Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan - Town of Liberty

Draft Town of Liberty Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan
Age of Participating Farmers or Farmland
Owners
10
8
6
4
2
0
7
8
5
35 to 55 years 55 to 64 years >65 years
k. About 80% of the surveyed farmers have lived in Sullivan County for
more than 20 years. All participants except two had at least a high school
degree. About 27% have high school degrees, 9% have some college, and
45% have a college degree. Among the participants were four with a
master’s degree.
2. Agri-business Survey
The agri-business survey went to businesses that support agriculture in the
Sullivan County region. These included feed and seed dealers, machinery
sales, equipment, insurance, legal, financial, and veterinary businesses.
Most of these businesses were long-lived being in business an average of 67
years. 71 seasonal workers (26 full time and 45 part time), and 374 year
round (332 full time and 42 part time) are employed by these businesses.
Even removing insurance, legal and financial businesses, all other agribusinesses
employed 193 year round and 63 seasonal employees. The
majority of businesses had gross sales over $100,000 as shown below.
Forty-three percent had gross sales over $500,000. Taken together, these
businesses contribute 1.3 million to over 10 million to the Sullivan County
economy. These businesses are not totally supported from farms within the
County however: only three businesses indicated that more than 75% of
their client base is from within the county and most (58%) said that less
than 25% of their clients are within the county.
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