{"id":35859,"date":"2022-11-14T10:59:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T15:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=35859"},"modified":"2022-11-14T10:59:29","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T15:59:29","slug":"agricultural-industry-in-the-region-has-wide-ranging-impact-on-the-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2022\/11\/agricultural-industry-in-the-region-has-wide-ranging-impact-on-the-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Agricultural Industry In The Region Has Wide-Ranging Impact On The Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball at River Bend Christmas Tree Farm in Lake Luzerne.
Paul Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Paul Post<\/p>\n

COVID-19 shone a spotlight on the need for a safe, secure food system and strong local agriculture, which has a $500 million economic impact on Saratoga County alone, led by its diverse equine industry.<\/p>\n

Numerous farm businesses, from large dairies to maple production, award-winning goat\u2019s milk cheese and Christmas trees, are prevalent throughout Warren and Washington counties as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited about what we learned during COVID-19,\u201d state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said. \u201cWe had supply problems, getting food in grocery stores. We\u2019ve got to leverage that right now and make sure people remember that we need food here, and need it grown here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ball is president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, which recently brought hundreds of people from throughout the U.S. to Saratoga Springs for a four-day, annual conference. Participants attended panel discussions on critical farm issues such as labor shortage, toured local ag enterprises and worked on policy proposals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about connecting with a population that maybe didn\u2019t know as much about New York state agriculture as it really should. It\u2019s upstate New York\u2019s biggest economic engine and it\u2019s so large we don\u2019t know totally how large it is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A 2019 Cornell University study said the agriculture, farm and food system had a direct $43.6 billion in total industry output, encompassing over 163,000 jobs. <\/span><\/span>The impact is even greater when linking the full farm and food system to the entire supply chain, growing to $65.2 billion<\/p>\n

\u201cFor every on-farm job there\u2019s like seven more jobs somewhere else,\u201d Ball said. \u201cThink about a dairy farm. Then think about food manufacturing processes for Greek yogurt and the deliveries they have. It just goes on and on. We think about agriculture as farmers. We really need to think about agriculture as the food system. There\u2019s research, restaurants, culinary schools, logistics, transportation and the genetics that are going along with this. You start talking about that and almost half the jobs in the country are related to the food system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe particular thing about farming is the multiplier effect,\u201d said Willard Peck, co-owner of Welcome Stock Farm in Northumberland, recognized as a leader in dairy genetics. \u201cMoney is brought in as revenue, goes out as payroll and is multiplied many times over in the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A green infrastructure plan he worked on several years ago touted related agricultural benefits such as open space, scenic vistas and water recharge areas. \u201cThese are all very important to the health of communities in Saratoga County,\u201d Peck said. \u201cPart of our tourism attraction is Saratoga Springs being known as a \u2018city in the country.\u2019 You leave in any direction and you run into beautiful countryside, so it makes for quality of life issues as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 3,600 farms, dairy is by far the state\u2019s largest ag sector. New York is the nation\u2019s fifth leading dairy producer and second only to Washington and Vermont for apples and maple, respectively.<\/p>\n

But in all parts of the state, including urban areas, officials are seeing a rapid growth in micro-farmers that raise non-traditional crops such as garlic, mushrooms, ethnic vegetables for New York City dwellers, and hops and barley for the booming craft beverage industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI see that as people who are more interested in knowing where their food comes from and being part of the ag community,\u201d Peck said.<\/p>\n

Saratoga Springs native Julie C. Suarez is associate dean for land-grant affairs at Cornell\u2019s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the last ag census, there\u2019s been a huge 56 percent jump in controlled environment (greenhouse) agriculture; huge facilities going in across the state, what I call \u2018plant factories\u2019,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re also seeing season-extending technology at small-scale greenhouses, where a farmer will put plastic up over a hoop to get a longer crop season. That again is a huge growth opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, two main issues must be addressed for agriculture\u2019s continued health and prosperity, Suarez said. First and foremost is keeping good farmland in production. The state\u2019s renewable energy goals have triggered widespread growth of large solar panel installations, which in addition to fast-paced residential and commercial development, threatens to take up valuable farmland.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully more marginal lands will be utilized,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the coming land-use challenges. Everybody I know likes to eat. We absolutely need to support our food system, which includes farmers and farmland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second, is the federal government\u2019s support for agricultural research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what is going to drive us all,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cSupport for ag research from the federal government has been flat to stagnant. Most people don\u2019t know that China and Brazil have outpaced the U.S. government when it comes to support for ag research. We\u2019re going to need more, particularly with a changing climate. We need to make sure we have support for sustained and robust agricultural research because all the improvements we make are based on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Ball has a positive outlook for the future of New York agriculture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got the most amazing marketplace in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cAbout eight million people live in the metropolitan New York area. We\u2019ve got urban centers upstate as well. I\u2019m optimistic because here in New York we\u2019ve got the land, we\u2019ve got some of the best farmers in the country, we\u2019ve got the water. We aren\u2019t on fire like out West. We had a dry year here, but we can irrigate and we\u2019ve got a great land grant system (Cornell) for educating people in agriculture. So I like our chances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Post COVID-19 shone a spotlight on the need for a safe, secure food system and strong local agriculture, which has a $500 million economic impact on Saratoga County alone, led by its diverse equine industry. Numerous farm businesses, from large dairies to maple production, award-winning goat\u2019s milk cheese and Christmas trees, are prevalent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":35861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nAgricultural Industry In The Region Has Wide-Ranging Impact On The Economy - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2022\/11\/agricultural-industry-in-the-region-has-wide-ranging-impact-on-the-economy\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Agricultural Industry In The Region Has Wide-Ranging Impact On The Economy - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Paul Post COVID-19 shone a spotlight on the need for a safe, secure food system and strong local agriculture, which has a $500 million economic impact on Saratoga County alone, led by its diverse equine industry. 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