4d14a0421ab14f7aeb2a735e5fba4c26.jpg

Terhune Orchards offers site for agricultural preservation

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   A 26-acre parcel on Van Kirk Road, which is part of the Terhune Orchard pick-your-own produce operation, is on the way to becoming permanently preserved for agricultural purposes.
   Gary and Pam Mount, who own Terhune Orchard, have agreed to sell the development rights to the Van Kirk Road parcel. New Jersey and Mercer County officials have joined forces to buy the development rights, which means the land can never be developed for housing.
   The Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a resolution last month in which it agreed to contribute toward the purchase of the land, according to Mercer County officials. The county would pay up to 40 percent of the purchase price of $28,500 per acre and the state would pick up the rest of the tab.
   The final purchase price for the parcel has not been determined, pending a survey of the land to determine the exact acreage of the development easement, Mercer County officials said.
   Mr. Mount said the family hopes to close on the deal by the end of this year. Mercer County officials made an offer and the family accepted it, he said, adding that the lawyers are working on the contract of sale.
   The Van Kirk Road parcel is one of three tracts owned by the family, Mr. Mount said. Two of the farm parcels have been preserved — the 55-acre parcel that is known as Terhune Orchard on Cold Soil Road and a 65-acre parcel also on Van Kirk Road.
   The Mounts purchased the Cold Soil Road property in 1975 and they bought the 65-acre parcel on Van Kirk Road in 2004. The Van Kirk Road parcel had already been preserved for agricultural purposes when the family bought it, Mr. Mount said.
   About 80 to 90 percent of the apples sold at the Terhune Orchard farmstand on Cold Soil Road come from the 26-acre parcel, while vegetables are mostly grown on the Cold Soil Road parcel, Mr. Mount said.
   The family picks apples at the modern and productive Van Kirk Road orchards and sells them at the Terhune Orchard farmstand on Cold Soil Road. The Van Kirk Road parcel also is home to the pick-your-own operation, Mr. Mount said.
   ”This particular parcel we didn’t preserve (because) we thought we would sell it for our retirement. When you preserve it, you don’t get as much money as when you sell it to a developer,” Mr. Mount said of the 26-acre parcel on Van Kirk Road, which was purchased in 1980.
   Mr. Mount said that he and his wife decided not to sell the land after their two grown daughters expressed an interest in maintaining Terhune Orchard. One daughter has been involved in the family business for the past five years, and one daughter moved back to Lawrence recently, he said.
   ”The best of all things for a farmer is when the children are interested. It caused us to look at things differently. You have to have a farm if you are going to farm it,” said Mr. Mount, who is a 10th-generation farmer in central New Jersey.