Nearly 700 acres of farmland in Columbia and Dutchess counties will be protected [1] from future development under a $3.6 million project announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Scenic Hudson.

Federal officials and environmental groups made the announcement at Northwind Farms, in Dutchess County.The money purchased permanent conservation easements [2] on 10 Hudson Valley farms, including the 157-acre O'Neal farm in Clermont and the 83-acre Diehl Farm in Germantown, both in Columbia County.

Funding included $1.8 million from the federal farm bill, $1.2 million from Scenic Hudson and $615,000 from the town of Red Hook [3] in Dutchess County, where eight of the farms to be preserved this way are located.

"When Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack [4] visited Hudson Valley farms in 2010 as part of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, he was moved by the plight of the region's farmers -- especially young farmers -- to secure affordable farmland or grow their family-owned operation," said Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan. "With farm bill funds, USDA becomes a partner in these efforts, helping us ensure an historic victory toward creating a sustainable 'foodshed' for the region and New York metropolitan area."

During the past 15 years, such farmland easement programs in the Hudson Valley have paid $95 million to farmland owners.

The loss of farmland [5] is a serious issue in New York, where a farm is lost to development once every three and a half days.