Farmers from Camden and Monmouth counties said they were grateful the state program will allow them to save land their families have owned for generations. I feel good about it. Susan Keymer of Howell, Monmouth County, said she had been struggling to save her 66-acre organic vegetable farm known as the Merrick Farm since 1991, when its former owner died. Estate taxes nearly forced Keymer to sell her land to developers. Under the farmland preservation program, the state is not purchasing the property.
Farmers keep their land.
Burlington officials explained they are using farmland preservation money to buy land that will shield residents from a 660- acre landfill and recycling center in Florence and Mansfield townships, said Ralph Shrom, spokesman for the county. He complained that the Garden State Preservation Trust is tentatively scheduled to review 145 farms purchased at a May 16 meeting. He said he did not think the trust could adequately review the farm purchases in so little time. Judy Jengo, executive director of the Garden State Preservation Trust, did not return a call for comment. In past years, there was never enough money to pay all the farmers who wanted to sell their development rights.