What are the services to be provided by the Agriculture and Life Sciences Institute at MCC?
The Agriculture and Life Sciences Institute advocates on issues relating to land use, offers marketing education, and provides academic instruction for existing and future agribusiness professionals. These include farmers, winery operators, employees of companies involved in renewable energy resources, and other landowners to apply knowledge to their specific area of interest.

Land use advocacy encompasses participatory assistance (onsite, one-on-one education) to farmers, landowners, municipalities, and authorities through interpretation of land use policy, comprehensive planning, rules, regulations, laws, and ordinances.

Marketing education encompasses a broad spectrum of roles that are geared to helping land owners and farmers realize viability/sustainability of their land or business through effective use of it.

Specifically, the Agriculture and Life Sciences Institute:
-Assists town, county, and state municipalities in developing and implementing plans to help protect farmland and make operations viable.
-Provides impetus and assistance for agricultural economic development, including value-added processes and marketing strategies within the Greater Rochester area, with emphasis on Monroe County.
-Interprets, educates, and assists landowners, farmers, and municipal and law enforcement officials on agricultural district laws and agricultural value assessments, such as property tax exemptions, of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/TheDepartment.html). Assists first responders on farm security and agro-terrorism concerns, and partners with other MCC divisions, including the Homeland Security Management Institute and the Public Safety Training Facility to provide such assistance and training.

Are you concerned about global warming and climate change? Will agriculture be impacted in our region?
Regardless what an individual's position is on global warming and climate change is, a large portion of the general public, academia, researchers, and government officials have accepted it as true. Hence, there are many policies, regulations, and programs that are emerging as a result. Today, farmers, processors, and retailers have to meet both voluntary and mandatory guidelines that have arisen in regard to these concerns.

Bob King speaks with reporter, Kevin Jolly, from Channel 8, at Martin Farms in Brockport. Photography c.2007 Ray Treat, Monroe Community College.

The agricultural industry is already being impacted in Western New York in many ways, including proposed legislation to regulate air emissions from animal operations, retailers wanting to include in their procurement agreements documentation that includes environmentally friendly practices, and reductions in potential pollution by farm operations (i.e., emissions reduction, use of more environmentally friendly technologies, reducing carbon foot print, sustainable agriculture practices, good agricultural practices, and many more). At the moment, the general public's interest in this topic has driven marketers to respond with products and practices that promise to help reduce global warming and climate change; hence farm operations have to change and innovate on their existing production, handling, inventory, and transport practices.

Some farmers continue to suggest premature blooming of some perennial and biannual varieties of fruit and ornamentals, and tend to blame the quirky weather of the last 20 years on global warming. Along with problems, also come opportunities. Both private and public policy regarding global warming has encouraged markets for carbon recycling; hence, the use of farms as carbon sinks may significantly change the timing and types of crops we grow.

How many farms are we losing to development each year? Can you talk about the reasons why?
We are still losing farmland but at a decreasing rate. In 1940 we had 4,129 farms working 307, 285 acres. During 1993 we had 119,600 acres land in farm and 600 farms.

In 2006, we had 595 farms in Monroe County working 105,100 acres; 24.4% of land in Monroe County is in farmland.

"Farming has long been referred to as one of the most honest and hard working professions."

During 1996, peak for farm loss was 3,000 acres per year for Monroe County, since then farmland loss continues but at a much lower rate and level.

In the last five years, Monroe County has lost farmland at the rate of 700 acres per year, at least half to a developed use. The statewide annual average for farmland loss to development is 26,000 acres.

Loss of farmland is a two-step process"almost 50% will go vacant (not worked) then get sold to development; 42% goes directly into residential development, and the remainder into other developed uses.

Much farmland loss is due to realizing equity by the owner for various reasons. These reasons include avoiding rural Curban conflicts (farming too close to neighbors), tax maintenance,  drainage problems from nearby land uses, and lack of profitability. The emergence of ethanol helping to increase corn prices, recent increases in milk price, and emphasis on buying local, have been key on helping Monroe County farmers.

With development also come new markets for farmers to tap into. The key for many farmers to survive appears to be by making the transition from a commodity driven operation to a specialty crop type of operation such as fresh market fruits and vegetables, organic, agriculture entertainment, specialty crops, and pack outs.

Farmland on the fringe of development is often worked to keep the agriculture value assessment and viewed as land in transition. However, many municipalities have attempted to put the brakes on development and have been much more aggressive regarding farmland protection and promotion. Many municipalities in Monroe County have reviewed and revised their comprehensive plans, ordinances, rules, regulations, and laws to more favorably influence and encourage agriculture as a land use within their jurisdictions. An advantage of living in a metropolitan type of community such as the Rochester area, is that the rate of information transfer and technology adoption tends to be much faster and at a higher level than in more rural areas. Also, in metro areas, the community tends to be more interested and motivated by agriculture being a land use and a business since it is not a common occurrence like that of a rural area. On average there have been at least three startup operations every year for the last three years in Monroe County.

How can we get our students interested in career farming? Are we losing the generation-to-generation farm families?
Generally considered a profession that is physically challenging with long work hours, agriculture is often not thought of as a mentally demanding or stimulating career option. Agriculture as a discipline has suffered a tarnished image since the 1980s, especially at the high school level. High school programs, at times, tended to be associated with students that lacked the ability and/or motivation for intensive study or even more disconcerting, a depository for student discipline problems. 

Farming has long been referred to as one of the most honest and hard working professions but tends to lack a high standard of living. Today, at least for New York and most of the Northeast U.S., most farms are family-owned and independent businesses that use the latest technology and innovations to achieve cost reduction strategies. Some farm operations rely heavily on philosophy (organic, sustainable) and implementations given a current technology set. Either way, agriculture is both mentally and physically demanding and provides for a modest and in some cases a high standard of living.

Today, many potential students are not aware that farming is a business that is largely based on influencing and manipulating applied biological processes. There are many industries engaged in providing services and resources in this attempt. With a resurgence of  interest in animal- and plant-based processes to support renewable energy and more sustainable communities, there are many career options that are agriculturally related, but not farming in the traditional sense. Our mission at the ALSI is to expose students to agricultural processes through awareness and examples, to help them gain familiarity and understanding of farming and natural resources that is the foundation of a strong economy and our community.

The "buy local campaign has been a strategy to assist growers to get their products directly to retail markets. Will the Institute be providing any kind of marketing services or training to expand these efforts?
In order to enhance and promote the production and marketing of agricultural products within Monroe County, staff is exploring the potential for a marketing program that certifies and identifies Monroe County grown and produced agricultural products, especially fruits, vegetables, and value-added products. Consumers preferring to buy from Monroe County producers will be able to readily identify and know where to buy produce from there. More specifically the program would: 1) create and adopt guidelines outlining products eligible for Monroe County designation; 2) establish a marketing advisory committee to ensure that guidelines and marketing activities are consistent with the stated purpose and overall goal of the program; and 3) design, develop, implement, and evaluate the marketing program and opportunity for Monroe County agricultural products. We have met several times with ARAMARK, our food vendor, to seek out and plan for a buy local program for food service at MCC.

Central New York is becoming a hotbed of alternative energy research and production. How can farmers in our region participate in these efforts?
Except for corn and manure, the development of other biomass (cellulose/lignin) crops as cash crop for New York farmers is still limited. Although advances in the use of processes, enzymes, and biologicals of interest are anticipated in the very near future to assist in the development of a market for renewable energy fuels, the enabling technology and innovation process is still lagging to make biomass competitive in our area. Given the technology, there are only a few pockets of farm operations that are potentially viable to take advantage of renewable energy crops especially in terms of scale economies, supporting infrastructure, and access to energy markets.
Although the investment and infrastructure of Northeast agriculture does support some renewable energy crops, a significant portion of the supporting infrastructure required and the ability to make markets for renewable energy crops is not fully developed and widespread. This is especially true when compared to the current infrastructure of agricultural economies of the Midwest and west coast, which are heavily influencing the nature and direction of renewable energy policy and markets.
BSM

 

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