Urban/Suburban Agriculture
A Case Study in Rockland County, NY

Once a thriving agricultural region, Rockland County is now a highly developed suburban community just 35 minutes outside of New York City. One-third of its land base is in state parkland. Rockland County’s Keep Farming program is an inter-municipal community process that is supporting the Rockland Farm Alliance’s efforts to preserve and increase agriculture in the County in a way that is sustainable and creates markets for Rockland farmers.
Through the Keep Farming process, the Rockland Farm Alliance discovered that farming in urban areas was changing and that there are people who want to farm and can make a living on smaller parcels of farm land.

As a consequence, on June 30, 2010 Rockland County and the Town of Clarkstown signed an agreement with the Rockland Farm Alliance to cultivate five acres on the Cropsey Farm. The farm—originally purchased by the Cropsey family in 1893 and actively farmed until 2006—had been purchased by Rockland County and Clarkstown through their open space preservation program. Had the land not been preserved, existing zoning would have allowed for development of as many as 48 single family homes on the farm.

Because of Keep Farming, the Cropsey Farm will now be known as one of two working farms in Rockland where children can come to learn and experience agriculture and farming. The Rockland Farm Alliance has also developed a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation to help fund the farm.

In 2010, Hudson River Valley Greenway—a state agency that coordinates with local and County governments to develop and enhance local land-use planning techniques—awarded its largest grant to the Rockland Farm Alliance to help support the development of the Cropsey Farm. This grant was a direct result of the Keep Farming process.

The Rockland Farm Alliance has since become a not-for-profit organization, which now has a membership of over 1,000 volunteers.

This demonstrated support for farming has spurred the County Legislature to reinstitute the Rockland Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board and pass a resolution to support farming in 12 Rockland Towns and villages.

go back