Diane Valden in The Columbia Paper reports that the Ancram Town Board passed a local Right to Farm Law at its July 21 meeting. The town already passed an Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan in 2011 for the 17,017 acres farmed in Ancram today. That's 62 percent of Ancram's land, with agriculture the town's largest employer with 15 percent of the town’s households working farms. The law says its intent is to “maintain and preserve the rural traditions and character of the Town, to permit the continuation of agricultural practices, to protect the existence and operation of farms, to support the initiation of farms, farm enterprises and agri-business, to promote and encourage the use of Agricultural Best Management Practice Systems.” The next Ancram town meeting is at 7 p.m. August 18. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.