ISLE OF WIGHT - Isaac N. Jones III — most people know him as Buddy — lives on a farm that has been in his family for about 150 years.
The original farmhouse is dated 1859, but his great-great-grandfather — or was it his great-great-great-grandfather? — lived in the barn for years before the house was built.
Jones got out of farming about 10 years ago, but getting off the land isn't something he's willing to do. It's quiet off Waterworks Road outside Smithfield, down his long dirt driveway shaded by pine trees. Birds and bird dogs and wind rustling the trees — not traffic — is what you hear out here.
And Isle of Wight wants to keep it that way.
The county has a program that pays landowners not to sell land to developers. Jones and his wife, Joan, are one of the first families to be picked for the program.
"This is my retirement," Jones said. "If I didn't get into this program, I probably would have to sell some land."
Farmland across the state is making way for pavement, rooftops and strip malls in recent years. With land prices rising, and profit margins dwindling, farmers are finding it more lucrative to sell their land.
In 1960, 13.5 million of Virginia's 25 million acres were farmland. That dropped to 8.5 million in 2005 — a loss of five million acres in less than 50 years, according to the state's Office of Farmland Preservation.
Forests are succumbing to the same fate. In 2003, Virginia had 15.8 million acres of forestland, down 180,600 acres since 1992, according to Office of Farmland Preservation.
The loss of farmland is something to be concerned about. Agriculture is the state's largest industry, generating about $36 billion per year, or 12.3 percent of all sales in the state. It also creates nearly 10 percent of jobs statewide, according to the state agriculture department.
To combat the loss of farms and forests, cities and counties across the state — including Isle of Wight, James City County, Virginia Beach and
Chesapeake — have launched programs that pay rural landowners not to develop their land. And the state pitched in for the first time this year, giving Isle of Wight, James City, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake $403,220 toward their programs.
In 2003, James City County has spent nearly $1.09 million to preserve 366 acres among four parcels, said Ed Overton, who oversees what's called the Purchase of Development Rights Program for the county.
Then, in a 2005 referendum, county voters approved borrowing $20 million to preserve rural land through the Purchase of Development Rights program and a similar green space program.
That costs residents about 2 cents of their real estate tax rate to service the debt, showing "tremendous support" on the part of residents to keep land from being developed, Overton said.
The county is negotiating with several landowners to preserve more land, and another application period will open up May 1, Overton said.
Isle of Wight's Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements Program received 28 applications representing more than 3,000 acres last year. Another application period is expected next spring.
Last month, offers were made on a total of eight properties among two families — the Joneses and their next-door neighbors.
The county will have about $3.26 million to spend by July 1 if the Board of Supervisors passes its proposed budget.
In Isle of Wight, the program works like this:
The county makes an offer on a piece of land based on the fair-market value minus the agricultural value of $1,500 an acre. That's the amount, determined by a consultant, who calculated how much money the land would make as farmland. The difference is the development potential, and that's how much the county pays the landowner, plus interest.
The principal is put in the bank for 25 to 30 years. During that time, the landowner receives interest payments twice a year. When the 25 or 30 years runs out, the landowner — or the landowner's heir — gets the principal.
For example, if a 100-acre farm is valued at $5,000 an acre, the development potential — the principal amount they county pays — is $350,000 after subtracting the agricultural value. The interest rate is determined and locked in at closing. At 6 percent interest, for example, the landowner would get $21,000 in tax-free interest every year for the length of the agreement.
That adds up to $525,000 in interest in 25 years. Add in the $350,000 lump-sum principal payment and that's a payoff of $875,000.
Unlike Isle of Wight, James City County pays the money up front and doesn't pay interest, Overton said.
The money comes from taxpayers' wallets. But it also saves taxpayers' money, Jones said.
"It's cheaper than building fire stations and schools and police departments" — all of which is a taxpayer burden that follows development, Jones said.
The program also preserves the rural feel of the county that residents value — so much so that they came out in force in recent months to oppose the Benn's Grant development, slated to bring big-box stores and about 1,000 homes outside Smithfield.
And it protects the livelihood of farmers, who grow the food we eat. That ensures we have a safe and adequate food supply, said Rachel Chieppa, Isle of Wight's rural economic development manager.
In exchange, the county puts a conservation easement on the property. That's a legal agreement that permanently limits development of the land. Even if a landowner sells or passes it to his heirs, the easement remains.
Over the years, buyers have come a-calling at the Joneses. His mother got a call once before she died from someone who wanted to buy her land.
Jones, a former Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department chief, lived on the farm for all but three of his 62 years. He quit farming because it wasn't profitable, but he rents his land to other farmers.
He has three daughters. None of them are involved in farming, though one does want to live on the land, he said. "I hope it passes on to generations, like I have," Jones said. "I could've sold this farm a dozen times, but I didn't want to see any development out here."
Changing landscape
Between 1997 and 2002:
•The number of farms in Isle of Wight dropped from 214 to 204, or 5 percent.
The acreage in farms dropped from 89,890 to 86,521, or 5 percent.
•The number of farms in James City dropped from 74 to 64, or 14 percent.
The acreage in farms dropped from 10,002 to 8,962, or 10 percent.
•The number of farms in Suffolk dropped from 257 to 247, or 4 percent.
The acreage in farms dropped from 78,796 to 70,592, or 10 percent.
•The number of farms in Gloucester increased from 136 to 153, or 13 percent.
The acreage in farms increased from 24,697 to 25,699, or 4 percent.
•The number of farms in Middlesex increased from 78 to 101, or 29 percent.
The acreage in farms increased from 19,045 to 21,216, or 11 percent.
Source: 2002 Census of Agriculture. The 2007 census is expected to be released in 2009.
