A Look Inside Ulster's Agriculture Industry

By Bond Brungard

HIGH FALLS – Will Leibee, of Back Home Farm on Lucas Turnpike, is expanding his 42-acre farmstead into retail with two locations, one for vegetables and another for cannabis. And the latter has Leibee optimistic about his future with one of the newest crops being harvested in the Ulster County.

Vegetables were being planted, and work is ongoing constructing the indoor growing facilities for cannabis, which he hopes to sell at his proposed dispensary at the corner of routes 213 and 209. “I have hopes for the dispensary as it’s the next logical step,” said Leibee, during a mid-afternoon walk around his farm.

Leibee is hoping for approval soon by the Town of Marbletown planning board to open his dispensary, possibly as soon as a few months. And if that doesn’t work out, the nearby Town of Rochester, where he’s building  another retail facility, has approved cannabis sales.

“Some farmers are exploring opportunities to diversify their crop into cannabis cultivation to capitalize on the evolving cannabis industry in NYS and regionally,” said Kevin Lynch, director of economic development for Ulster County. “Unsure on projections for the next 5-10 years, but I believe the momentum is accelerating as local stakeholders are beginning to develop and implement their business plans. The county is currently contracting with NY Small Farmer and Season Gives on a consultant basis to support this effort.”

A census profile of Ulster County by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2022 revealed we had 486 farms at the time covering 73,026 acres with the average size of 150 acres. Only six of those farms were 1,000-acres or larger, while the majority, 186, were 10-49 acres, like Leibee’s farm and others. And little more than1,000 people were employed by agriculture in 2022 in the county.

(Photo by Bond Brungard: Will Leibee’s 42-acre Back Home Farm produces vegetables and soon hopes to move into retail cannabis sales by growing his own products)

Apples and fruit farming generate the majority of income in the count, with nearly $750,000,000 in sales out of total of $1,005,520,000 as the second-largest producer of this kind in New York state. Vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes are the second largest group of crops grown and the county, with nursery, greenhouse and floriculture offerings being third.

“Agriculture remains the second major economic driver in the county,” said Lynch. “However, based on USDA’s 2022 census, average net cash farm income of $17,786 represented a 20 percent decline from 2017 levels.”

The majority of farms, 153 or 31%  of the total, earned less than $2,500 annually, while 103, or 21 percent of the total, earned $100,000 or more annually in sales.

“I think the agriculture sector in Ulster County is under some stress and is facing cross currents from a number of directions, inflation, constrained financial capacity, worker housing, competition, greenflation (climate) coupled with the cost of adapting sustainable-farming practices,” said Lynch. “However, I believe the sector can steadily overcome these issues with increased operational and financial support.”

Affordable housing Ulster County is ongoing issue in the county as $1,000 studios are now common, and the those costs were greatly exasperated by the 2020 pandemic and the flow of new residents, some temporary and some now permanent, coming upriver from New York City.

And the county has become more popular for those in agriculture, too. There has been a 15 percent increase in the number of farms since 2017, according to that 2022 federal census, as acreage has grown 24 percent and average size has grown 7 percent since then.

Leibee senses that climate change and the overall warmth coming from it benefits the state overall – even though his greatest hope is growing cannabis indoors and away from the whims of Mother Nature. “The (state) has been encouraging small farms to get into in,” he said, “and that’s encouraging.”