APRs protect Larkin and Toporowski farms

Toporowski Farm APR (Agricultural Preservation Restriction)

Two sterling Berkshire farms were permanently protected by the state's Agricultural Preservation Restriction program earlier this year.

Protection of some 400 acres of rich bottomland owned by the Larkin family in Sheffield and Great Barrington, and of 112 beautiful acres owned by Casimer Toporowski in Cheshire are a heartening sign of the APR Program's continued vitality and commitment to the Berkshires.

Regrettably, these high profile success stories mask a creeping flaw in the state's approach to land protection, a flaw that may undermine conservation efforts not only in the Berkshires, but in many parts of rural Massachusetts.

Jim Larkin

The families operating the two protected farms have very different stories. Jim and Margie Larkin and their son Jimmy manage one of the larger milking herds in South Berkshire, and work over 1,000 acres of the county's finest agricultural soils.

Facing a complex series of business challenges, the Larkins opted for the APR Program as one step in consolidating and reorganizing their business while protecting approximately 400 acres. The family consummated the deal with a generous bargain sale of the APR.

Kathy Orlando and the Sheffield Land Trust facilitated the project and provided key funding support, while BNRC provided bridge financing to the Larkins and financial support to the land trust.

The Toporowski farm, on Wells Road in Cheshire, stands as one of North County's gems. Sited in the heart of a farm and wildlife conservation district, the farm boasts prime soils and offers marvelous views to passersby.

Lifelong farmer Casey Toporowski sold his herd in the late 1990s, but continued to oversee a tenant farmer working the land for crops and hay. Toporowski declined the APR Program's first offer in 2002, opting like any good Yankee to "leave the money in the ground, and get it out when I need it."
In 2005, he needed it after a health setback. His niece Sharon Lillie took the reins, and together with BNRC went to considerable length and expense to convince the APR Program to come back to the table. In the end, the farm's values spoke for themselves, and the state closed the deal, again helped by a generous bargain sale from Casey Toporowski.

The troubling aspect of these stories arises out of the state's overall policy of ranking conservation properties partly on the basis of how well the host town scores on the Commonwealth Capital test of "smart growth."

Tying a property owner and his potential conservation land, whether farm, forest or wetland, to the planning acumen and political leanings of his host community poses dangers to the land we are trying to protect. Good town planning is worthwhile, but by the state's testing standards, rural communities without paid planning staff or public utilities infrastructure simply cannot score as well as cities and more developed or affluent towns.

Cheshire's scores on the state's tests, for instance, are low enough that it is unlikely an APR application from Casey Toporowski would even be accepted today, let alone funded. In this case, that means the state would have turned away a great deal on a fine farm in part because Cheshire doesn't have a subway station or a sewer system.