MONTICELLO, NY — The Sullivan County Legislature is getting close to the adoption of an Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan (AFPP) and as part of the process, county legislators received a briefing on the plan at a meeting on December 4.

Melinda Meddaugh, who fills a position split between the Sullivan County Division of Planning and Environmental Management and Cornell Cooperative Extension, presented an overview of the plan, which included an executive summary of agriculture in the county.

The report said, “In 2012, the agriculture industry in Sullivan County, which includes agriculture production, support services and manufacturing, directly contributed $714.1 million in output and nearly 1,500 jobs.”

Legislator Cora Edwards, who was acting as chair for the meeting, said she considered this figure to be astounding given the fact that in many areas farming has been in decline over the past years.

The report said “The current condition of agriculture in Sullivan County is both promising and concerning.”

On the concerning side the report said, “Dairy was the principal commodity for just 24 farms (7.5% of the total), down from 46 in 2002,” and “between 2007 and 2012, sales of agricultural products declined nearly 36%,” and “The majority of farms in the County do not generate significant income from the sale of agricultural products. Farms with sales of less than $10,000 represented 55 to 60% of all farms in the county between 1997 and 2012.”

On the promising side the report said, “The 2012 Census of Agriculture reported 321 farms in Sullivan County, a minimal decline from 323 farms in 2007, and “the amount of land farmed has increased since 2007, to 53,859 acres,” and “agritourism is a small, but growing component—the number of operations has increased from 9 farms with $170,000 in sales in 2007 to 15 farms with $300,000 in sales by 2012.”

The AFPP lists several initiatives meant to promote farming in the county and attract the next generation of farmers to the county, which at the moment does not exist, putting the future of farming here in question.

The initiatives include “selling” the county as a place where young farmers should locate, and to “develop new agritourism products, experiences, and events;… and make the county more tourism-friendly.”

The AFPP also calls for the establishment of a committee to implement the plan and hiring an additional employee either as an employee of CCE or the county to work directly with the farming community.

The legislature will consider this as it works to adopt the 2015 budget by December 18.