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
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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.
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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