Got a question from @FoxysTVTime on YouTube who's asking if a horse farm got money from the P-D-R program, does that mean the public is allowed to go there and hike?

Actually, no, that's a common misconception. The Purchase of Development Rights program is Kentucky's first Agricultural Conservation Easement program facilitated by a local government. Through PDR, the Rural Land Management Board purchases farm owners' development rights, their right to ever develop the farm commercially, thereby preserving it as farmland forever.

So it's about keeping it as farmland, not opening it up to the public?

Exactly. There are two hundred eighty-one farms permanently protected by P-D-R, totaling nearly thirty thousand five hundred fifty-two acres, but being in the P-D-R program doesn't create any public access rights. These are still private working farms. The owners got paid to give up their development rights, but they keep ownership and control over who comes on their property.

But I've heard about horse farm tours around Lexington. How does that work?

Those are separate arrangements entirely. Some horse farms do offer tours through programs like Visit Horse Country, where they specifically invite the public and have guided experiences set up. But that's the farm owner's choice, not something that comes automatically with P-D-R funding. If you want to visit a farm, P-D-R or not, you'd need permission from the landowner first.

Makes sense. So P-D-R is really about preserving that farmland character we see driving around Fayette County, not about creating hiking trails.

Right, it's about keeping those beautiful horse farms and agricultural lands from becoming subdivisions or shopping centers. That's what helps maintain the scenic rural character that makes Lexington special, but it doesn't change the fact that they're private property.

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