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In response to increased demand for locally-grown food, an agricultural group has recommended farmers be allowed to lease county parkland in the Agricultural Reserve to jumpstart the next generation of organic farmers.

The incubator farm would be operated by a nonprofit organization to provide start-up materials and land leases for farmers at a nominal cost, said Jeremy Criss, agricultural services manager with the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development.

The concept spurred from what Criss called a huge, unmet demand for locally-grown produce instead of commodity farming of soy beans, wheat and corn that encompasses much of the 93,000-acre reserve. Local produce supply can't meet the demands of the county's 14 farmers markets, which are filled more and more by farmers outside the county and even the state, he said.

"Commodity farmers are an important part of the economy in the [Agricultural] Reserve," said Caroline Taylor, executive director of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, an advocacy group dedicated to preserving farmland. "But these aren't the foods that end up locally on your table. The goal is to continue to support commodity farming but also provide for table crop producers to lease."

The incubator farm, like small business incubators around the county, would provide several years of hands-on training for farmers as they move though levels of apprenticeship while sharing equipment and knowledge, said Woody Woodroof, executive director of Red Wiggler Community Farm in Damascus and chairman of the agriculture committee of the Green Economy Task Force, which introduced the incubator concept to County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) in March.

The concept is in the very early stages so there are no details on costs or specifics on implementation, said Charles Kines of the park planning and stewardship division of Montgomery County Department of Parks. The incubator farm, if embraced by county officials, would be operated by a partnership with Park and Planning, the county, and an existing non-profit that would be in charge of the daily operations. The county would provide a business development specialist.

A preliminary list of potential incubator sites will be presented to the Planning Board on May 13, Kines said.

The incubator project could take years.

There is a disconnect between the public desire for and the economic and regulatory reality of produce farming, Criss said. Expensive land, the lack of long-term leases, the rising cost of production and excessive regulations are just some of the challenges farmers face.

"In order to create the environment that the public wants, we're going to have several public policy debates," Criss said. "We would need to change a number of local laws and regulations."

Creating more migratory labor camps, housing for the labor force, and public irrigation are some of the changes the community would need to embrace before more fruits and vegetables could be farmed on the Agricultural Reserve, Criss said.

"We didn't save all this so it could be pretty," said Ginny Barnes of the West Montgomery County Citizens Association, which recently hosted a discussion about locally-grown food. "I think there is becoming a higher demand because we are starting to care more about where our food comes from. We don't just want soy beans, corn and wheat. We want actual food."

The incubator farm won't be a solution for some of the reserve's existing farmers, such as One Acre Farm owner Michael Protas who has been farming for several years and now looks for a serious long-term lease.

"That would have been good for me three years ago but now I'm already facing the wild blue yonder and I don't need an incubator program, I need the land," Protas said.

His vegetable farm in Poolesville is in its second year, but Protas said the reality of building a business requires commitments, such as installing fences or drilling wells, which landowners might not want on their property. The biggest barrier to organic food production is farmers can't get established if they only are only offered three- to five-year leases, he said.

Criss said the county encourages long-term leases though its easement program, which provides an incentive payment for owners who agree to a "longer-term" lease for farming operations. The easement program puts restrictions on land to prevent future development.

"I've seen a revolving door of these young people come here, get started, go through all the trials and tribulations of it only to find out that it's a lot of work, and if they're going to put that much work into it they need to know that that farm is going to be there in the future," Woodroof said.