Farmland Preservation

Twomey Latham knows that without legal protection, farmland in Suffolk County—particularly on the East End—would be under constant threat of extinction.

Trusted by farmers and conservationists as well as local governments and agricultural associations, Twomey Latham helps develop creative strategies to protect farmland for current and future generations throughout Suffolk County.

In 1974, Suffolk County launched the first farmland preservation program in the U.S. This program has saved more than 10,000 acres of farmland from residential development. Twomey Latham’s attorneys have been at the forefront of Long Island’s environmental law field since the early 1970s, protecting not only the farmland, but also the families who own and manage it.

The firm brings decades of experience and creative thinking to the challenges associated with the preparation and negotiation of conservation easements, the sale of development rights to local, state, and federal agencies, and purchases by land trusts.

When new or amended local or state legislation is required to meet our clients’ objectives, our team drafts the necessary laws, advocates for their adoption, and works closely with public officials during the often-complicated hearing process.

Our Suffolk farmland preservation attorneys stand ready to represent our clients in bringing and defending lawsuits impacting the well-being and future of our region’s farmers and threatening the backbone of the Long Island’s East End’s economy. In 2018, the firm successfully appealed a ruling that would have decimated the Suffolk’s farmland preservation program by prohibiting farmers from building structures that kept pace with evolving agricultural innovation and technology.

Our team is active among key stakeholder communities and regularly provides updates in various private and public forums on issues impacting the business of farming. Finally, our attorneys welcome the opportunity to present updates to all stakeholders on issues impacting the business of farming.