This report presents the primary accomplishments of the Office of Farmland Preservation (OFP) for the period of December 1, 2022 – November 30, 2023.

Significant accomplishments for OFP during this reporting period include the following:

• Continued to work with key agriculture, conservation, and government partners to refine the process for allocating state matching funds to local purchase of development rights (PDR) programs;

• Allocated $875,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2023 state matching funds to five local PDR programs;

• Worked with local PDR programs to permanently preserve 148.52 acres (two easements) of working farm and forest lands. OFP provided $47,122 of the $94,243.50 total purchase price and transaction costs paid for these easements;

• Allocated $16,000 to Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) to reimburse VCE for workshops it conducted to help farm families and professional service providers transition farms and farming operations; and

• Continued collaboration with the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation (VFBF) on the management of the Certified Farm Seekers Program and continued improvements to the Virginia Farm Link website and database.