Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutA Preliminary Report On A Survey Of Agriculture 1970A PRELI/~INA~Y REPORT ON A SURVEY OF AGRICULTURE IN SOUTHOLD TOWN: 1970 J.P. Sullivan August, 1970 PART I - INTRODUCTION Southold is a rural town located on the North Fork of east- ern Long Island. Agriculture and fishing have been the economic mainstays of the town for more than three centu~iea. In the 20th century tourism has become a major economic activity. Tourism has brought many changes to the landscape of South- old. T~wn. Commaercial facilities have multiplied and expanded to serve the tourist trade. Many tourists, particularly retired per- sons, have eventually become permanent town residents creating a demand for increased residential development and an associated need for increased municipal services. The tourists and newe~ permanent residents are the first ripples of a tide of urban de- velopment which has swept the western and central thirds of Long Island during the present centu~y. This tide is likely to c~est in eastern Long Island during the next decade or two. The conversion of farm land to urban land uses has been one (1) of the more conspicuous..cons~quences of urban development in western and centraI Long Island. This phenomenon is already visible in Southold Town on a smaller scale. A ride through the town will reveal housing deNelgpments sprouting in former pota- to fields, idle fields of rye grass bending before the winds of change, and many fields, both active and inactive, which contain for sale signs bearing the names of realtors from western Suffolk County. What is happening to agriculture in Southold Town and what ks the future of agric~ulture, .in the town, likely to be? These questions have been asked with greater frequency in recent years. A Cornell University study, conducted in 1963, showed that South- old had 145 farms and 12,555 acres of land in farms.1 In the Spring of 1970 the town goverr~aent decided~to gain a current per- spective on Southold agriculture. Thus, this survey began. Survey Objectives The objectives of this study were to describe ~hA present characteristics of farmers and farm operations in Southold Town and to obtain information about the views and plans of Southold farmers concerning the future of agriculture in the town. More specifically, this study sought to collect personal 1. Allee, David Agriculture As A Land Use (Preliminary Report: Southold Town Planning Studies), Cornell University, 19bb. (3) data about each farmer's age, nativity, ethnic origins, and the number and ages of his sons. Information collected concerning farm operations included: their total number, distributional pattern, size, proportion and sources of rented land, and number and sources of employed workers. In addition, data was gathered on recent and anticipated future trends in farm'size, types of production, production methods, and marketing procedures. Final- ly, the views and plans of farmers regarding the future of agri- culture in Southold Town were explored. Each farmer was asked to identify the drawbacks associated with farming on Long Island to- day, to estimate the number of years that he planned to continue farming, to register his opinion as to whether or not Southold's remaining farml lands should be preserved, to suggest how such action might be accomplished, and to indicate whether or not he would stay farming if some satisfactory program of farm land preservation were developed. Definition of Terminology What is a farm and who is a farmer? These seemingly simple questions are actually quite complex. The following definitions were arbitrarily devised. Farm Operation - a tract of lan~, 5 acres or more in size, used to commercially produce plant or animal products for human 1 ~onsum?tion. · 1. This definition omits intensive, high value forms of amenity agriculture such as nurseries and flower growing. Southold has about a half dozen amenity agriculture operations. These forms of agriculture are likely to become more significant elements of Southold's agricultural scene in the near future. Farm Operator - any person who works a farm as defined abovs. Methodology The study objectives were clearly formulated. After several attempts, a questionnaire was designed.1 An open-ended question design was selected rather than a multiple choice format. The former is more difficult to evaluate but provides a greater op- portunity for original replies by respondents. In addition, the open-ended questionnaire is better suited to a casual personal interview situation where the interviewer and respondent are not bound by precise time limits. A list of farmers was compiled by cross-checking the mem- bership list of the Suffolk County Extension Service, the person- al knowledge of Town Building Inspector Howard Terry, and the customer lists of Agway Representatives Bill Terry and John ko- releskio To protect the privacy of farmers, each farmer was as- signed an identification number which was to be affixed to the questionnaire at the time of the interview, With the assistance of Inspector Terry the distribution of farm operators was plotted on a town map showing the arrangement of property lines. Then on the basis of the distributional pat- tern of farm operators and local physical and human settlement patterns, Southold Town was divided into seven farming districts. 1. A sample ques~fm~r&s found in the Appendix of this report. These districts are: Orient, East Marion-Greenport, Southold, Peconic, Cutchogue, East Mattituck and West Mattitucko Supervisor Martocchia provided this writer with a letter of introduction which explained the nature of the study and a request that the farmers cooperate to the best of their abili- ties. This letter proved to be very helpful. Field work was conducted by moving from east to west with- in each district, starting with Orient. Three complete sweeps were made in each district in order to interview as many farmers as possible. The idesl aim was to complete a hundred percent sample. Nearly 95 percent of the farm operators were contacted. 1 About ~ percent responded to the questionnaire. PART II - FINDINGS General There are about 100 farm operations in Southold Town. The number of operators is in the neighborhood of 130.2 An estimated 9,331 acres of land are currently being farmed.3 About sixty per- cent (5,o~O acres) of this amount is rented land. lQ This approach was more time consuming and expensive than a smaller sample. However, it is more complete and informative. 2. This estimate includes various combinations of male relatives. 3. About lO,000 acres would be more accurate because an undeter- mined number of Riverhead farmers fa~.m Soutnold land. 4o Most of this rented land is owned by Southold residents. (8) Regional Distribution cf Farms farming district no. of Orient . ......... . ....... 6 East Marion-Gree~nort .o. 3 Southold ........ ...... oo 20 Peconic .... ..... ........ 14 Cutchogue . ....... ....o.o 40 East Mattltuck ....o..... l0 ~est Mattituck ....,..o.. 7 farms Age of Southold Farmers years percent 70+ ... .... .............o b ~0-~9 °...... ............ 24 5o-59 ......... .... ...... 32 ko-k9 ........... ........ 28 30-39 o.........°......,o 4 20-29 . ......... . ..... ... 6 Nativity place percent Southold Town ... ........ . 88 Elsewhere Suffolk County . 4 Nassau County ..... ..... .. 3 1 Elsewhere USA ..........,. 3 Europe .o......°.......... 2 1. includes a farmer originally from Brooklyn (7) Ethnic Origins region percent East Europe 62 including . ....... ... .... Polish 56 Ukrainian 2 Lithuanian 4 British Isles 20 including . ...... ... .... . English Irish German 7 10 Mixed Origins from above 14 Sons farmers having percent none ..................oo 34 1 6...............°°..... 28 2 o...o..o........o....oo 25 4 ,,oo°*,°°oe...,e~e.~.°° 4 5 or more o0o.,....o...0. 2 * The majority of sons are in the under 20 and 20 to 29 age groups. The former are more numerous, while most of the latter have not chosen farming as a career. Farm Size 1 acres percent 300 + o..oo..........o..o 2 200-299 .,.........o .... o 13 100-199 o.........o...... ~,. 50-99 ................. 30 ..o............ o.. 6 under 25 .....0........... 5 Farm Types type mostly potatoes, some vege- tables .... .... ..°......°. 50 potatoes only ....o....o.. 30 vegetables and berries ... 6 potatoes, vegetables and berries ....o......... ..... 7 diversified o...o...o.o... 1 sod and potatoes ........oo 1 eggs eeeoeooe .... .eoee®oO 1 other .oo.oo.o....o.o.,..o 4 percent 1. The final report will'contain town and district data on the percent of farm operations having rented land, and summaries of the numbers of farms having various proportions of rented land. (9) Labor 2--0 farm operations employed no hired labor. In addition, b farm operators said that they exchanged labor with neighbors. The total number of farm workers employed for the 1970 season is estimated at 30.q..1 About 57 percent are sea- aonal non-residents, mainly from Puerto Rico. About 25 percent are local residents employed seasonally, while the remainder are local residents employed year round. 72 percent of the farmers said that they would employ more local help -if qualified, willing, local help were available. 20 percent said they would not hire any more local help. Farmers need workers who are able to perform tasks involving the operation of tractors and other machinery. In addition, they desire willing, able workers who can work with a minimum of su- pervision and instruction. However, given the relatively low returns received for farm produce, farmers can not afford to pay wages and offer benefits which are comparable to what employees in non-farm occupations receive. In addition, most farm Jobs are of variable, temporary duration. As a result many farmers believe that they are only able to attract the dregs of the labor market. (10) Suggestion Establish an evening tratntng program to instruct local residents in the skills required of modern farm employees. Such an agricultural vocational training program, staffed by active or retired farmers, could provide a pool of local, qualified workers who could seek part-time farm work to supplement their non-farm occupations. Furthermore, the town government or a group of famners could organize and operate a local employment service to find workers for farmers and work for workers as need- ed. Trends in Southcld Agriculture - The Past 10 Years. farm size no. of responses no change ...o. h3 larger (by renting) 2~ small er ....o. type production no change ..... 36 more potatoes, less vegetables .o... 18 out of vegetables1 11 more vegetables 9 other .o.o..o~ 7 production methods combine for potatoes 33 no change ....... 33 more potato storage 4 1. largely due to labor problems. (11) Trends - The ?ast 10 Years (con't) m~rketing no change .......... more consumer oriented including smaller pack- aging, stands, etc... no. responses e5 7 * The section on trends is, perhaps, the least satis- factory portion of this study. Part of the problem may lie in the fact that the respondents did not have ade- quate time to reflect on the questions relating to past changes. Trends - The Near Future no changes anticipated undecided ...... ..... ..o build more potato storage decrease size of farm ... haul own produce to mkt.. will adapt as necessary .. no. responses 22 2 2 2 2 Drawbacks Associated With Farming on L.I. Today drawback no. responses low returns e..........o ~7 labor situation ~........ ~6 rising production costs . 29 high taxes .............. 19 (12) Drawbacks (con, t) A smaller number of farmers mentioned various factors which may be as, or more,signiflcant as the factors identified by the majority of farmers. For example: insects appear to be getting to be more of a problem and greater varities and quantities of pesticides and other chemicals are needed for insect control. farmers have no voice in pricing° selling un a supply-demand basis is a hazard. there is not enough competition between dealers who buy produce from far~nerSo welfare programs drain away potential labor. the public is not sufficiently aware of the problems that farmers face. Some of the public is antagonistic. local farmers are not organized. They seem incapable of cooperation. rising land values force many farmers to quit. interference of various sorts of "do-gooders", such as the health department and conservationists creates tensions. Should Southold's Remaining Farm Lands Be Preserved? response percent yes ..... ooo. .... ooeo..oo 66 undecided ®-eeeeeeoeeeeee 8 no response ************* 1~ How Might the Remaining Farmlands Be Kept in Productions? response number higher returns .......... 24 tax relief ..........0... 24 no response 6..°..°.....° 23 don't know ....... ....... 6 more and better labor .., 5 farmers organize and control production o..... 3 stable prices . .... ..o.o. 3 buy land, rent it back to those wanting to farm ... 2 elect agricultural-minded government representatives 1 average tax returns of farm- ers over 5 year periods .. 1 negative easements ....... 1 How many More Years Do You Plan To FaEn? response percent less than 5 years ....oOo 28 uncertain ............... 39 as long as able ....o.... 33 (all 10 years or more) * To protect the privacy of individual farmers, the map showing the present and projected future distri~ution of farm operations will be kept confidentialo If Some Developed Would You Stay Farming? response percent yes ..........o..... .... o 82 uncertain o...........oe. 15 Satisfactory Program of Farm Land Preservation Were SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The number of farms and the amount of land in farms in Southold Town are declining. Further decline can be expected in the near future° About a third of the present farmers can be expected to leave farming within the next 5 years. However, nearly a third of the farmers plan to remain in farming as long as possible° About two-thirds feel that South- old's remaining farmlands should be preserved. More than 80 percent indicate that they would probably s~ay farming if some ( satisfactory program of farm land preservation were devised. Despite the fact that many of the sons of farmers are either too young to farm in the near future or ~ppear to be entering non-farm careers, there is a willing an am~le supply of able farmers in the Town of Southold. On the negative side, the suppl~ of farm land is limited. Of the nearly 10,000 acres of farm land currently being worked in Southold Town, about 60 percent is rented land. Furthermore, the current agricultural scene is characterized by an extremely fragmented pattern of rented and owned land which is an obstacle to efficient farming operations. As u~ban development continues, rental land will probably become more scarce and more expensiMe and the distributional pattern of such lands can be ezpected to become more fragmented. Farmers who depend heavily on rented land will be faced with severe operational difficulties which'may even- tually force them to leave farming~ Farming has all but ceased in the East Marion-Greenport dis- trict. The Southold and Mattituck districts appear likely to de- velop within the next 10 years because of a lack of operators who plan to stay in farming for a decade or longer. The Cutchogue, Peconic, and O~tent districts show promise of remaining agricul- tural for a longe~ period of bime9 because these areas have large b$ocks of contiguous farm land and a fairly large number of farm operators who are intent on ~emaining in farming for as long as (la) possible.1 However, the future of agriculture in Southold Town is not bright if good intentions are the only plans with which the local farmers attermpt to meet the future. Cooperation and innovation will be necessary for those who desire to remain in farming. In addition, non-farmers can not expect that farmers will be able to remain in farming, against overwhelming odds, unless some form o£ public encouragement develops. Some formal program of farm land preservation will be needed if So~thold is to retain agriculture as a major landscape feature. The exact nature of such a program needs to be carefully explored. Many farmers dread the thought of any farm land preservation pro- gram because they fear that their one ace in the hole ~ the sale value of their land - will be taken away. The crux of the matter is that some way must be found to adequately and fairly compen- sate the immediate, short-range needs of the farmers, while pro- viding for the long-range aims and needs of this and future gene- rations of Southolders. There is an air of urgency about this and so many other en- vironmental issues. Time is not on our side. Yet, we can not plan for the future without attempting to anticipate the implications 1. These thoughts are nothing more than a subjective projection of current trends and should be regarded as such. (17) of ou~ actions. However, the longer we vlronmental issues, the more expensive, impossible will be the solutions. delay in resolving en- difficult, and, perhaps, If agriculture is to remain a dominant feature of the cul- tural landscape of Southold Town some program of farm land pre- servation will be needed to prevent the further erosion and frag- mentation of existing farm lands and to assist in the consolida- tion of existing farm holdings. A majority of the farmers say that Southold's remaining farm lands should be preserved. What about the other residents of the town? The goverr~ent and people of Southold are strongly urged to meet and explore and decide this issue. If you do not, the issue of preserving Southold's remaining farmLlands will likely be de- cided by defaulto JoPo Sullivan August 2~, 1970