1 / 22

Farming in Northeast Ohio

E x u r ban Change Program Analyzing Rural-Urban Change. Farming in Northeast Ohio. NEO REGIONAL LEADERSHIP TASKFORCE REGIONAL DAY May 3, 2006 Jeff S. Sharp. Outline of Presentation. Background on farming in Northeast Ohio Some Challenges & Opportunities for NE Ohio Agriculture

marin
Download Presentation

Farming in Northeast Ohio

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Exurban Change Program Analyzing Rural-Urban Change Farming in Northeast Ohio NEO REGIONAL LEADERSHIP TASKFORCE REGIONAL DAY May 3, 2006 Jeff S. Sharp

  2. Outline of Presentation • Background on farming in Northeast Ohio • Some Challenges & Opportunities for NE Ohio Agriculture • Farmland Preservation • Local Food System Development

  3. Structural Change in Agriculture • Farm Changes • Persistent decline of medium size farms • Increase # of both large and small farms • Increased Share of Production occurring on Largest Farms • Upstream and downstream consolidation, concentration and globalization • Growing role of transnational supermarket chains

  4. Ag Sales of NE Ohio Counties

  5. County Profile: Wayne • One of Ohio’s top producing Agricultural Counties (3rd in sales of 88) • Substantial Livestock Production (Dairy) • Diversity of other farm enterprises • Home of OARDC & ATI • Modest processing sector • Future concern: Land use—Effect of population growth from north and east

  6. County Profile: Lake • Substantial sales from agriculture (11th highest of Ohio’s 88) • In 1997, ranked #27th nationally in total sales from Nursery and Greenhouse sales (Lorain county ranked 37th) • Substantial sales from Ag., despite relatively small number of farms, relatively small size of farms, and relatively little of total county’s land area in farmland

  7. Other Economic Considerations • Role of processing • Although sales from agriculture may be low in more urban NE counties, noteworthy presence of food processing • Summit & Stark County for example • Specialty and Recreational Functions • Geauga: Substantial presence of horses (no good data); presence of Amish

  8. Challenge: Balancing Growth and Farmland Preservation in NE Ohio

  9. Net Ohio County Population Change, 1970 - 2000

  10. Population of Ohio Townships, Villages and Cities, 1960-2000

  11. 1960 1980 2000

  12. 1960 1980 2000

  13. Future of Farming in NE? • Decline? • Impermanence Syndrome—farmers disinvest in agriculture and eventually exit due to urban pressure and population pressure • Persistence? • Creative adaptations that overcome urban pressure and even capitalize on urban proximity

  14. Opportunity: Local Food System Development

  15. Local Food System Development • Nationally and in Ohio, growing interest in local food system development • CSAs, Farmers Markets, U-pick • Organic Ag., National alternative grocery stores, etc. • Food security, food access, health nutrition

  16. Local Food System Development in Northeast Ohio • New Farmer Program/CVNP • Farmers Market Development • Local Foods Directory for Northeast Ohio http://www.cvcountryside.org/

  17. Farmland Center • Project of Western Reserve RC&D • Focus on Farmland Preservation and Ag. Viability in Western Reserve Region • http://www.thefarmlandcenter.org/index.html

  18. Cleveland City Fresh Community Foods Project • Nutrition Education & Quality Food Access • New Agrarian Center; OSU Extension Images from presentation by Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, 2006 SRI Local Foods Conference

  19. Take-away Points • Food & Farming System continues to evolve • Two types of farming emerging (Dualism) • Production & Lifestyle • Urban pressures in NE Ohio impact both availability of farmland and type of farming that can take place • Several exciting local food system projects across NE Ohio • Implications for consumer quality of life as well as prospects for preserving farmland and farmers.

  20. Exurban Change Program Analyzing Rural-Urban Change http://aede.osu.edu/programs/exurbs/ email: exurban@osu.edu

More Related