The Alliance for New York's Farmland

AFT leads the Alliance for New York’s Farmland—a coalition of farmers, land trusts, agricultural and environmental organizations, and other service providers advocating for public funding and policies to protect farmland and facilitate access to land for a diverse new generation of farmers. In 2018, the Alliance successfully advocated for the establishment of the Farmland for a New Generation New York (FNG-NY) program and has continued to successfully advocate for funding for farmland protection and FNG-NY every year since. 

What’s at stake when we don’t protect our farmland and support a new generation of farmers?

New York’s farmland plays a vital role in our economy and food security. Over 9 million acres of farmland, including some of the most productive, resilient, and versatile land in the nation, form the foundation of New York’s farming, fishing, and forestry economy, which generates more than $85.8 billion in annual economic impact and supports 291,474 jobs in the state. 

However, New York’s farmland is severely threatened by high land prices and development pressures. According to Farms Under Threat: The State of the States, between 2001 and 2016 alone, over a quarter of a million acres of New York’s irreplaceable agricultural lands were lost or fragmented, earning New York a place within the top 20 most threatened states for farmland conversion. 

While the state has permanently protected more than 120,000 acres of farmland through its Farmland Protection Implementation Grant program, it saw a loss of 2,788 farms and 363,885 acres of land in farms - more than three times the amount protected - between 2017 and 2022. Projections indicate that by 2040, an additional 452,000 acres could be lost to urban and low-density conversion, potentially resulting in the disappearance of 2,500 farms, a $288 million reduction in farm output, and the loss of 7,200 jobs.

New York’s Farmland

The Alliance for New York’s Farmland advocates for funding Farmland Protection programs in the New York State Budget, including the popular Farmland Protection Implementation Grants program in the Environmental Protection Fund. Farmland protection is an essential tool that keeps land in farming while enabling farmers to expand their operations, invest in their businesses, or transfer their farms to a new generation.

A Coming Wave of Farmland Transition in New York

New York is at the beginning of a large-scale intergenerational transition of farmland. According to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, 35% of New York’s farmers were over 65, with an additional 25% nearing retirement age. These senior farmers own or operate nearly 2 million acres of land vulnerable to being lost forever. AFT’s research shows that more than 90 percent of these senior farmers do not have a young farmer operator involved in the ownership or management of the farm. It is critical that these farmers can access the support and resources necessary to plan for the future of their farms and pass them on to the next generation of farmers.

At the same time, young, new, beginning, and under-resourced farmers face significant barriers to finding farmland at affordable prices with conditions that will enable them to launch successful businesses. This challenge is particularly acute for Black, Indigenous, and other Farmers of Color, who, according to the 2017 USDA census, make up less than 5% of farmers in New York state.

We must work to keep land for farming and bring a diverse new generation of farmers onto the land during this period of intergenerational transition.

Learn how American Farmland Trust and the Farmland for a New Generation New York program are making an impact.