A Growing initiative in Northern New York:
The Come Farm With Us program

Here is something we don’t see everyday in Northern New York - An economic development program that involves four counties working together to attract investment, with an annual budget of only $10,000, and success in attracting over $6 million in investment and economic growth in the region in the two years since it was formed. What is even more exciting is that the program – the Come Farm With Us initiative that includes Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, and St Lawrence counties, focuses around agriculture. Farming is a mainstay of our economy but one that has often been overlooked in state and local economic development activities in the past.

The Come Farm With Us program is an economic development initiative designed to encourage farmers from outside the region to buy and operate farms in Northern New York, as well as helping local farmers to sell their farms to those who would keep them in operation. The program involves outside marketing of our region’s farming strengths and opportunities, as well as listing services and other support for farmers wishing to buy or sell farms in the four counties. Started two years ago, the program has already helped in the sale of 32 farms, with an estimated total value of $6 million.

The Come Farm With Us program, according to Jay Matteson, the Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator and Jefferson County’s representative to the program, is designed to keep farmland in production and help a generation of retiring local farmers find buyers for their farms. "The average age of farmers here (in Jefferson County) is 55 plus" Mr. Matteson explains. "We need to recognize that aging farm demographic and help bring new blood in to help. If we don’t keep enough farms in production, we will lose the agricultural support infrastructure. Feed dealers, equipment dealers, vets, and banks."

The program involves advertising and sales calls at farm shows and farming publications, primarily in the Northeastern United States. The program’s representatives pool their budgets and share responsibilities for attending farming shows across the nation. "We have made contacts in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Maryland, and in New England." says Mr. Matteson, "and we are considering some international targets." The message is aimed at farmers in other regions where development, industrialization, government resistance, or a collapsing farm support system have made farming economically difficult. "We have found people in other states being pushed out (of farming). They were not wanted by governments or neighbors, facing development pressures, or had lost the farming infrastructure they needed."

The aspect of this program that is most unusual for north country ventures, and the one that makes it so effective, is the cooperative nature of the program. Each county had pursued their own goals for farm development in the past, but things really started to work when they came together two years ago. The idea was to pool resources to attract potential farmers and buyers to the region, then let them choose where they finally want to locate, based on the types of farms and communities available.

"If a farm comes to Lewis County, it benefits Jefferson County and vice versa." says Mr. Matteson. "We are not concerned about where farms go as long as they come into the north country."

This sentiment is echoed by Michele E. Ledoux, Executive Director for the Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Lewis County, and that county’s representative to the Come Farm With Us program. "The reason we have done so well is that we have a regional effort. At trade shows outside of New York, we talk about the state. Having four counties to offer means more lifestyle choices."

That range of choices is vital. Prospective farmers don’t just look at the land we have available. Instead, like any other businessperson considering relocation, they look at the entire lifestyle that comes with the new location. Schools, churches, cultural opportunities, community networks, and the local economic environment are key parts of any decision. The broad range of choices across four counties makes the whole program stronger.

According to Ms. Ledoux, Northern New York offers some significant advantages to prospective farmers. "We have a strong agri-business infrastructure. That is incredibly important. We have local and county government support, which is very important to people in areas where ag is being squeezed out by developers."

While most of the new farmers are interested in dairy, some are planning to raise sheep or vegetables, offering our local farming base some much-needed diversification. The program also helps draw more general attention to the north country as an agricultural center, helping support such efforts as the North Country Branding Initiative or Lewis County’s "Made in Lewis County" project. Greater awareness of our region as an agricultural center is likely to mean more interest by agri-business and food processing companies.

The economic development impacts of the Come Farm With Us program are greater than they appear at first glance. Most economic development efforts are evaluated by the number of jobs they create, and farms don’t tend to create large numbers of jobs directly. Indirectly, however, farms are economic powerhouses. Economists measure the indirect economic and employment impact of industries by using multipliers – numbers that estimate the effects that come from dollars turning over in an economy. The money an industry creates goes to suppliers and employees, who then spend it at the drugstore, the movie theater, the doctors office, etc. This creates jobs indirectly.

According to economists at Cornell University, agriculture has one of the highest multiplier sets in the state. This is a reflection of farming’s position at the base of the economic food chain, converting local sunlight, soil, and water into agricultural products. In an area such as ours, with a strong support infrastructure, farming dollars tend to turn over locally and stay local more readily than in traditional manufacturing or retail services. The effect will become even more significant if we can boost our value-added agricultural processing industries.

You can learn more about the Come Farm With Us program at their website www.comefarmwithus.org. The site gets 50 hits a day, with half of those going to the farm listings. The program does not compete with local realtors. Instead, it offers them an extra tool to find buyers and sellers interested in farms and farming.

Each of the representatives to the program is quick to thank our state and county government officials for their support of the program. Given the tiny cost of the program as well as the positive impact it is already having on the tax base in our communities, it is obvious that our elected leadership has made a wise investment on our behalf. This program also shows us that regional governments can work together for the greater good, if they really want to. It seems there is quite a bit we can learn from the folks who raise our food.