Jefferson County April Parts 2 & 3 of 3 – State of Agriculture & Background 2016 Contents The State of Jefferson County’s Agricultural Economy ....................................................................... 5 Farms ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Farm Products ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Other Farm Characteristics .................................................................................................................. 7 Jefferson County Compared to Other Leading Dairy Counties and New York State .................. 7 Agricultural Resources in Jefferson County ........................................................................................... 9 Agricultural Lands .................................................................................................................................. 9 Agricultural Districts ............................................................................................................................ 11 Parcels Receiving Agricultural Assessments .................................................................................... 14 Soils ........................................................................................................................................................ 16 Natural Characteristics ....................................................................................................................... 19 Protected and Government Lands ..................................................................................................... 21 Priority Farmlands and New York State Priority Farmland Criteria ............................................ 24 Agriculture and Local Plans/Regulations ......................................................................................... 35 Why Review Zoning and Plans? ......................................................................................................35 Summary of the Comprehensive Plan Review ............................................................................. 36 Summary of the Zoning Review ..................................................................................................... 38 Right to Farm Law in Jefferson County ............................................................................................ 41 Farmland Conversion Pressure ........................................................................................................... 41 Appendix A. Agricultural Economy ........................................................................................................ 51 Farms and Farmland ........................................................................................................................ 51 Farms by Size .................................................................................................................................... 52 Farms by Product ............................................................................................................................. 53 Livestock Inventories ....................................................................................................................... 55 Crops Harvested ............................................................................................................................... 55 Dairy Farms in Jefferson County ................................................................................................... 56 Farm Sales ......................................................................................................................................... 60 Gross Farm Income ........................................................................................................................... 63 Farm Production Expenses .............................................................................................................. 64 Fixed Assets ....................................................................................................................................... 65 Farm Operators ................................................................................................................................. 66 Farm Labor ........................................................................................................................................ 67 Jefferson County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan 1 Agriculture-Related Industry .......................................................................................................... 67 Appendix B. Resources and Programs That Support Agriculture ..................................................... 72 Tables Table 1 - Farmed Parcels and Farmed Areas ........................................................... 11 Table 2 - Agricultural Districts ............................................................................ 12 Table 3 - Agricultural Land Value Assessments ........................................................ 16 Table 4 - Major Soil Types ................................................................................. 17 Table 5 - High Quality Farm Soils ........................................................................ 19 Table 6 - Conservation and Public Access Lands ....................................................... 23 Table 7 - New York State and Jefferson County PDR Criteria ....................................... 27 Table 8 - Adjusted Jefferson County PDR Criteria ..................................................... 30 Table 9 - Farm Friendliness of Comprehensive Plans ................................................. 36 Table 10 – Farm Friendliness of Zoning Laws ........................................................... 38 Table 11 - Population and Housing Trends .............................................................. 47 Table 12 - Farms and Farm Acreage ..................................................................... 51 Table 13 - Farms by Size ................................................................................... 53 Table 14 - Farms by Product .............................................................................. 54 Table 15 - Farms with Livestock .......................................................................... 55 Table 16 - Farms with Crops .............................................................................. 56 Table 17 - Milk Market Statistics ......................................................................... 58 Table 18 - Agricultural Product Sales .................................................................... 61 Table 19 - Direct Sales of Agricultural Products ....................................................... 61 Table 20 - Farms by Gross Sales .......................................................................... 62 Table 21 - Farm Production Expenses ................................................................... 65 Table 22 - Farm Property and Equipment Values ...................................................... 66 Table 23 - Farm Operator Characteristics .............................................................. 66 Table 24 - Farm Tenure .................................................................................... 67 Table 25 - Hired Farm Labor .............................................................................. 67 Table 26 - Agriculture Related Industries ............................................................... 68 Table 27 - Number of Farms .............................................................................. 69 Table 28 - Land in Farms .................................................................................. 69 Jefferson County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan 2 Table 29 - Acres per Farm ................................................................................. 69 Table 30 - Large Farms..................................................................................... 69 Table 31 - Total Farm Sales ............................................................................... 69 Table 32 - Average Farm Sales ............................................................................ 70 Table 33 - Farms with $500,000 or More in Sales ...................................................... 70 Table 34 - Farms with Dairy Cows ........................................................................ 70 Table 35 - Total Number of Dairy Cows ................................................................. 71 Table 36 - Dairy Cows per Farm .......................................................................... 71 Table 37 - Production Expenses per Farm .............................................................. 71 Maps Map 1 - Farmland in Jefferson County .................................................................. 10 Map 2 – Agricultural Districts in Jefferson County ..................................................... 13 Map 3 - Location of farmed parcels that receive agricultural value assessments ................ 15 Map 4 - Wetlands in Jefferson County ................................................................... 18 Map 5 - Protected lands in Jefferson County ........................................................... 22 Map 6 - Agricultural Lands Map ..........................................................................