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A proposal to add 1,196 acres of Burlington County farmland to the current 63,000 acres protected from development was approved on Wednesday by the county Board of Commissioners.

Preliminary approval was given for the nine farms to enter into the county's Farmland Preservation Program and now appraisals of the properties are needed before the county buys the development rights. The farmers would retain ownership, but the properties' deeds would restrict their use to agriculture, according to the county.

"Preserving farms helps keep agriculture a strong and viable industry in our county," Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson of Willingboro said in a statement.

Hopson, who noted the county is first in New Jersey and seventh in the nation in preserving farmland, said the practice also "guards against over-development that threatens our local landscapes and quality of life."

The nine farms are:

  • Lustgarten farm in North Hanover, 162 acres
  • Doyle Farm in Southampton, 143 acres
  • Bright View Farm in Chesterfield in Mansfield, 254 acres
  • Ruth Glunt and Mary Powell Farm in Tabernacle, 87 acres
  • Reid Sod Farm in North Hanover, 268 acres
  • Edward Allen Farm in Pemberton Township, 51 acres
  • Cheung Farm in Southampton, 55 acres
  • Kenron Farm in Southampton, 155 acres
  • Thomas Allen Farm in Southampton, 21 acres

This is the largest group to be preserved since 2016, when 10 farms qualified for preservation after responding to letters of interest from the county, the county reported.

As much as 60% of the cost will be covered by state funding. Development-rights purchases for six of the nine farms also may be funded in part by the U.S. Department of Defense because they are in a five-mile buffer zone around Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

"Local municipalities may control land use and zoning, but our county is 100% committed to preserving as much of the remaining eligible farmland as possible," County Commissioner Allison Eckel of Medford said in a statement.

"Doing so will ensure the land will remain in agriculture and protected from over-development that can impact both our environment and the quality of life," she added.

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