ONEIDA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND FARMLAND PROTECTION PLAN June 2017 Developed by the Oneida County Farmland Protection Board Cover Photo: Eddie B’s Honey, Finndale Farm, Link Maple Farm, North Star Orchards, Stoltzfus Family Dairy, Wightman Farm Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 3 ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE COUNTY................................................................................................. 3 AGRICULTURE-FRIENDLY ONEIDA COUNTY INITIATIVE .............................................................................. 4 PRIORITY ACTION ITEMS .................................................................................................................... 5 STRENGTHS, ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES .............................................................................................. 6 STRATEGIES AND GOALS FOR AGRICULTURAL AND FARMLAND PROTECTION ................................................. 7 Strategies ................................................................................................................................. 7 Goals ........................................................................................................................................ 7 ACTION PLAN: PUTTING THIS PLAN TO WORK ........................................................................................ 7 ACTION PLAN SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 8 MISSION STATEMENT .......................................................................................................... 11 VISION STATEMENT ............................................................................................................. 11 PART 1: BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 12 WHY CREATE AN AGRICULTURAL AND FARMLAND PROTECTION PLAN? ..................................................... 12 THE PROCESS OF CREATING THIS PLAN ................................................................................................ 13 PART 2: PROFILE OF ONEIDA COUNTY AGRICULTURE ........................................................... 15 A. NATURAL RESOURCES .................................................................................................................. 15 Agricultural Land Use ............................................................................................................ 18 B. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT INDUSTRIES ............................................... 20 Oneida County's Agricultural Activity .................................................................................... 20 Agriculture-Related Support Businesses ................................................................................ 20 Agriculture Economic Trends ................................................................................................. 20 C. LOCAL LAND USE POLICIES ............................................................................................................ 23 An Inventory and Audit of Municipal Policies Affecting Agriculture ..................................... 23 Farm-Friendly Criteria Used in the Review ............................................................................ 24 Four Town Zoning and Land Use Law Audit .......................................................................... 24 Planning and Land Use Tools in Place - Oneida County Towns, 2016 ................................... 25 Observations on Local Land Use Policies in Oneida County Towns ....................................... 26 Recommendations to Improve Local Planning for Agriculture in Oneida County ................. 29 PART 3: PUBLIC INPUT AND ANALYSIS.................................................................................. 30 SWOT ANALYSIS AND PUBLIC SURVEY ............................................................................................... 30 SWOT ANALYSIS SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 33 PRIORITY FARMLANDS ..................................................................................................................... 34 PRIORITY LAND FOR PROTECTION IN ONEIDA COUNTY ........................................................................... 42 PART 4: ACTION PLAN .......................................................................................................... 45 A. STRATEGIES AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ........................................................................................ 45 B. ACTION PLAN ACCOUNTABILITY ..................................................................................................... 45 C. STAKEHOLDER ORGANIZATIONS – NAMES/ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................. 46 D. ACTION ITEMS, LEADERSHIP, RESOURCES, AND TIMEFRAMES .............................................................. 47 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ 52 1 TABLES ................................................................................................................................ 53 TABLE 1: AGRICULTURE BY MUNICIPALITY – ACRES AND NUMBER OF PARCELS ........................................... 53 TABLE 2: AGRICULTURE BY MUNICIPALITY – ACRES IN AG DISTRICTS ........................................................ 54 TABLE 3: AGRICULTURE BY MUNICIPALITY – ACRES RECEIVING AG VALUE ASSESSMENT ............................... 55 TABLE 4: AGRICULTURE BY MUNICIPALITY – ACRES OF PRIME OR STATEWIDE SIGNIFICANCE FARMLAND ......... 56 TABLE 5: FARMED PARCELS: REAL PROPERTY CLASS CODES .................................................................... 57 SURVEY ............................................................................................................................... 58 SURVEY RESULTS – THREATS TO AGRICULTURE ..................................................................................... 58 SURVEY RESULTS – OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURE .......................................................................... 59 SURVEY INSTRUMENT ...................................................................................................................... 60 ZONING AND LAND USE LAW AUDIT RESULTS ...................................................................... 75 INDICATORS OF FARM-FRIENDLY LOCAL POLICIES .................................................................................. 75 THE FOUR TOWNS SELECTED FOR AUDIT ............................................................................................... 77 A COMPARISON OF AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS IN EACH OF THE FOUR TOWNS ...................................... 78 Paris ....................................................................................................................................... 79 Camden .................................................................................................................................. 82 Trenton .................................................................................................................................. 84 Westmoreland ....................................................................................................................... 86 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 89 APPENDIX 1: 2012 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE – ONEIDA COUNTY PROFILE ............................................... 89 APPENDIX 2: HISTORICAL PROFILE OF AGRICULTURE IN ONEIDA COUNTY .................................................. 91 APPENDIX 3: DIRECTORY OF AGRICULTURE-RELATED SUPPORT BUSINESSES ............................................... 93 APPENDIX 4: DIRECTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY FARMERS’ MARKETS ......................................................... 94 APPENDIX 5: EXISTING LOCAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES ....................................................... 95 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ..................................................................................................... 96 ONEIDA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL DATA STATEMENT .............................................................................. 96 ONEIDA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL DISCLOSURE FORM AND NOTICE ........................................................... 97 MODEL RIGHT-TO-FARM LAW FOR TOWNS ......................................................................................... 99 PLANNING CONCEPTS FOR MUNICIPALITIES PLANNING FOR AGRICULTURE ............................................... 103 FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES .............................................................................................................. 105 DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS ............................................................................................................ 107 OTHER RESOURCES ....................................................................................................................... 107 2 Executive Summary This Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan presents insights and information about the role of agriculture in Oneida County gained as the result of a process of inventorying resources, analyzing capacities and trends, and engaging the public