ALBANY COUNTY — Colonel John V. A. Lansing settled in the Lisha Kill area in 1791 and farmed hundreds of acres. Over the years and through the generations, just 20 acres remain in the midst of heavy suburban development.

Two invasive plants have devastated agricultural endeavors in the Hilltowns, according to two Berne farmers.

As part of New York’s Industrial Hemp Agricultural Research Pilot Program, the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets is now accepting applications for growers and processors of industrial hemp.  

Empire State Development and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets are offering $1 million in funding to assist early-stage farmers through the New York State New Farmers Grant Fund.

An update to Albany County’s Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan seeks to protect farmers, their land, and the crops and livestock they produce.

GUILDERLAND — Amy Castillo and her husband realized their dream a few years ago when they were able to buy a farm on Brandle Road.

They named it Kava La Reina Farm. “Kava” means “bee” in Guarani, an indigenous language of South America and an official language of Paraguay.  So their farm’s name translates to “queen bee.”

Overproduction of milk and trade deals going sour are part of a myriad of factors making it tough for dairy farmers across the country to turn a profit.

Laura Ten Eyck, in researching a book about hops, which is now grown at Indian Ladder Farms, became interested in hemp and hopes to write a book about that, too.

“I’ll pull out a frame and talk about what goes on inside,” said Tim Norray of how he plans to teach fair-goers about keeping bees.

GUILDERLAND — A Guilderland property owner says he will soon be forced to sell the Western Turnpike land he had rented to Victoria Acres Equine Facility for six years, so that he can concentrate on getting medical treatment.