Once farmland is developed, it is gone forever.
This month, a report released by our state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, makes clear both the critical role that farms play in New York as well as the fact that farmland and farms are rapidly disappearing.

The 32-page report crunches the numbers from the 2022 federal agricultural census released this year.

New York state lost close to 14 percent of its farms and over 9 percent of its farmland in the decade between 2012 and 2022.

That’s at a much faster rate than the nation as a whole: The average percentage of decrease in farms nationwide was 6.9 percent with farmland decreasing by 2.2 percent.

In Albany County, the report says, 349 farms remain, covering a total of just over 50,000 acres, which makes up about 15 percent of the county’s land. In 2022, those 349 farms made close to $48 million in sales.

The 2022 census shows Albany County had 54 fewer farms that were between one and 179 acres that year than in 2017, and at least 1,478 fewer harvested acres. Statewide, there were roughly 2,800 fewer farms and a loss of 364,000 acres in the same five-year period. 

Why should we care if our farms and farmland are disappearing? We can eat food shipped into our grocery stores from elsewhere, right?

No. As our nation appears on the brink of embracing isolationism and putting tariffs on imported goods, we need more than ever to rely on markets at home.

As DiNapoli notes in the introduction to his report, “Supply disruptions that emptied grocery shelves in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the vital importance of having sources of food production close to home.”

Food that is transported long distances costs more and isn’t as healthy. The fossil fuels likely used for transport also increase global warming.

Beyond that, the benefits of preserving farmland meet more than human needs. Many species require open space to survive.

The comptroller’s report stresses the importance of farming to our state’s economy: In 2022, farming contributed $2.7 billion to New York’s gross domestic product and, in 2019, along with farm-related businesses supported 163,148 jobs.

Since the last census in 2017, net income on New York’s farms grew over 63 percent, with most revenues — about $8 billion — generated from product sales.

New York continues to be one of the nation’s top producers of cow milk, fruits, tree nuts, and berries. And, in the decade from 2012 to 2022, agritourism and recreation income on farms grew 78 percent.

City and suburban dwellers like to visit rural land.

After outlining the challenges faced by farmers, the comptroller recommends support for direct sales to customers or institutions, increasing the share of food produced in the state being sold in the state; research on climate mitigation and development of crops resistant to climate change; using agrivoltaics, so that solar and wind facilities can co-exist with farming; and bringing new farmers into the field.

All of these are worthwhile goals. And, while we commend DiNapoli for creating this profile of agriculture in New York and urge our state legislature to work on following through with solutions, there is much that can be done at the local level.

The alarm has been sounded. Our towns and villages — and even our schools — need to be part of the solution.

We can look to institutions in our midst for inspiration. 

The governor’s office last week launched a new Blue-Ribbon Panel to Advance Agriculture Education following the state’s first-ever Youth Agriculture Conference, which brought together nearly 300 high school students from organizations like the Future Farmers of America, the 4-H, and the National Society for Minorities in Agriculture.

Enterprise readers will be familiar with the activities of the many 4-H clubs in our area and of the spectacular growth of the Future Farmers of America chapter at Berne-Knox-Westerlo over the last decade.

BKW has hired ag teachers and created an agricultural-science track at the high school

To bring new farmers into the field, as the comptroller’s report recommends, there is no better way than to start young.

The heartfelt letters we received from BKW students last June as the district faced budget cuts still resonate with us. “FFA is not just for ‘farm kids,’....” wrote Leslie Malanga, then a BKW junior. “FFA provides people with opportunities to become stronger leaders.”

“With BKW’s agricultural programs, I can get college credits for my dream colleges like Cornell and Cobleskill ….,” wrote Megan Reis, then a BKW ninth-grader. “One of the things that really makes agricultural education great at BKW is Ag Day. Ag Day is when students get to bring in their animals to show the elementary students for an inside field trip.”

Other schools could replicate this as a means of getting more farmers in the field, as the comptroller put it. Although we endorse the governor’s plan, there’s no need to wait for a state initiative.

At the town level, we note with pleasure that Bethlehem bought 300 acres of farmland from two farms that have been operating since the Revolutionary War; eight of the nine parcels are actively farmed.

Not all towns could afford the $3 million, ultimately passed by public referendum, that Bethlehem paid. But there are other initiatives towns can take to help their farmers and protect their farmland.

The Helderberg Hilltown of Knox earlier this year formed a Farmland Protection Committee, which is exploring a plan that would identify key threats to the town’s agricultural identity while also pointing out how to best mitigate them.  

Gary Kleppel, a sheep farmer and retired professor who heads the ag committee, said it’s significant for the two committees to join forces in this way since the interests of agriculturalists and conservationists have “for so long been at odds with one another, and we’re working to create an agricultural model in the town of Knox that’s consistent with both agriculture and conservation.” 

While they may have been opposed in the past, the two perspectives now share some common enemies: namely developmental pressures and climate change. 

These are the same obstacles delineated in the comptroller’s report and the small town of Knox — population 2,595 — is already working to find local solutions.

Kleppel noted that about a third of the town is made up of farmland, and that agriculture is a major part of Knox’s cultural and economic identity. 

Meanwhile, the suburban town of Guilderland — population 36,972 — is working to protect what is left of its agricultural land.

A committee has worked for two years to update the town’s two-decades-old comprehensive plan and has recently voted to send its recommendations to the town board.

“Agriculture” is one of six themes addressed in the report with this goal: “Ensure the long-term viability of agriculture as a vocation and economic pursuit within the Town of Guilderland by prioritizing the preservation of suitable farmland and by promoting agriculture as an important component of the Town’s economy and character.”

We commend the committee for recognizing the importance of farming to the town and urge other towns — even those that perceive themselves as suburban — to look at the farmland they have left with an eye to preservation.

The Guilderland plan correctly notes the importance of agriculture to the town, not just as part of its history, but for its current and future prosperity.

The report delineates farming’s importance to the town’s economy, viewsheds, identity and character, watershed protection, and wildlife habitats.

Like this month’s comptroller’s report, the Guilderland plan notes that renewable energy generation — solar and wind — has led to demand for undeveloped lands.

The plan notes that western Guilderland lacks the municipal water that spawned intense development in the eastern part of town near the city of Albany. It also lists the acreage in Guilderland with prime soils (about 10,000 acres), prime soils if drained (about 7,000 acres), and soils of statewide significance (about 9,000 acres).

Guilderland currently has 23 parcels of vacant agricultural land and 105 of productive land for a total of 707 acres. The most acreage, about 2,300, is used for field crops. According to the 2017 ag census, Guilderland had 56 farms, most of them small.

Albany County’s farmland protection plan designates the valley area of Guilderland as a priority for protection.

As with the comptroller’s report, the Guilderland report notes the economic impact in town beyond generating crops and produce, naming agritourism, including seasonal endeavors like apple picking, maple syrup tapping, and Christmas tree harvesting.

The report notes “great support” from the public for preserving farmland and farms and makes 10 recommendations, including promoting farmers’ markets and maintaining “scenic resources.” It says the town should support a water interconnect with the village of Altamont and it should form a standing committee on agricultural lands.

Further, it recommends expanding the town’s conservation easement program; regulating solar and wind installations perhaps with an overlay district; and encouraging light retail and farm-service business on the western end of Route 20 to lessen traffic on the eastern end of the route.

Finally, the report recommends working with the county to reduce agricultural runoff and also updating zoning codes to align with the plan’s visions and goals.

We commend the committee for its comprehensive look at farming in Guilderland and we urge the town board to heed its recommendations.

A common aphorism, one echoed by the state comptroller, is: If you have eaten today, thank a farmer.

This is a pithy way to acknowledge the worth of a farmer’s work. But we need to do better than that.

Following the example of schools like BKW and towns like Knox and Guilderland, we need to implement change that will help farmers stay in business. Saying thanks isn’t enough.

We can do this as individuals in how we shop and where we go for recreation. But we can also request and help bring about changes at the local level — in our schools, villages, and towns — that will encourage the support of farmers and the preservation of farmland.

At the rapid rate that farms and farmland are disappearing, it is imperative we act now.