The vast 20-acre Druesne Farm will be preserved for years to come. It is located on Route 537 across from the Due Process Stables Golf Course in the Scobeyville section of Colts Neck.
Photo courtesy Fred Yahn/ Eagle Drone Solutions
COLTS NECK — Another property has been set aside for farming in a township closely associated with agriculture.
Siblings Maeve and Barry Druesne sold the development rights to their family farm Oct. 29 to the Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF) through the nonprofit’s farmland preservation program.
The sale total was $1,012,940 and MCF partnered with state and county groups and the township to pay for it. The New Jersey Agriculture Development Committee paid $490,000; the Monmouth County Agriculture Development Board, $264,640.33; the township, $131,682.21 and MCF, $126,617.51.
“We like to preserve farms because it allows a continuation of agriculture in the county,” said MCF executive director William D. Kastning.
The farm was previously owned by Maeve and Barry’s parents, Mary and Maurice Druesne, who moved to the area in 1958. The 20-acre hay farm sits on Route 537 in the Scobeyville section of Colts Neck across from the Due Process Stables Golf Course and beside two properties — an existing 45-acre farm that has been preserved since 2001 and another property under development by Toll Brothers.
The Druesne siblings received an offer from developers as well, but rejected it. If they had accepted, developers could have built up to 10 homes on the property. “Whether it’s an agricultural easement or conservation easement,” Kastning said it’s always nice to prevent these properties “from being developed in the future.”
According to Kastning, the foundation holds the easement, similar to a deed that describes what is allowed to be done with the property. There are several steps in the process before buying the rights to a property. MCF members analyze the farmland based on agricultural values and look to see if the farms are still in production. They also look at the quality of the soils that are present. Then, they evaluate them and rank the properties based on how valuable they are agriculturally.
“As we preserve the farms, we’re helping farmers in making land more accessible and affordable for them,” said Jena Cosimo, director of acquisitions at MCF. It also creates wildlife corridors and protects water aquifers.
This was the second Colts Neck-based farm to be preserved by the nonprofit organization in October and it is constantly seeking opportunities to preserve land in Monmouth County. Earlier in the month, the group landed a preservation deal for farmland on Route 34 for a total of $1.6 million. The foundation, state, county and township all contributed for the deal.
The property, over 40 acres of vast open farmland, is owned by four children of former Colts Neck resident Claire de Groot. When the deal finalized in September, the county’s total preserved farmland reached over 15,400 acres.
According to Cosimo, a Colts Neck resident and the chair of its farmland and open space committee, there are about 22 farms preserved through the farmland preservation program. The committee is working closely with the town and county and state partners to preserve more farms in Colts Neck. “We are actively pursuing a few additional farms to preserve at the moment,” she said.
Cosimo added that Colts Neck is one of the few municipalities with such high values for purchasing the development rights to farms for many reasons. But “on the contrary, we see other areas where the easement values are closer to $9,000 per acre. The Druesne farm is one of the highest values we have seen,” she said.
