Facing the future of agriculture in North East

NORTH EAST — The town’s Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan Committee (AFPPC) met on Nov. 12 at the North East Community Center to discuss its progress and goals. The group has been working to create a viable plan that will help preserve agricultural land for future generations. Their task that is being funded through a $25,000 state grant awarded to the town earlier this year.

“We’re talking about both protecting the business of agriculture and the actual farmland itself,� said committee member and Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Chair Dianne Engleke. “The first goal is to protect farmland and the farmers — that’s obviously number one. Then we want to protect our resources, like soil and water.�

That list of resources is vast, and includes: the town’s capacity to grow; to develop infrastructure to support agriculture; to develop more agriculture-related businesses; to streamline the zoning and planning approval processes for agriculture-based applications; to look at opportunities for farming viability (this includes ideas like cell towers, alternative energy and tax abatement programs); and to support the diversification of agriculture.

“This basically sets our town out as one of the few towns in Dutchess County that is committed to maintaining agriculture as an industry,� committee Project Manager Lynn Mordas said. “And that will also serve to protect our natural resources.�

The farmland protection committee is working with the American Farmland Trust (AFT) to draft its plan. Part of that process includes interviewing local farmers about their concerns for the town’s agricultural future. AFT’s Liz Brock is conducting those interviews; she was at this month’s meeting. According to Engleke, Brock is almost done with the interviewing process. She updated the committee on her progress thus far.

“The same themes emerged in almost all of the interviews,� Engleke said. “The community has changed and most people have accepted that because there wasn’t anything they could do about it. And they’re OK with the change. They have mixed feelings about the mix of shops in town, the increased traffic on Route 22 and the decrease in the sense of community among farmers. They’re just working too hard to have time to socialize.

“And the world has found Millerton, with everything that entails,� she added.

What Engleke said she found both disturbing and sad was that many of the farmers said they thought their farms would peter out when they retired or died, and that although they were not happy about it, they had accepted it.

But there was also more optimistic talk about how to improve profitability, by diversifying and expanding marketability. One suggestion was to drum up more support through agricultural education by partnering with the school districts. Engleke said creating a Web site, a farm map for tourists and promoting agri-tourism would also help the cause. Mordas, for her part, suggested cooperative advertising as a way to give a boost to local farming operations. She also said she would like to see farmland used for farming.

“Soils should really be used for growing crops,� Mordas said. “It’s a shame to use them for residential development or hay fields. It’s nice to use for fields for human consumption, although the hay at least preserves their integrity.

“I would also like to see enhancement for the livestock industry,� she added. “We have a few dairy farms here and that’s terrific, and I want to see that stay, but there’s a demand for locally produced meats, and of course, produce.�

All of that means using, and protecting, farmland. It also means employment, which is another incentive to promote agriculture in the Harlem Valley, according to Mordas.

“Anything that relates to those businesses is going to have a lot of interest in the area,� she said. “So anything we can foster for getting some economic development here and lend to growth would be a win-win for everybody.�

As AFPPC continues to move forward with its work, Mordas said she hopes members of the community will attend its meetings and participate in its discussions.

“We want the public to be involved in this process. It’s going to impact everybody in the town one way or the other,� she said. “People have a lot to offer, they are a tremendous resource in this town and we would like to take advantage of that resource as we move forward with this.�

The next meeting of the Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan Committee is scheduled for Dec. 10 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the North East Community Center on South Center Street in Millerton. It is open to the public.