Ned Murray grew up on a farm in Pikesville that?s now the Beltway.
He and his wife, Cynthia, wanted to make sure the same fate isn?t in store for their 160-acre Worthington Valley farm, where sheep graze on golden fields, their drowsy collie naps in the shade and a yellow triangular sign on the windy, gravel driveway cautions the occasional motorist there are “grandparents at play.”
“In your lifetime, it?s amazing to see how much things change,” Cynthia Murray said. “All of this could look like that.”
The Murrays are among the owners of 16 farms who recently accepted offers from the county to permanently preserve their land, bringing the total acreage of protected agricultural land in Baltimore County to 53,000. The milestone marks the two-thirds-plus point toward the county?s goal of preserving 80,000 acres of rural land, officials said.
Baltimore County, where 80 percent of the population lives on 30 percent of the land, has been ranked in the Farmland?s Preservation Report?s top 10 nationally since 1993, officials said. Preservation is mostly administered through the state, but jointly funded.
The county and state offer several other programs that give landowners the best options in Maryland, according toDavid Green, who chairs the county?s agricultural land-preservation board. A Baltimore County program requires participating farms to be 50 acres in size or located adjacent to a preserved property.
More than 40 farm owners applied for public easements this year, and 60 applied last year, Green said.
“The interest is there, and I am positive we can meet this goal and keep the rural nature of this county in perpetuity,” Green said.
The Murrays? farm is not far from the future site of the county?s $7 million Agricultural Resource Center and Farm Park off Shawan Road. The 149-acre center, also on a protected working farm, will consolidate many agricultural support services and could house offices for organizations like 4H, winery associations and gardening clubs.
