Scarborough Land Trust and Broadturn Farm, Inc. have announced a new long-term lease arrangement that will enable this family farm to remain in Scarborough as a viable business long into the future. The new 99-year lease means that the farm can plan for the long-term and depend on access to prime agricultural land on which to provide flowers and produce for the local community.

Scarborough Land Trust President Rick Shinay said, “This is a great win for the people of Scarborough. In an increasingly developed community, it is wonderful to know that an independent family farm will continue to sustainably grow crops on this historic farm for generations to come.”

Broadturn Farm, Inc. has been leasing 275 acres of farmland, including a home and barns, from Scarborough Land Trust since 2006. In that time, they have invested in and improved the quality of the farm’s soils and infrastructure. The new, longer lease will make it feasible for the farm to significantly increase their investment by ensuring that they will be able to reap the benefits of their work far into the future. John Bliss, co-owner of Broadturn Farm, Inc., with his wife Stacy Brenner said, “A 99-year lease allows our business to invest in long term goals. That value will follow the land beyond our personal involvement. Together, we have pioneered a movement which works to balance suburban sprawl with not only open space, but agricultural and traditional land uses.”

“As far as we know, no other land trusts in the Northeast have committed to anything like a 99-year lease to encourage sustainable farming on a preserve,” said land trust President Shinay. “We are incredibly fortunate to have partners like Stacy and John, who take our conservation mission seriously and also are thinking about the long-term viability of the farm business they have nurtured for nearly 15 years.”

The land on which the farm sits is part of a 434-acre preserve owned by Scarborough Land Trust since 2004. It was purchased with financial assistance from private donors, the Town of Scarborough’s Land Bond Program, the Land for Maine’s Future program, and the USDA – Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program.

The entire parcel, which sits on both sides of Broadturn Road near the Buxton town line, is also protected by a conservation easement held by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry. That easement ensures that the land will remain primarily undeveloped and that farming is prioritized over other uses of the excellent agricultural soils of the property. The lease effectively identifies the farm business that will be the long-term partners of the land trust to steward the farm.

The non-agricultural portions of Broadturn Farm are a traditional land trust preserve with a short walking trail accessed via a trailhead off Hanson Road. Plans are in development for a longer trail that will provide access to the beautiful mature forests that have been managed as part of this farm going back generations prior to land trust ownership.

Scarborough Land Trust and Broadturn Farm, Inc. acknowledge that the farm exists on land that was once the homeland of the Abenaki Tribe.

The lease was signed on June 30 in a brief signing ceremony at Broadturn Farm and commenced on July 1, cementing the relationship between the land trust and farm through 2119.

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