Suffield Farm Preserved for Agricultural Production

SUFFIELD, CT — A farm in Suffield where vegetables, hay and tobacco are grown is the latest to be protected under the state’s Farmland Preservation Program.

The purchase of the farm's development rights ensures that about 60 acres of the Stiles Farm in Suffield will forever remain available for agricultural production.

Stiles Farm, on Mapleton Avenue near the Massachusetts border, is leased by the neighboring Bielonko Farms, which grows hay, tobacco and vegetables, including their specialty sweet corn.

Almost all of the 50 acres of cropland are prime and statewide important farmland soils.

The farm is also surrounded by more than 1,000 acres of active farmland within a two-mile radius.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service was a partner in the preservation project.

“Protecting the state’s valuable working lands is critical,” said Thomas L. Morgart, Connecticut State Conservationist for the USDA-NRCS. “Through our Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, NRCS is able to help landowners protect their land and keep it in agricultural use. It was a pleasure working with the Connecticut Department of Agriculture and the owners of this beautiful farms.”

Under the preservation agreement, no residences may be built on the Stiles property, but construction of a tobacco shed in its historic location on the farm will be allowed.

Stiles Farm is the twentieth farm to be protected in Suffield under the state program, encompassing nearly 1,900 acres.

Story and photo credit: Steve Jensen/CT Dept. of Agriculture