"The records describe how families came here from Connecticut because they heard about this fertile valley," says Warwick dairy farmer Tunis Sweetman Jr.
Sweetman's family relocated to this part of Orange County from New Jersey when he was in high school. His father was a dairyman on a major New Jersey farm that was sold to developers. "It really hurt to see that farmland destroyed and the pasture I used to play in become roads and houses," he says.
In the late 1990s, Sweetman and his wife Sharon realized a dream of owning their own farm when Orange County, utilizing state and federal funds, purchased the development rights on the farmland they had been renting. The removal of development rights from the property reduced its value for development, allowing the Sweetmans to buy the land-at its lower agricultural value-they otherwise could not afford.
Sweetman's efforts have not been limited to protecting his own farm. He helped the town of Warwick to establish its own farmland protection program. In November of 2000, town voters approved a $9.5 million ballot initiative to buy the development rights to much of the town's farmland. "The goal is to preserve 3,000 acres to give our town enough of an agricultural base to stay viable," says Sweetman.
 |
|
 |
 |
|
| Tunis Sweetman continues an agricultural tradition on his Warwick farm. |
|
