Leave Farmland, Farmland.

By Breanna Ostrander

In the state of New Hampshire there seems to be a lot of open space, but its use is up to that of the state. Much of the currently open space will some day be used for developments and industrial purposes. Yet, there are a few places that are designated
for the purpose of being used for farming and ranching.

Locally, here in the town of Hopkinton, there are 45.1 square miles of land and of that land, there are only three working dairy farms. One of these farms, the Bohanan Farm, has recently gone through a legal battle to keep its land protected for farming. The Bohanan farm, that of 413 acres, is now legally protected by The Hopkinton Open Space Committee and The Five Rivers Conservation Trust.

In order to save the farmland the town of Hopkinton had to come up with 900,000 dollars for the easement, survey, appraisal, stewardship and legal fees. More than half of the funds had already been secured from money awarded by the USDA and the Conservation Commission.

To many people who love the rural farmland of Hopkinton, it seemed like a fair price to pay to keep the land for farming. The Bohanan farm is now considered open land forever, and can continue to produce dairy products, or change to a different type of agriculture as the market demands.