New Hampshire’s housing shortage set off calls for development that threaten our agricultural economy. COVID-19 interrupted our food supply. Now produce-borne illness caused by the Cyclospora parasite underscores the value of locally sourced food.
Massive cuts to the Centers for Disease Control impair tracking of pathogen sources. People wonder if their next salad will be safe to eat. The closer to home food is grown, the more likely it is safe. But a web of interrelated issues jeopardizes our state’s farms.
What’s the relationship between the rush to develop housing and fear of lettuce? As local farms disappear, we turn to distant, anonymous sources. Huge industrial farms, known as agribusinesses, produce tons of food to be distributed nationwide. Prices rise with the cost of trucking these crops.
Now, local food is priced almost on par with products tariffed as they cross international borders or are trucked around America. I can go to a farmer’s market, meet the grower and buy a fresh product, knowing I have healthy food.
Soil depletion and labor costs challenge industrial food farmers. Healthy local food also comes with advantages and challenges not to be minimized. Dependence on industrial farming is inevitable, but we must also value local farms. Open space on community farms provides wildlife habitat and a control against flooding or erosion. Its scenic value for locals and tourists is an economic boon, as is the farmers’ contribution to the New Hampshire economy.
Most local farms are niche farms, generating small scale production, not the greater output of commodity farms such as large dairies. Niche farms are the most threatened by developers because their profit margin is small and tax rates keep rising. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, fewer than 1,500 of the state’s 4,000 farms generate income greater than $10,000 annually. Land values are a tempting incentive to sell out to a developer. Once developed, a site cannot be easily returned to farming for reasons relating to soil biology.
Protection of prime farmland soil maintains the economic and community value of farms. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines such soil as having “the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber and oilseed crops … not excessively eroded or saturated with water for long periods of time, and … does not flood frequently during season…” Unfortunately for agriculture, this land is the easiest to develop.
New Hampshire has mapped and identified undeveloped farmland soils of local and state importance. The Granite State Farm to Plate Food Policy and Principles (RSA 425:2-a) detail the benefits of local agriculture, concluding that “to the extent possible, local governments shall consider the policy and principles of this section when adopting local law, or when enforcing local law and regulation.” This is a call to planning and zoning boards, agricultural commissions in the towns where they exist, and voters to support farming. The first step is to become informed. What options do we have when considering the need to balance housing demands with farm land protection?
One approach, House Bill 631, passed last year and took effect July 1 this year. It permits multifamily housing in commercially zoned areas without rezoning approvals if projects comply with local site plan and infrastructure standards. Think of 19th century city centers, where shops lined the downtown street, with homes on the floors above. Cluster housing groups homes together on a parcel of land, surrounded by open space. Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm in Peterborough is such an ecologically and economically sound example of this. Already 170 communities permit cluster housing. Communities that allow accessory dwellings added to existing homes also help alleviate the housing shortage. Many families are taking advantage of such mother-in-law apartments.
Some landowners protect resources with a conservation easement, a legally binding agreement between the landowner and a conservation organization, federal agency or town restricting land use to protect its natural features. An easement buys development rights in perpetuity, so even if the property changes hands it is protected. Dimond Hill Farm in Concord dates back to the 1700s. It is now protected by an easement.
Land trusts can be national, regional or local. With support from public donations, they help landowners draw up easements on valuable soils and forest resources. The Monadnock Conservancy has preserved large tracts of farmland in southwestern New Hampshire. But as federal grants dry up, local donor support for land trusts is vital.
We pay the fourth-highest property taxes in the nation. They comprise 61% of local government’s revenue. The cost of creating an easement is amortized by the reduction in taxes that comes with it. But the property tax burden on some landowners forces them to sell farmland. Every voter must speak for economic policies that support all our state’s resources, human, agricultural and ecological.
We must follow the legislature and oppose the massive cost shifting a Libertarian majority in Concord has created as it reduces state revenue sources. The past decade has seen $3 billion in cost shifting. Careful planning can balance housing needs and preservation of the land that is a major recreational, agricultural and economic resource in our state.
At the you-pick farm, farmers’ market or December’s cut-your-own-tree site, we support our state’s agricultural economy. Be an informed and engaged voter, enjoy New Hampshire maple syrup, and buy those juicy local tomatoes.
Christine Hague lives in Weare and assisted the Weare Planning Board in creating an ordinance establishing an Agricultural Committee.