Two more Connecticut farms have been tagged for preservation by the state.
Bilger Farm, one of the last in Meriden, and Salisbury’s Long Pond Farm have been entered into the state’s Farmland Preservation Program, the state Agriculture Department announced Thursday.
The 76-acre Bilger Farm was the last dairy farm in Meriden when it stopped producing milk in 1996. From 2000 to 2010, beef cows and replacement heifers were raised on the farm, which is now used to grow hay for livestock support.
Bilger Farm in Meriden is the first in the city to be protected under the program, while Long Pond Farm in Salisbury is part of a cluster of nearly 1,300 acres of farmland protected by the state and other organizations.Â
Long Pond Farm in the Lakeville section of Salisbury is owned by Kerry Douglas, who also owns and manages a vegetable farm in Berkshire County, Mass., where he serves on the board of the Sheffield Land Trust.
Long Pond is currently leased to Lonnie Morrison of Haisden Farm, who raises hay and corn for beef support on its 61 acres — 46 of which are prime and statewide important soils, ag officials said.
The two farms bring the number of farms protected under the state program to 314, totaling more than 40,000 acres, including seven farms this year, officials said.
