MALTA — The town is developing its own purchase of development rights program to preserve agricultural land from development, and could become the first local town to do so.

While the idea is still in its infancy — and likely to be just one part of a broader farmland protection plan — one of the last commercial farmers in town already says he’s interested in selling some development rights.

“I’m either going to have to sell the development rights or sell some building lots. There’s isn’t enough money in farming,” said David Bowman, who operates the 140-acre Bowman Orchards North, a fruit and vegetable farm on Van Aernum Road.

Bowman has talked to town Supervisor Paul Sausville about the possibility, but Sausville said purchase of development rights is expensive, and just one tool the town is looking at as part of a municipal farmland protection plan it is developing.

“You pay dearly for the purchase of development rights,” Sausville said.

Purchase of development rights, often abbreviated to PDR, involves a town or land trust buying the development rights to a piece of land. The land remains in private ownership and can be used for agricultural activities, but future development is restricted by a permanent conservation easement.

The town is currently developing an agriculture protection plan after receiving a $25,000 grant from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. The only other community in Saratoga County to receive a planning grant to date is the town of Charlton.

Officials in towns like Malta and Charlton have seen their communities lose a lot of the farms that they say contribute to community character. Malta has made open space protection a priority.

“They are committed to preserving as much open space as possible,” said Tracey Clothier, a senior planner at The LA Group of Saratoga Springs, the consultant helping the town write the plan.

A town PDR program would be independent of the state’s highly competitive agriculture protection program. Agriculture advocates consider the state program chronically underfunded, given that the rights to a single farm can cost over $1 million.

Along with some successes, Saratoga County has had a number of applications turned down by the state program, despite the high level of development pressure on land across the county.

Malta is apparently the first county community to seriously consider setting up its own program.

“We certainly would encourage towns that have the staff and the funding to do it,” said Jaime O’Neill, the county planner who specializes in agricultural issues.

The county has its own open space program that this year has $750,000 available, to be used for either farm preservation projects or buying recreation lands.

“They could certainly come to the county and we would form a partnership with them,” O’Neill said.

In Malta, all the dairy farms are now gone due to economic and land development pressure, but small horse farms appear to be flourishing.

Sausville said the town wants to encourage equine agriculture, even small farms. “Horse farms keep open space,” he said.

Because PDR is so expensive, Sausville said, the town plan must also consider new zoning and conservation subdivision design rules, and any ideas that come up for how the town can keep farming economically viable.

Funding could come from the town open space fund. It currently contains about $800,000, and is replenished by a fee of $861 per acre paid by developers, as well as by direct contributions from the town coffers.

Bowman said he’s considering selling up to 10 building lots along Atkins and VanAernum roads, on what is now apple orchard. The land has been in orchard use around 100 years.

“It’s an either/or,” Bowman said. “It’s either sell the development rights or I have to build houses. But I’m more than willing to sell to the town.”

Sausville, however, emphasized the cost — often around 80 percent of the total value of the land. He said the town has made no commitment to Bowman, but hasn’t ruled the possibility out.

Clothier said the study the town is starting will develop an application process, and address how to evaluate and assess the value of open land. It will also set standards for the program.

Clothier said plans to involve the public in developing the plan include interviews with farmers and other landowners, newsletters, public meetings and workshops, Web postings and press releases.

Information is available from Town Parks and Recreation Director Audrey Ball, or from Clothier at The LA Group.