The Northern New York agricultural industry encompasses New York State’s six northernmost counties: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence.
Click here to see 2002-2022 Census of Agriculture data for NNY’s six counties. This quick snapshot shows the scope and importance of the NNY regional agriculture sectors that are so critical to the local, regional, and state economies, and includes:
- more than 1.029 million acres of land in agricultural production
- 3588 farms with more than 63.5% small farms of 179 acres or less
- a farm products market value that exceeds $1.174 billion
- a farm employee payroll that adds more than $139.5 million to the NYS economy, an increase of 65.1 million over 2017 data
- 624 young farmers younger than 35 years old
- 643 producers with military service
- fewer dairy farms, but steady dairy cow numbers across total # of farms 2007-2022
- $21.4 million in organic product sales from 142 organic production farms
- 392 maple farms producing 36% of New York State’s maple syrup from 40% of all of the taps in the state. NNY’s # of taps has grown exponentially since 2000.
- 97 honey farms, an increase of 16 since 2017
- and more insights in the updated Census for NNY.
Agricultural education is well-represented throughout the NNY region with:
- 6 Cornell Cooperative Extension associations providing technical assistance and outreach in a variety of agricultural, horticultural, youth education and community life program areas
- 19 school districts offering agricultural education
- 15 FFA Chapters with more 675 student-members.
The link above to the NNY Census of Agriculture data summary includes data on:
Acres planted in corn (grain and silage)
Average Value Farm Sales (product, in dollars)
Average # of acres per farm
Berry Farms (farm numbers)
Cow Numbers: Beef
Cow Numbers: Dairy
Dairy Farms (numbers)
Farm distribution by size (acres)
Farm employee numbers
Farm employee payroll
Farm labor (unpaid numbers)
Farm numbers
Farms raising beef (numbers)
Farm sales: Market Value (product, in millions)
Farms with honey sales
Farms with new and beginning producers
Land in berry production (acres)
Land in farms (acres)
Land in orchards (acres)
Land in vegetable production (acres)
Land Use Practices (# of farms)
Maple Farms (numbers)
Maple Production (gallons)
Orchards (farm numbers)
Organic Production (farm numbers)
Organic Production (product sales in millions)
Sheep Numbers
Vegetable Crop Value (in 1000s)
Vegetable Farms (numbers)
Top 10 Rankings for Sales: NNY has 19 top ten ratings by county across NYS
Total farm product sales value
Young Farmer Numbers