NEW FARMLAND PROGRAM
New state program connects aspiring farmers with land they need
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> A statewide program launched Monday seeks to connect new and beginning farmers with the land they need to get started in agriculture.
Farmland for a New Generation New York builds on a successful regional model called Hudson Valley Farmlink, which has helped 140 farmers since its inception four years ago.
Agriculture officials from New York City to Saratoga Springs gathered at Pitney Meadows Community Farm, on West Avenue, to announce the new program, made possible by $400,000 in state funding.
“We’re setting up the system for a diversity of farms because there’s a diversity of people looking to get into farming today,” said David Haight, American Farmland Trust state director. “We still have people that want to get into dairy farming. That’s the biggest part of New York agriculture. We also
have people that do smaller scale vegetable production and want to get into directmarket farming through a CSA (community supported agriculture) or at a farmer’s market.”
A website (nyfarmlandfinder.org) has already been set up that lists 195 farmers looking for land. It may also be used by farm owners seeking to sell or lease land, but keep it in agriculture instead of being used for commercial or residential development.
“We’ve been uploading listings of farms that we knew were available to lease or purchase,” Haight said. “We’ve also known of some farmers that are looking for land. So we’ve spent the last several months kind of pulling that all together. When we started four years ago we had zero listings. Now there are more than 100 farms available and more than 100 people looking for farmland in the Hudson Valley alone. It takes time, but we expect that statewide the numbers will be much, much greater.”
Half the state money will be used for a resource center staffed by Farmland Trust workers at the agency’s state offices in Saratoga Springs. Employees will offer personal assistance, beyond the information available online.
Remaining funds will be offered to “regional navigators” – non- profit organizations across New York that partner to support Farmland for a New Generation. Fifteen groups such as Saratoga PLAN comprise the existing Hud- son Valley Farmlink. The Greenwich- based Agricultural Stewardship Association, which works in Rensselaer and Washington counties, helped Chris and Samantha Kemnah find land they needed for their 2-½ -year- old organic dairy, Clover Bliss Farm, in Argyle.
“We’re open to any nonprofit organization from Long Island to Buffalo such as Cornell Cooperative Extension offices, local land trusts or farm organizations,” Haight said.
Farmland preservation is one of the agriculture industry’s most pressing issues competition for agland mounts, not only from developers but projects such as large solar farms as well, said Jillian Kasow, director of the state Legislative Commission on Rural Resources.
“The timing could not be more relevant,” she said. “Population in our urban centers is growing. Also growing is demand for healthy, nutritious food.”
But one- third of the state’s farm owners are 65 or older and many have no young generation coming along to take over their operations. So projects such as Farmland for a New Generation are seen as vital to keeping land in agricultural production.
Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, is an Agriculture Committee member. “The fact that we’ve got so many farmers retiring is really a problem that we all want to solve,” she said. “We’ll continue to request funding in the budget for this until we get to the point where we’ve turned over all the farms and we have a whole new generation farming.”