Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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sweet peas, and sweet corn are the three big ones.” He says that “the biggest
farms in the state are centered within about a five-mile radius around us.
One of the biggest vegetable farms in the country is right next-door to
me. They farm, between three or four counties, ten thousand acres. There
is one farm near us that is milking three or four thousand cows on two
locations. So for New York State agriculture, that is quite big.” Even though
farm size is increasing, Steve knows farmprofits are decreasing. “Operations
are getting bigger and bigger, and running more ground and more ground
because there is hardly any margin in what they do.”He thinks the future for
conventional growers is bleak. “I have a feeling that processing vegetables
are on the way out. The prices keep going down that they are paying the
farmer. What they could make money on years ago, for yields, just doesn't
cut it anymore. The prices are so low.” He gives a specific example: “There
are a lot of onions growing in our area, and I know a lot of farmers selling
yellow cooking onions for a dime a pound, plus or minus, and you see them
in the store for 79¢ a pound. Somebody is making tremendous money on
them.”
And yet the conventional farmers are not willing to change. “They look
at the organics and what we do, and they figure it is too much work, so
why bother? Oh, they grow the genetically engineered soybeans, and it is
so easy. Why go out and cultivate? If that is the way they want to think, I
don't encourage them to think otherwise.” The Porters' diversity, organic
certification, and organic direct marketing are what keep them in business.
Steve says that the CSA is muchmore profitable than wholesaling the organic
vegetables. “We are up to a buck a pound with the CSA, give or take, and
a lot of the vegetables go out of here at twenty or thirty cents a pound for
wholesale.” Over the years, this farm has evolved and changed focus and
even earned organic certification, while neighboring conventional farms
have failed. Steve sums up the difference: “We haven't been afraid to change
what we are doing.” But why is that? “I don't know. We got tired of banging
our heads up against the wall with the hogs and the cattle. We figured we
had to do something different or not be here. Part of it might be financial
stresses.”
Their most recent answer has been the CSAs. To increase the presence of
CSAs in U.S. agriculture, Steve thinks that the key issues are buying local,
accepting seasonal foods, and trying a variety of vegetables. “I think if people
knew where some of their stuff was coming from . . . ya know? They go in
the store and see vegetables that look nice. If they knew it was coming from
overseas, they might say, 'Oh, I'd like to buy local.' ” In addition, “people
have gotten so used to walking into a grocery store any time of the year
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