County Preserves 11.16 Acres, Celebrates Iconic Farmer's Legacy

RIVERHEAD, NY — Barrels and boxes of fresh green asparagus packed the barn at the Wells Homestead farm in Riverhead Wednesday as Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and others gathered to announce the preservation of 11.16 acres of rich farmland on Sound Avenue.

The moment signified a celebration of agriculture on the East End, as well as the deeply-rooted farming history of the Wells family — Lyle Wells, an iconic local farmer, died in 2018 — that dates back 12 generations and 360 years.

Through Suffolk County's land preservation program, the development rights of the parcel were purchased for $613,800, meaning that the land will be farmed in perpetuity and safe from development during a time when development pressure is "intense" in agricultural areas, Bellone said.

It was appropriate, Bellone said, that he and members of the Wells family signed the preservation agreement atop a box of asparagus — Lyle Wells, the farmer who died at 62 in a tragic farm accident, "was known as the asparagus king," Bellone said.

Bellone said the plan to preserve the 11.16 acres was made with the Estate of Lyle C. Wells on a parcel located at 4945 Sound Avenue in Riverhead.

Despite the rain Wednesday, the land surrounding the barn was bursting with green life and deep, rich soil — Wells' trademark bright blue tractor parked out front.

Bellone smiled, remembering his first trips to the East End when he was first elected to office, and came to Riverhead to be educated on the history of agriculture — and about the generations of farming families who had poured their hearts and lives into working the land.

"I'm not from the East End so when I became county executive I really had to learn about farming; I did not grow up in a farming environment. I grew up on the west end; I found out I was called an 'upislander.' Lyle said that to me first," Bellone laughed.

His first lessons on farming took place on the Wells farm. During one of their first conversations, Bellone asked Wells, "How long have you been farming?" he said. "That was how much I knew when I came out here. Lyle kind of looked at me a little funny. He said, 'My family has been farming the land for a while.' I thought maybe he meant 50 years. He said, 'We've been farming the land since 1661.' I couldn't have been more stunned," Bellone said.

Agriculture is critical to Suffolk, Bellone said: Agriculture generates more than $226 million in sales annually; Suffolk County is home to over 560 farms that employ more than 4,600 people.

Suffolk County’s Farmland Development Rights program began in 1974 and is the oldest purchase of development rights, or PDR, program in the country, serving as a model for PDR programs across the nation.

"The farmland PDR program serves many vital functions but most importantly, it ensures that rich, viable agricultural soils and farmland properties within Suffolk County will be preserved permanently for farming use," the county said.

Wells, Bellone said, was committed to preserving the farming legacy on the East End, a mission of the county's farmland preservation program. In Suffolk County, more than 11,000 acres of Suffolk's 30,000 acres of farmland have been preserved by the county and another 10,000 by towns and municipalities.

But, there is still work to be done, said Rob Carpenter, administrative director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, noting that there are still 10,000 acres to preserve.

The county's purchase of a development rights program is "absolutely critical for Long Island and the survival of this industry," Bellone agreed.

When Wells died, it was devastating not only to his family but to the agricultural community, Bellone said. "He was such an important leader and his legacy was so important in an industry that continues to fight to survive and thrive," Bellone said. "Losing him was such a blow and it had people wondering if we were going to lose the legacy of this incredible family and this land."

Looking out over the group, which included Wells' wife Susan, daughter Jessica, and sons Matt and Logan, as well as babies representing the next generation, Bellone said: "The fact that it will continue now, and is continuing to be farmed by the Wells family, is an absolutely amazing gift to Suffolk County, this region and to Long Island."

Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski, himself a farmer, said many have a romantic notion of agriculture. Instead, agriculture is a business, rife with government regulations, he said. "Your senior partner is the weather," he said. "There are so many challenges to growing a crop."

The PDR program, Krupski said, is voluntary, and he thanked the Wells family for committing the productive land into the program so farming can continue "for the next three centuries" with a focus on soil health and food security, something that's especially critical in light of climate change and the unknowns on how that will affect food production.

"If less than 2 percent of the population are feeding everyone else, you do need that land, you need those farmers — you need someone who knows how to hook up a plow and produce that food."Addressing the Wells family, Krupski said, "It's a gift, what you've done here."

Matt Wells thanked the county for "coming through for us and helping us in our time of need," and said without the preservation program on the East End, where the price of land is "astronomical," many farms might have to sell their land or rent it rather than produce crops.

Wells leaves a long legacy, serving as the former president of the Long Island Farm Bureau and a one-time member of the Riverhead planning board, county officials said.

Both Matt and Jessica de Vera Wells, his children, said their father had a vision, planting the asparagus, as well as other crops, years ago with an eye to a sustainable farming future.

Jessica said the preservation of the land was something her father had envisioned for years. "I remember him sitting us down, when we were all young, and saying, 'Is this the plan you want? For this to stay a farm?' We all voted and we all said yes. He said, 'Okay, then we will make it happen.' That was his goal — and I'm sure he's very pleased with what's happening today."