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With Development Pressure Building, Pilesgrove Family Elects to Preserve

84-acre family farm saved under unique local, State, federal and non-profit partnership

PILESGROVE TOWNSHIP, NJ, May 16, 2007 – In the heart of New Jersey’s largest farmbelt, a short distance from Philadelphia and Wilmington where far too many vegetable fields are under pressure of development, the Caltabianos wanted to seal the fate of their family farm. “I have been farming for 45 years and I could not imagine living any other way even if it is a struggle to survive,” said Mario Caltabiano, 63. “It’s a good life. I like having my hands in the ground, growing healthy foods. There are far too many houses already.”

Mario and Catherine Caltabiano recently sold an agriculture easement on their 85-acre farm to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF), State Farmland Preservation Program and the USDA Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program (FRPP). The William Penn Foundation generously supported this nearly $1.4 million preservation, which ensures the land will remain in farming forever. In addition, Pilesgrove Township, contributed to this important project through its local farmland preservation program.

“Farmland preservation is an important tool for protecting the character of our communities, helping our farm families stay on the land and keeping agriculture strong,” said New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Charles M. Kuperus, who chairs the State Agriculture Development Committee that administers the Farmland Preservation Program. “We’re pleased to partner in the preservation of this farm so that it can continue to contribute to the quality of life in Pilesgrove Township and to our agricultural industry.”

While the federal FRPP has helped preserve over 12,000 acres of New Jersey farmland, the Caltabiano farm is the first preserved by a non-profit organization using FRPP funding.

“Our agency is always looking for ways to broaden cooperative conservation with state and local government, community organizations and private citizens,” said Janice Reid, Assistant State Conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “In fact, we rely on partnerships like the one that preserved this farm to successfully carry out the USDA Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program in New Jersey.”

The Caltabiano farm is located in the South Jersey farmbelt area of Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties within the state’s Delaware Bayshore region. NJCF has received $4.5 million in state and federal farmland preservation grants to protect this vital area and NJCF Delaware Bayshore Regional Manager Janet Eisenhauer is currently working to preserve some 1,400 acres of agricultural lands in the region. NJCF has led conservation efforts in the area for over 20 years and has worked with its partners to save over 2,000 acres of farmland, wetlands and forested areas.

“The area has been recognized for its high quality agricultural soils and the fact that the farming culture in this region is under intense residential development pressure,” said Michele S. Byers, NJCF Executive Director. “Sprawl is creeping with increasing momentum into this area, with thousands of residential housing units already approved for development. Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties are in jeopardy and the time for preserving this critical farmland is now.”

The Caltabianos have raised their seven children on the family farm they purchased in the 1970s, including their oldest son Joseph, 38, who continues to work with his father and hopes to purchase a nearby farm soon. Today their farm grows tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, watermelons and asparagus that are sold at local markets. The Caltabianos used part of the proceeds from preservation to purchase an adjacent 20 acres to expand their farming operation.

“More needs to be done to protect farms and we are just really very thankful that we could preserve this ground and that it will be farmed forever,” said Mario Caltabiano.

NJCF recently launched the Tri-county Agriculture Retention Partnership (TARP) to better understand the issues facing farmers in Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties. Under TARP, NJCF has brought together farmers, government officials and academic leaders to promote agricultural viability beyond land preservation. The viability of farming in New Jersey is impacted by many issues. Government regulation, development pressures and the economics of the marketplace all affect the future of New Jersey farmers.

Since 1960, NJCF has preserved over 100,000 acres of land from the Highlands to the Delaware Bayshore, permanently protecting forests, farmland and natural resources, all vital to New Jersey’s future. For more information on saving New Jersey’s precious natural areas and natural resources, contact the New Jersey Conservation Foundation at 1-888-LAND-SAVE (1-888-526-3728) or visit our website at www.njconservation.org.

More than 1,500 farms covering more than 157,000 acres have been preserved to date under the state Farmland Preservation Program. For more information on the program, contact the State Agriculture Development Committee at (609) 984-2504 or visit www.state.nj.us/agriculture/sadc/sadc.htm.