RONDOUT VALLEY – As the spring growing season nears, the Rondout Valley Growers Association is set to host a trio of events in the upcoming weeks.

On Tuesday, February 24 the Ulster County Office of Economic Development's Business Services Administrator Arthur Zaczkiewicz met with local farmers to help them identify financing opportunities and actual grants that are available and discuss ways that business can be more successful. A second meeting on the same subject will be held on the morning of March 31 at the Rondout Municipal Center on the Marbletown/Rosendale border.

Farmers, people in agriculture-related businesses and people who provide support to agriculture attended the first meeting, according to RVGA executive director Deborah Meyer DeWan.

"It was really one on one; we talked about resources," she said. "We want to reach out the agricultural sector as a unique and very important part of the county's economy."

She added that the county has put an emphasis on making its economic development resources available to the agricultural community to help them keep farming strong in the region, an emphasis also taken up by the state via several new programs announced by Governor Cuomo in recent months.

DeWan added that farm product distributors, chefs and restaurant owners, and non-profits that work on saving farm land all have a stake in keeping Rondout Valley farms strong and healthy, along with those working directly on the seventy or so farms in the area. One calculation shows 37-38 percent of the agriculture in Ulster County now taking place in the area, she further noted.

Another big new event takes place next Wednesday, March 4 at the Marbletown Community Center on Route 209 in Stone Ridge, when Ulster County Executive Mike Hein will be the key note speaker at a panel discussion on "Farm Succession Planning and Farm Transfer" to be moderated by Jerry Cosgrove, a consultant and attorney. Panelists will include Todd Erling, executive director of the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation; Charles Hurd of the Hurd's Family Farm in Modena and the Ulster County Farm Bureau; Dan Welch, business and succession planning coordinator at NY FarmNet; and Ryan Hrobuchak and Bill Martin of Farm Credit East. The event starts at 8:30 a.m.

"The issues to be discussed include how to transfer a farm to a family member or members, farmland conservation as a transfer option as well as understanding the legal and financial implications of transfers," Hein said of the meeting next week. "It is well understood that proper planning can ensure farms stay within families and these expert panelists are expected to address the concerns of Ulster County's farm families."

"The average age of farmers is 58 years old in New York State. Not all farms have a next generation and have no plan in place," DeWan added. "Many growers in our area are looking to the future of their family farm even while they deal with the day to day operations of farming. Transition planning creates a path forward for a family farm business that can help ensure that the family's wishes are met."

In Governor Cuomo's proposed 2015 budget there is a proposal that could help to protect farm land, with $20 million earmarked from a banking industry payout designated to purchase development rights on farms as a one-time infusion of money. The funds would allow current property owners to enter into an agreement with a not-for-profit for easements that would then run with the land, whoever owns it, as long as it stays protected for farming.

Also in the spring, during the month of March, properties can apply to be included in an agricultural zoning district within the town they are located.

"The farms in Ulster are challenged and struggling and the RVGA connects farmers with resources that will help keep farming strong in the region," DeWan said. "Our goal is really to help people make the connection between the farms around here and where their food comes from, and we want to strengthen that connection as we work to strengthen farming in the area."

The RVGA also has an event in the works for April, before the growing season, which will discuss challenges facing existing family farms. In addition, they are working to set up a regular consultation methodology with the Ulster County economic development forces' Mobile Business Services. To learn more about that service and its dates, locations and times call 340-3556 or visit www.ulsterny.com.

For more on the RVGA, call 626-1532 or visit www.rondoutvalleygrowers.org.