The link between conserving land and the future of New England’s agricultural practices was connected during the Monadnock Conservancy’s 27th annual celebration at the Historic Stone Barn on Saturday.
President of the American Farmland Trust John Piotti, who was the keynote speaker at the event, said when he first got into the business 25 years ago, people assumed farming was dead. Since that time, he said, there has been an agricultural renaissance.
To continue drawing out that trend over time, Piotti said land conservation is going to have to play a key role.
“We can’t afford to lose more farmland,” he said. “That’s sort of the first step. Let’s just stop the harm. That’s step number one. We need the land.”
Ryan Owens, executive director of the Monadnock Conservancy, highlighted the group’s work to conserve land, including projects completed to preserve acres for agriculture purposes.
He said John and Teresa Janiszyn, whose family owns and operates Pete’s Stand in Walpole, began losing their rental land to development in 2011.
“They lost their fields to a Tractor Supply, a Jiffy Mart gas station, and a Family Dollar store,” Owens said. “Part of that is because they are farming on one of the few stretches that is commercially zoned land in Walpole, which also happens to be the most fertile.”
Owner of the 8-acre field, Perley Lund, of Gilsum, committed to conserving the land so that the Janiszyns could continue growing on the plot, and the Monadnock Conservancy was brought in to facilitate the sale of the conservation easement.
“It’s a very important farm field,” Owens said of the project.
“But it’s about the people behind that project.”
Abby Kessler can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.