Lansing Farm is a 20-acre farm in the town of Colonie, in Albany County, New York. The farm has been in the same family for eight generations, and the current remnant of the once larger farm had been under threat of subdivision for development as it is in a residential area with little open land and significant development pressure. Protecting the land’s affordability for agriculture allowed Al Lansing, operator of Lansing Farm Market and Greenhouses, to acquire the property from his family’s estate. In December 2018, New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets awarded a farmland protection grant for the project and the farm was permanently protected in February 2021 with a conservation easement held by Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy. The easement includes resale restrictions that ensure future sales will be made to farmers at an affordable price. Additional funding was provided by Equity Trust’s Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program with matching funds raised from the local community by Mohawk Hudson and friends of the farm along with a contribution from Scenic Hudson Land Trust.
Now preserved, Lansing Farm will remain working farmland, affordable and accessible to farmers in the Capital District in perpetuity, and significantly, to Al’s adult children who are poised to take over operations when Al retires.