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Agriculture
& Farmland Protection Board
Agricultural
activity in Westchester County is declining.
Nearly 4,000 acres, or 36%, of farmland as defined by New
York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Law, were lost in
Westchester County between 1983 and 1994. The environmental benefits and
landscape preservation values associated with agriculture are worthy of
protection. Once lost, to development, they are gone forever.
The
Westchester County Agriculture & Farmland Protection Board was created in
1999 by act of the County Legislature pursuant to New York State Agriculture
& Markets Law. The Board's
mission is to maintain the economic viability of the agricultural industry and
to protect the environmental and
landscape preservation values associated with agriculture. The socio-economic
vitality of agriculture in this county is essential to the economic stability
and growth of many local communities and the county as a whole. Agriculture
also provides residents with a source of fresh locally grown produce.
It is the policy of the county to conserve, protect
and encourage the development and improvement of its agricultural land for
production of food and other agricultural products. It is also the policy of the county to conserve and protect
agricultural lands as valued natural and ecological resources, which provide
needed open spaces for clean air sheds, as well as buffers for water quality and
habitat for wildlife.
Click
here for a map of Westchester's Agricultural District.
Click here for the
Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan
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Left to Right:
County Executive Andrew J. Spano and U.S. Senator Charles
Schumer with Bob Stuart and Randy Pratt (of Wilkens Fruit &
Fir Farm) at Stuart's Orchards in Somers.
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Board
Representation Environmental
professional staff of the Westchester County Department of
Planning serve the eleven-member
Board. Six members are
Westchester residents from the agricultural industry appointed by the Chair
of the County Board of Legislators, and five members consisting of
a County Legislator, the Chair of the Soil
and Water Conservation District Board of Directors, a County Cooperative Extension Agent, the County
Planning Commissioner, and the Executive director of the
County’s tax commission serve as ex-officio.
The
AFPB meets on the first Thursday of every month at
Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center at 4:00 PM in
Yorktown.
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According to
the State census of Agriculture, horse farms comprise 4,000 acres of the
total farmland acreage in the county. Westchester ranks second in
the state for income generated from the breeding and sales of horses.
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