NORWICH – A dozen members of the Chenango County Farmland Protection Board got a glimpse Thursday of how other upstate organizations and governments are marketing their counties nationally and internationally as prime agricultural destinations.
The board heard the presentation during at its monthly meeting in the Chenango County Cornell Cooperative Extension building in Norwich.
The non-profit and regionally-funded marketing effort, called “Come Farm With Us,” revolves around strategic advertising campaigns in farming publications and a traveling resource center that criss-crosses the eastern half of the country, hitting industry trade-shows (such as the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisc.) highlighting the collective and individual opportunities in the now eight counties that are involved.
“There is a lot of farmland we are representing and a lot of farmland we are promoting,” said “Come Farm With Us” organizer Michele E. LeDoux, who is also the executive director of the Lewis County Cornell Cooperative Extension. “Each county has something that’s a little bit different – and everybody finds something they really want.”
The package offers systematic breakdowns of each member county, which includes the number of farms and acreage of potential farmland each for sale, the types of farms best suited for their soil and climate, their overall economies, job opportunities, school systems, political climates and any funding and tax savings opportunities that exist for interested parties.
“You’re not just selling the farm – you’re selling the whole county lifestyle,” LeDoux said. “You’re selling the whole county atmosphere.”
To date, LeDoux and fellow program administrator Arlene Hall said they have initiated deals for 80 farms at a sale price between $350,000 to $400,000. In total, they have received inquiries from 35 states and 5 foreign countries.
“I think you’ve got a real good program,” said Afton Supervisor Robert Briggs.
Briggs asked what the likelihood was that Chenango County could buy into the package, adding, “It would be silly not to buy-in to a program that is already up and running.”
LeDoux and Hall said they were currently unsure if or how they would take on new member counties, but said they would be in discussions with their partners from Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties, along with state representatives, to see what their next step should be. If allowed, it would cost the county $3,000 to join the first year and $1,750 for each year after.
Entry into the program can come from a number of sources, Hall said, explaining that local governments, private development boards and farming organizations are some of the different stakeholders for the counties.
“This has been a real eye-opener for us,” said Farmland Protection Board President Terry Ives. “This is information we’ll pass on to our supervisors.”
“Come Farm With Us” was originally started in 2001 as a combined effort of local governments, farm boards, and Cornell Cooperative Extension offices in Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, and St. Lawrence counties.