GENESEO, N.Y., Feb. 24, 2026 – Livingston County and the Genesee Valley Conservancy have announced that the Livingston County Agricultural & Farmland Protection Board (AFPB) will be opening the next round of farmland protection applications. Livingston County farmers and farmland owners are invited to learn more about this voluntary Farmland Protection Program and the pre-application process at an upcoming spring workshop.

The Farmland Protection Program (also known as the County Purchase of Development Rights, or PDR, program), is primarily funded by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Farmland Protection Implementation Grants (FPIG) program. This funding pays eligible farmland owners for up to 87.5% of the value of their non-agricultural development rights. Interested landowners must submit a pre-application to Genesee Valley Conservancy, where the land trust, in partnership with the Planning Department, Soil and Water Conservation District, and AFPB, will evaluate applicants based on factors such as development pressure, soil quality, and overall farm viability. The highest scoring pre-applications will be invited to have full applications submitted to the State program.

Prior to submitting the pre-application, all landowners from an interested farm operation or lessors of farmland MUST attend a workshop to be eligible for State FPIG funding.

2026 Livingston County Farmland Protection Workshop

Thursday, March 26^th, 6:00PM – 7:30PM

Livingston County Government Center, Room 205/208, 6 Court Street, Geneseo

The pre-application will be available at the workshop and added to the County website at  www.livingstoncounty.us/215/Purchase-of-Development-Rights-Program, and the Conservancy website at www.geneseevalleyconservancy.org/farmland. For paper copies, please contact the Conservancy or Planning Department after March 26^th.

The pre-application deadline is Friday, July 17^th, 2026. The new grant round for the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets has not yet been announced, and there is no guarantee the State will release a funding opportunity this budget year. However, establishing a pipeline of interested farms is crucial to demonstrating funding needs and critical to leveraging other non-State funding. 

For more information, please contact Taylor Wilkie at Genesee Valley Conservancy at 585-969-3313 or via email at farmland@geneseevalleyconservancy.org.

For more information on the New York State Farmland Protection Implementation Grants program, visit: agriculture.ny.gov/land-and-water/farmland-protection-implementation-grants-program.

Genesee Valley Conservancy is a nationally accredited non-profit conservation organization working to protect the habitat, open space and farmland in the Genesee River watershed. Over 32,500 acres of natural habitat and productive farm and forest land have been conserved by Genesee Valley Conservancy with private landowners. The organization also owns nature preserves open to the public year-round for recreation and education. For more information visit www.geneseevalleyconservancy.org