MIDDLETOWN — Monmouth Conservation Foundation, a local nonprofit land preservation group, along with two other organizations, have purchased the development rights of Holly Crest Farm, a 37-acre site in the township.

Officials from the foundation, the state Agriculture Development Committee and the Monmouth County Farmland Preservation Program gathered Tuesday at the farm to make the announcement.

The farm was purchased for $2.5 million, with $1 million from the state, $200,000 from the county and the rest, $1.3 million, from the foundation.

Holly Crest Farm is the first farm in Middletown to enter the county's farmland preservation program. Holly Crest, owned by Vincent and Beverly Annarella, is a thoroughbred breeding farm that is contiguous to the county's Huber Woods Park.

"Holly Crest Farm is an important farm not only because of its value to our farm community, but because the farm falls within our Navesink Highlands Greenway project area," said Judith Stanley Coleman, president of the foundation.

Navesink Highlands Greenway is a foundation project that aims to connect an additional 900 acres of property around 2,000 acres of land that has already been preserved by municipalities, the county or the foundation.

"This area has been a priority project for Monmouth Conservation Foundation for many years," Coleman said of the purchase. "We think it is vital to our quality of life to preserve open space in one of the most densely populated areas in our county."

Monmouth County Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry also was present.

"Holly Crest Farm is a wonderful addition to Monmouth County's vibrant Farmland Preservation program," Burry said. "This unique partnership ensures that future generations will keep farming in Middletown forever and move the Navesink Highlands Greenway project ahead."

More than 20 percent of all Monmouth County's land is permanently preserved as either farmland or open space, Burry said.