Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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109 into clearing for roads and infrastructure," says Mary Williamson, director of development and community engagement for Greenbelt. However, many farmers—even those who would rather not—wind up selling their land. According to Greenbelt's project partner Land for Good, more than one-third of Massachu- setts farmland is owned by farmers age 65 and older—in other words, retirement age. "e majority of the farmers I talk to hate the idea of seeing their land converted to hous- ing," Johnson-Hall says. "I think it's more often something they feel they have to do or want to do to provide for their heirs." In addition, farmers often don't have any identified successor for the farm. Data from Land for Good show that 90 percent of these retiring farmers don't have a young farmer lined up to take over. In fact, 30 percent of Mas- sachusetts farmers are likely to exit farming in the next decade, according to Land for Good. e easements take some of the financial burden off farmers who would rather not sell their land. "ese development rights have value…. You're compensating the farmer for at least some of the value of those develop- ment rights," says Johnson-Hall. "e land is still theirs; it just can never be subdivided and developed." e easements can also include a provi- sion that ensures that if the land is sold in the future, it must be sold at agricultural value. "It helps keep the land affordable for future farm- ers to buy," Johnson-Hall says. Although most of the money from the award will be used for acquiring agricultural land ease- ments, the partner organizations will also host educational workshops for young and senior farmers on topics like business planning, buying and leasing farmland, and succession planning. e partnership will also help to facilitate conversations between these farmers regard- ing land leasing and succession planning, since young farmers face incredible hurdles, the biggest of which is the price of buying land. Unless someone has inherited family land, it's hard to find affordable land to farm. at's why young farmers often lease on existing farmland. "We're hoping, through this, to be able to facili- tate those connections," Johnson-Hall says. For someone like Cox, the program holds a lot of promise, but it has potential downsides, too. "at would mean some cash inflow that could be used to invest in the farm," he says. On the other hand, restrictions that accompany the program would limit how he and his family would be able to build on and use the land in the future. Cook echoes Cox, saying that he hopes the organizations involved "continue to develop creative programs that partner with other land conservation programs that pay to place lim- ited conservation easements on participating farms that are very farm-friendly and do not unnecessarily tie the hands of future genera- tions that may want to farm." Already, the project partners have identified several thousand acres of unprotected farm- land in 10 towns that are included in the award: Salisbury, Amesbury, Merrimack, Haverhill, Groveland, West Newbury, Newbury, Newbury- port, Boxford, and North Andover. Johnson-Hall says it's critical to save this part of our heritage, landscape, and culture, as well as help preserve the livelihoods of our local farmers. "People farm because they love it," she says. "ey love the land, they love working the land; they know the land better than any of us ever will." Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury.