HILLTOWNS — Candidates made their pitches, and a farmer spoke from his heart Saturday at a forum on the future of agriculture in the Hilltowns.

The Conkling Hall event was held in response to results from a survey sent out last spring to Rensselaerville residents to help the town develop a new comprehensive land-use plan; 83-percent were concerned with losing farmland, said Timothy Lippert.
"It was the number-one issue," Nan Stolzenburg, the town’s planner, told The Enterprise.

Lippert, who serves on the Berne Planning Board and was a member of the Rensselaerville Planning Board at the time the survey was sent out, is one of 17 members of Rensselaerville Farmland Protection, an ad hoc committee of interested residents.

Saturday, Katherine Daniels, a senior planner with the New York Planning Federation, outlined tools used by communities to protect agriculture — transfer of development rights, purchase of development rights, right-to-farm laws, agricultural zoning, and tax breaks for farmers.

The goals of farmland protection programs are to maintain a large number of farms, to keep land prices affordable for farmers, and to sustain public and political support.

Farming is key to the nation’s food supply, protects environment quality, manages growth, and sustains rural economies, Daniels said. Because of rising oil costs, consumers are going on a 100-mile diet, she said.
"A lot of people are more interested in getting their food products a little closer to home," she said.

Daniels said agri-business is important in sustaining farming, and farms have become important to farmers because of poor profitability in recent years.

She cited Indian Ladder Farms in New Scotland; an active apple farm, it attracts tourists to its shop, restaurant, and special attractions.
Referring to maps from the American Farmland Trust, Daniels said the Hilltown area has "good quality soils" and "not yet a lot of development pressure, but that could change."
"Zoning and agriculture are two completely different things," Daniels said.

In areas that are experiencing growth pressure, agricultural protection zoning is essential to the long-term protection of farmland, she said.

One dwelling per 10 acres is protective and 20- or 25-acre zoning is more protective, Daniels said.

Daniels pointed to zoning in other communities.
A study on land sales was conducted in Baltimore County, Md., which has five-acre zoning and 50-acre zoning. Results of the study showed "virtually the same per-acre value," Daniels said.

Another community, located in central New York State, designated 50-acre zoning in agricultural districts with no opposition from area farmers, she said.
Things are changing slowly in New York, she said. "Communities are starting to lean toward more protective standards."

Challenges that farmers face include profitability, passing their farms on to the next generation, and resisting the temptation to sell land for development.
Daniels called Rensselaerville’s comprehensive land-use plan, adopted this spring, "state of the art," and said it doesn’t have any "farm-unfriendly" language. Daniels defined a comprehensive plan as a tool to guide a community into the future that identifies what needs to be preserved and what can be developed.

Daniels summed up her speech by noting: While many tools can be used to protect farmland, no one tool can do the job.

County candidates

Republican Travis Stevens and Democrat Kevin Crosier, candidates for the Albany County Legislature to represent the Hilltowns of Berne, Knox, and Rensselaerville, were invited to the discussion and gave short speeches on Saturday. The candidates were also asked questions by members of an audience of between 25 and 35 people. The discussion was moderated by Diana Hinchcliff.
Incumbent Alexander "Sandy" Gordon was also invited, but did not attend. Gordon, who has represented the 39th District since 1996, is a Knox farmer. He co-sponsored the county’s right-to-farm law, which recently passed unanimously in the county legislature.

Crosier, who was elected Berne Supervisor on the Republican ticket, is an enrolled Democrat; he is forcing a primary against Gordon.
Crosier’s father, John Crosier, was a Berne planning-board member for 35 years and chaired the board for 20 years. "As a little guy," Crosier said, he listened to his father "at the dinner table" talk about planning issues.

A maple-syrup producer who grew up in Berne and whose parents owned an East Berne grocery store, Crosier is a proponent of small businesses and agri-tourism. He has been Berne’s supervisor for nearly six years and is a firefighter for the city of Albany.
Crosier said the Hilltowns are "missing the boat."
"We’re not promoting ourselves," Crosier said. Other counties, he said, such as Washington and Schoharie, are promoting themselves. Following the discussion, he was going to attend the Washington County Fair, which has a building dedicated to agri-business, he said.
People are willing to come to the Hilltowns and pay "good money" to visit, said Crosier.

The owner of Cripple Creek Farm, located in Middleburgh, Crosier said, rents a log cabin on her property, which is filled year-round.

Crosier cited two examples — the Partridge Run State Wildlife Management Area, a state park in Berne, and a wedding he held at his home, where guests were impressed with the area.
While Crosier wants people to use Hilltown parks and businesses, "At the end of the day, I want you to go the hell home."

Crosier was critical of the county.
"They have failed to give us the money to protect these rich, natural resources," he said. "They get an F is what they get.
"They’ll spend 30 or 50 million [dollars] on a convention center, and they won’t spend one dime up here"I’ve already told the county executive, ‘What I want, and I’m going to get, when I’m county legislator, is a $300,000 pot of money that we can use here in the Hilltowns to start preserving our open spaces and helping our landowners offset these taxes"so they’re not forced to sell something they’ve worked for all their lives,’" Crosier said.

Stevens, a Republican making his first run for elected office, is a senior engineer for the state’s Office of General Services. His family owned a business started by his grandfather, Marshall Stevens. In the summers as he grew up, he worked as a farmhand. A regular attendee at Knox Town Board meetings, Stevens volunteers for the Knox Volunteer Fire Department.
On Saturday, Stevens was skeptical about the future of farming. He asked: Where are the farmers, labor, and money going to come from"
"I want to save everything, but I don’t know how that’s going to work," said Stevens. He said he enjoys having open space, agriculture, and his privacy.
"I don’t ever plan on being a farmer. I did work on a farm as a kid so I understand the work that goes into it," he said, adding that he thinks there are other issues other than preservation.
"I think sometimes we look at open space as opposed to agriculture. I was under the impression that this was about saving agriculture, not open space," he said, adding that they are "two distinct things."
"I want to save everything, but there’s definitely money involved," he said. "Where that money’s going to come from, I’m not sure."

Planning, zoning, and open space-preservation dominated Saturday’s discussion about farmland protection.
"I was under the impression we were here to talk about agriculture," Stevens said.
In an earlier interview, Stevens said: "You have to hope that the planning and zoning (boards) of the different"towns take everything into consideration and manage growth."
"I felt it did get off the topic," Stevens told The Enterprise following the discussion. He said he found out about the discussion "second-hand" and didn’t know topics, such as open space and zoning would be discussed. Stevens said he doesn’t think the issue can be solved in one meeting, but that it will be solved by individual communities, not the county. More round-table discussions need to be held, he said.
"That’s how we’re going to get things accomplished, he said.

Crosier re-emphasized promoting and advertising the Hilltowns following discussion. The Hilltowns, he said, were once a place where people came for recreation, and the success of any business, he said, depends on promoting yourself.

Farmers have the last word

Before Saturday’s seminar ended, several residents wanted to hear from Westerlo farmer Gerald Boone and Rensselaerville farmer David Lewis.
"She’s the fifth generation," said Lewis, as he pointed to his daughter, Becky Lewis, a member of the land-use committee. The Lewises have been outspoken about the value of their land depreciating in the agricultural districts.

A survey will be sent out this month to Rensselaerville taxpayers and registered voters, who will decide on either five- or 20-acre zoning in the agricultural districts. (See related story.)

David Lewis said he thinks he is the only one receiving a school tax exemption as a farmer.
"We don’t have high-density agriculture here," he said. "Don’t ruin me."
Boone said it isn’t uncommon to work 14- or 15-hour days. Farming, Boone said as he tapped his heart, "is in here."