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Initiative links farming, open-space preservation

By Melanie Lekocevic

NEW BALTIMORE — With a dramatic vista and the stunning fall foliage of the Catskill Mountains as a backdrop, local officials announced a state-funded agricultural initiative yesterday at the Mabee Farm on County Route 61.

State Senator James Seward secured the $40,000 in funding and made a joint announcement with the Greene County Industrial Development Agency, town officials and members of the New York Farm Bureau.

The project, known as the Agriculture Incubator, is the first of its kind in Greene County, and indeed is expected to serve as a regional, or even national, model for open space preservation and a revival of local farming.

“Greene County values agriculture not only as a valuable part of local history, but as a part of our future,” said Greene IDA Executive Director Alexander “Sandy” Mathes. “It's a way of life we want to preserve, and a positive business model that preserves open space.”

The Agriculture Incubator project has several components, all with the goal of utilizing public open space and habitat-protected land for related agricultural uses. With land prices so high — sometimes as much as $5,000 an acre — it is becoming increasingly difficult for young people who want to enter the farming industry. The new project would make land more accessible to them, and would also help with providing equipment, such as tractors, that several small farm owners could share and utilize.

The project would also encourage use of open space for the production of biofuels, specifically switch grass and willow, which are more economical and potentially more effective than ethanol. Another component of the Agriculture Incubator will be helping farmers package, distribute and market their products.

According to Seward, the initiative is a win-win proposal that will help preserve open space, support agriculture and stimulate the local economy. In addition, if the development of biofuels goes as hoped, the move could put the county at the forefront of the national energy independence movement. The Ag Incubator, as it is known, will likely be housed at the Mabee Farm on CR 61. That part of the agreement is expected to be signed on Tuesday, officials said.

“This will help put Greene County right on the cutting edge of where we need to be in terms of energy policy, environmental benefits and economic development. It will enable farmers to have new cash crops on vacant land for the production of alternative fuels, and that is a huge opportunity for agriculture,” Seward said.

In addition to the $40,000 in state funding, Coxsackie Town Supervisor Alex Betke also announced that the town was awarded a $25,000 grant from the New York State Office of Small Cities for the project.

“This grant will be used to develop our business plan for the Ag Incubator - what it will be, and how it will be developed. We will do that in conjunction with the local farming community, the Greene Land Trust and the Greene IDA,” Betke said.

Supporters of the initiative also said the project will help solve another concern — the risks of contaminated food brought in from elsewhere, and specifically from foreign sources that have little regulation.

“We went from being a country that makes things to one that buys them from other places. We need to get back to our roots, and to what made this country great,” said New Baltimore Town Councilman Kevin Kuenster, who also helped create the New Baltimore Farmer's Market.

A portion of the state funding will be used to support the construction of a Greene County Agricultural Center at the proposed retail destination project slated for Route 9W. That facility, which would include a farmer's market, would help local farmers market their products.

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