HAUPPAUGE – Suffolk County Executive Steven Levy Tuesday announced the approval of the purchase of development rights to nearly 10 acres of farmland in the town of Riverhead.

Known as Wagner Farm, this 9.7-acre farm on River Road in Calverton is being protected by the county for $873,000 as part of the New Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Program, for which there is ample funding for land and development rights acquisitions.  By purchasing the farm’s development rights, Suffolk County is preventing any potential developers from ever buying the land for anything other than farming, however, the current owners of the property still own the land and can turn a profit from the crops it produces.

Suffolk County currently holds the development rights to roughly 5,400 acres of farmland in the Town of Riverhead, making it the overwhelming majority of the almost 9,500 total acres of farmland owned by Suffolk across the county. Suffolk County was named the number one agricultural county in New York State in terms of the dollar value of goods sold.