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The History of Farming in the Esopus Valley
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Photo
by Theresa Naske, some rights reserved |
For centuries, the Esopus
Native Americans used the fertile soils deposited by the Esopus
creek
to cultivate
a rich and varied diet.
Later, Dutch farmers introduced
a two crop system that worked well in the mud flats of the Rhine
River
Valley and was well
suited for
this
Esopus plain. They harvested grain in September for personal
use and planted winter wheat for an April cash crop they
could sell in
Albany.
Then, the new French Huguenot
and English settlers removed most of the trees in the Valley
so they
could plow. Cultivated fields occupied much of the forest we
see in the Valley today.
Farming in Hurley Today
Today, approximately 4.6% of Hurley’s land
supports agriculture – just
over 1,000 acres. We don’t have comparable
figures from the recent past, however,the 1969 plan
reports that in the decade
1950-1959 the Rosendale/Hurley region
dropped
from 8,776 acres in farms to 5,404. The number of farms
dropped by 50%, from 129 to 64.
Although we continue to think of farming as integral
to our economy, in 1960 agriculture employed only 1.3% of our
population. In 1990, 1.7%, and in 2000, 1.6%. But the fields
continue to signal the changing seasons for us all - plowing,
planting, harvesting, planting the winter crops...
As we have been reminded in both
2005 and 2006, the land in the Esopus Valley floods periodically.
That
makes it particularly rich farmland, but
unsuitable
for development.
Just as for the Esopus tribe,
sweet corn remains our most important crop. Local farms
also
grow grain
corns
and hay for feed
and silage, acres of pumpkin, other vegetables,
and flowers.
 Today,
refrigerated trucks carry our outstanding sweet corn to distant
markets. Advances in
farm technology,
equipment
and fertilizers
have
allowed farmers to increase their yields and slow
erosion.
The growers in the Valley continue at the forefront
of farming innovation
by
participating in experiments to find the best way
to
cultivate crops. Some reserve plots for growing
heritage varieties
of corn to keep
the gene pool widely available. We hope this valley remains farmland for many generations
to come.
How Can We Encourage the Continued Agricultural
Use of Land?
Increasing
regulations, resident concerns and complaints about chemicals,
and the vagaries of weather make farming
a challenging
industry. As land costs skyrocket, the financial benefit of selling
agricultural land for
development
becomes increasingly
attractive.Our goal is to maintain the land as farmland.
If that's not possible, open space would be second best.
Several strategies
exist for encouraging and maintaining productive farmland. We
recommend the following two for immediate implementation. Others
deserve re-consideration in the next comprehensive plan up-date.
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