Pulver with 4-H member and fellow Pine Plains resident Coglan Mullen, 7, who is showing Holstein cattle
at the Dutchess County Fair
RHINEBECK – Farmers and agriculture stakeholders with an interest in Dutchess County gathered at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds on Thursday for the 4th Annual Agricultural Advisory Committee Forum to tout accomplishments and address the future of farming in the county.
Dutchess County Legislature Chairman Gregg Pulver is the only full-time farmer on the county’s governing body. At the forum initiated by Pulver he said “when I was growing up, we had over 200 dairy farms in Dutchess County. Today we have 17.” He credited the county’s “Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan of 1998” with preventing further decline of working farms in the county.
In the years since the plan was adopted, County Executive Marc Molinaro
said the county has remained committed to farmland preservation and the
plan has protected 3,477 acres on 20 farms in Dutchess County.
There is a second effort underway in the county, that being an agricultural navigator, said Molinaro.
“We designated in cooperation with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Jen Fimbel, who works to open up new markets and support existing farmers to overcome bureaucratic challenges and create new opportunities for farming,” Molinaro said. “We’re educating farmers, we are educating consumers and we are creating new opportunities for farmers throughout the region.”
Dutchess County has seen several farms band together to aid in protecting
and growing the farming industry in the county. The Hudson Valley
Farm and Food Alliance participated in the forum and called their “pooling
of resources” a benefit to all of the farms involved. Each
of their participating members produces different products such as
cattle/beef and raw milk and cheeses from different animal milk.
The consortium is working closely with Dutchess Tourism Inc. to continually
improve the Agri-Tourism business that has grown exponentially in the
county. Dutchess County Commissioner of Planning, Eoin Wrafter said
that there is the potential to create a “Farm Trail” for visitors
that would perform much the same way that the county’s existing “Wine
Trail” does by helping visitors, primarily from NYC navigate their
way around the county to visit the various farms and farm stores.
Agricultural education was also a topic addressed by the forum. John Jay High School in East Fishkill, according to Fimbel, now joins BOCES as having educational programs for high-school aged children. Educating municipalities is also a task assigned to Fimbel. Working with the county and the thirty municipalities in Dutchess to limit the denial of agricultural exemption requests has already shown some progress.
Matt Sabellico, chairman of the Agricultural Advisory Committee, said that one of the initiatives is to provide accurate training to assessors from every municipality to help determine who is eligible. Wrafter said that the county’s planning department is working to develop a searchable database of available resources for farmers and potential farmers.
Potential legislation to help farmers stay in business was addressed by Congressman John Faso, Pulver and State Senator Sue Serino.
Serino indicated that she has been in touch with several farmers in her district to seek ways to further support the revived industry. Pulver said that the county, along with Molinaro will be working diligently to develop a “Right to Farm” legislation to encourage new farmers and support existing ones.
