Harvest season has arrived and Hudson Valley farmers and consumers alike are enjoying the bounty of a productive year amid an emerging appreciation for locally grown food that bodes well for agriculture in coming years.
Concerns ranging from rising costs for fuel and fertilizer and whether there will be enough workers to perform farm tasks are, for the moment, lost in the singular beauty that is a valley beefsteak tomato.
 “The next couple of weeks should be pretty amazing,” said Cheryl Rogowski of Yesifarm on 150 acres in Orange County. She said that cool weather delayed some mid-summer crops from full production till now, just when later season crops are appearing. So in farm stands and farmer”™s markets around the region there is much variety and abundance of produce. “It”™s like an explosion,” she said.
“The harvest looks to be an outstanding one,” said Peter Gregg, a spokesman for the New York State Farm Bureau. “We had really just a beautiful growing season, perfect weather for the most part with not a lot of temperature extremes, not a lot of rain, so things are looking good, particularly for fruit and vegetables in the Hudson Valley.”
Agriculture is a major industry in the Hudson Valley. Orange County, for example, is home to the fertile Black Dirt region and has 660 farms on 105,800 acres in 2007, according to the New York Agricultural Statistical Services Web site. The NYASS site economic data is current only to 2002, and shows Orange county farms produced $66.2 million in agricultural products sold from farms that year.
In Westchester County, there are 125 farms on 9,600 acres, with $8.9 million in agricultural products in 2002. In Putnam County, 50 farms on 6600 acres produced $2.4 million worth of goods and food. In Rockland County, 30 farms on 900 acres produced $3.2 million.
Sullivan County had 360 farms on 62,300 acres producing $37.8 million worth of products in 2002. Dutchess County had 630 farms on 110, 200 acres producing $31.7 million in products; and Ulster County had 500 farms on 81,800 acres producing $34.4 million in 2002.
There is reason to believe that when the financials are updated, the farm economies will show even stronger output than in 2002. For since then, the locally grown food movement has gained momentum, leading to an upsurge in appreciation and value of home-grown produce and fruits.   Â
“The buy local movement is really benefiting the Hudson Valley in a big way,” said Gregg. “Hudson Valley farmers more so than any other farmers in the country are positioned to capitalize on this movement, since they are in drivable proximity to 30 million consumers.”
Statewide, the 34,200 farms in 2007 produced about $817 million in farm products in 2007, according to the NYASS Web site. Gregg said that overall, agriculture in New York State as a whole is doing “pretty well.”
While demand for commodities is “extremely high,” Gregg said, “The problem of course is costs are the highest they have been in history.” He cited costs of fuel, pesticides and fertilizer but said finding workers willing to do agricultural labor is particularly challenging.
“Labor supply is very, very tight. It”™s the number one problem in agriculture right now,” said Gregg. “As we go into the harvest this is probably the third year in arrow we”™ll have uncertainty whether we”™ll have enough to bring in the crop.” (See accompanying story.)Â Â
But he said that New York agriculture is changing, with greater emphasis on agri-tourism, pick-your-own plots, smaller-scale organic farms and farm stands. And he said no place has characterized the shift more than the Hudson Valley. “I think you”™ll find that a lot of farms in the Hudson Valley are thriving,” Gregg said. “They certainly have capitalized on the fact they are in close proximity to so many consumers and they have made their farms inviting places to visit.”
“Every year has its challenges, but overall this has been a pretty good year,” said Rogowski. “Everyone is so focused on where their food comes from and how it”™s grown.”
But she added that Labor Day doesn”™t mean the end of growing season, more of a change in what is harvested. “The growing season is really not winding down,” said Rogowski. “We”™re in the crossover time now. This is when the fall stuff starts coming. The explosion is here and is going to be happening for another four weeks.”
