Large Farms (Catskill/Delaware)
Map: participating farms in the New York City watershed
The Watershed Agricultural Program (WAP) caters to three types of farm operations:
- Large farms in the Catskill/Delaware watershed,
- Small farms in the Catskill/Delaware watershed, and
- Large and small farms in the Croton watershed.
The WAP classifies farms earning a gross annual income of $10,000 or more (as specified by NYS Ag & Markets criteria) as "large farms." No acreage minimum or farm product category is required. However, many WAP participants tend to specialize in dairy, beef cattle, mixed livestock and rotational crops and the value-added products that accompany those areas of expertise.
As of November 2010, 258 large farms are enrolled in the Watershed Agricultural Program, representing 93% of all large farms identified in the NYC watershed region. The majority of participating farms are located in Delaware County. You can find more details and statistics in the Watershed Agricultural Program 2010 Annual Report and 2011 Workload report.
With the farmer's input, the Watershed Agricultural Program planning team creates a Whole Farm Plan based on 11 water pollutant categories and the farm's needs. Starting in 2011, Whole Farm Plan recommendations and land conservation measures were implemented based on a Prioritization Method. This ranking systematically places all farms requiring work in a given year into a working list for the year; farms posing the greatest risk to water quality that require work in the highest water pollutant categories are addressed first.
CONTACT:
Large Farms Coordinator, Brian LaTourette
607 865-7090, ext. 284
E-mail: blatourette@nycwatershed.org
