the Towns of Fleming, Scipio, Springport and Aurelius! Three farms are protected by permanent conservation easements that are currently held, monitored and enforced by American Farmland Trust. Ten other farms are in the process of establishing easements.

Cayuga County's success has been made possible by developing strong partnerships with our farming community, land trusts including American Farmland Trust and the New York Agricultural Land Trust, and our funding partners - NYSDAM and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). NYSDAM offers up to 75% in State funding for purchase of development rights on viable farmland through a competitive grant program called the Farmland Protection Implementation Grants Program. NRCS offers federal matching funds through the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program.

Because the State's Program is so competitive, the Cayuga County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board (AFPB) has developed a formal process by which the Board can evaluate and select farms to submit to the State to compete for funding each year. The selection process involves a formal pre-application period, typically opened at the beginning of each year with a pre-established deadline. Interested farmers and landowners complete and submit a simplified pre-application to the Cayuga County Department of Planning & Economic Development (County Planning). County Planning reviews and scores each pre-application using review criteria adopted by the AFPB. The scored pre-applications are presented by County Planning to the AFPB, which selects the farms to advance to the State level.

The Cayuga County Farmland Protection Program is one of many tools available to our local municipalities for agriculture and farmland protection. Some of Cayuga County's towns are also eligible to submit Farmland Protection Program proposals to the State. To that end, County Planning is working with our Towns to encourage and facilitate establishment of local Farmland Protection Programs and local sponsorship of grant proposals for purchase of development rights funds. Additionally, the County administers six NYS-certified Agricultural Districts, assists local municipalities with local land use planning, supports agribusiness and agricultural economic development, works with local farmers to develop biofuel alternative energy sources including ethanol and methane, and supports the growth and enhancement of local farmers markets.

Visit the Cayuga County Department of Planning and Economic Development blog at http://cayugaplanning.posterous.com.