Farming is crucial to New York's economy and way of life, yet the state loses over 26,000 acres of its best agricultural land each year. To help curb this loss of land, American Farmland Trustee has developed a new tool that will help landowners identify options available to help them protect the best land. The "New York Agricultural Landowner Guide to Tax, Conservation and Management Programs" is available free of charge on AFT's web site at http://www.farmland.org

The guide summarizes strategies for reducing tax burdens on agricultural landowners and provides techniques for keeping land in farming and limiting development pressure. It also offers advice on how to keep the land healthy with resources on incentive-based programs for conserving wetlands, wildlife habitat, soil and water and other natural resources. A resource guide at the end of the publication directs users to 17 state, federal and private organizations that are also available to assist landowners.

To obtain a free copy of the 12-page guide, visit http://www.farmland.org or contact Kirsten Ferguson at 518-581-0078 ext. 205.