In 1999 the Otsego County's Planning Department and the Otsego County Farmland Protection Board developed Otsego County's Farmland Protection Plan. Otsego County maintains a comprehensive strategy to help those wishing to remain in farming. The cornerstone of the plan is the development of local initiatives to maintain the economic viability of the agricultural industry, protect its land base and preserve the values associated with agriculture. A variety of tools and activities are recommended to meet the established goals. These goals are:

1. Improve awareness and recognition of the importance of the economic and environmental roles of agriculture in Otsego County
2. Improve profitability and the economic viability of farms in Otsego County and encourage new farming and agriculturally related enterprises.
3. Ensure that farming can continue as an industry and strengthen the role of agriculture in Otsego County's economic development
4. Implement long term, cost effective farmland protection measures
5. Protect lands for agricultural uses so that a critical mass of farmland is available and ensure and improve sustainability of the agricultural infrastructure that supports farming in Otsego County
6. Enhance and improve farm-transfer programs so that needs of retiring and new farm operators are met and farms and farmland are protected
7. Sustain the rural landscape and the natural resources that support both farm and non-farm uses and seek to acknowledge the environmental benefits of farmland.