NH farming still strong - More, but smaller, farms have redefined agriculture in the state

By Meghan Carey
Staff writer

August 17, 2008 12:01 am

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The number of New Hampshire farms is increasing, but the amount of land dedicated to agriculture is shrinking. Perhaps just as significantly, the revenue from agriculture is increasing and the state is producing as much milk as it did 20 years ago.

What has changed is the very definition of a farm. The stereotypical image of cows dotting green hillsides behind red barns and tall silos has morphed into something quite different.

Where farming meant dairying not too many years ago, it's now likely to mean ornamental horticulture, vegetables or berries.

That's especially true in Southern New Hampshire, where the size and complexion of the population have changed most dramatically: more people and more people with more money. That has translated into a different kind of farming in this part of the state.

"New Hampshire — and Rockingham County in particular — have become more affluent and the population has grown," state Agriculture Commissioner Lorraine Merrill said. "It creates more markets for farmers."

Those markets include landscape plants, fresh produce and more specialty crops.

The agricultural industry has made a gradual shift over the last few decades, broadening the scope of what's considered farming, Merrill said.

The wealthier population means people can afford to spend more money for gardening and the numbers prove it, Merrill said.

Plant and flower sales totaled $381 million for New Hampshire farmers last year, according to the state Farm Bureau.

Ron Hill, owner of Shady Hill Greenhouses in Londonderry, agreed that he's in the most popular field. His business has done nothing but grow since he opened 10 years ago. He spent four years selling plants to wholesalers, then switched to retail when he saw the demand.

"We're providing more products and different products for the consumer each year," Hill said.

Farmers like Hill are profiting from the shift in agriculture, but dairy farmers are suffering, according to Richard Uncles of the state Department of Agriculture. There are just 130 dairy farms left in New Hampshire, down from 800 farms 20 years ago, he said.

Robert "Stubby" Dolloff of Chester felt that pressure and closed the last dairy farm in the area last year, his brother Raymond Dolloff said.

"As the economy changed, every day they shipped out milk, they went further in the hole," he said.

Eventually, the cost of electricity and a growing medical problem forced Robert Dolloff to sell his cows, his brother said.

But the dairy farms that are left are producing the same amount of milk as the 800 farms did 20 years ago, Uncles said.

"The farms that remain have gotten bigger and gotten more productive per cow," he said.

There are more farms now, but they're smaller and they're using a lot less land. About 100,000 acres are dedicated to farms statewide, down from about 444,000 acres 10 years ago, Uncles said.

The amount of money generated by farming has increased over that period because small farms can meet the demands for produce and plants, he said.

"The other part of the big part of the picture is the new agriculture," Uncles said. "Typically, smaller farms are raising the specialty crops."

The owners of Hillside Farm in Hampstead are familiar with the situation. During their more than 40 years of farming, Dot Meyers has watched her counterparts sell out, but vows not to do so herself.

She and her husband, Bob, grow apples, mums and produce, which they sell at their roadside farm stand.

"All of the farmland has been turned over to the people who build houses," Meyers said. "We've been here for 44 years, so, you know, back then there was more land. We have land here, but you know people would love to buy it."

There are plenty of people in the county who support farm stands like Hillside Farm.

Families are spending more money on gardening and also on eating locally grown food, Merrill said. Farm stands and farmers markets are thriving with the sale of vegetables, plants and herbs, she said.

People are also starting to do some themselves as hobbies because of the locally grown interest, according to Merrill.

"More and more people are appreciating the value of homegrown," she said.

Caroline Morse is a prime example of that. The stay-at-home Sandown mom decided six years ago that she had enough space to start a farm and provide some life lessons for her children.

Now she and the kids take care of their animals and eat food they have grown.

The Morses' Nexus Farm started with alpacas, and now is home to goats and chickens, too.

"We got into goats because we had heard about the benefits of goat's milk," Morse said. "We got hens just because we like fresh eggs."

They sell some eggs, and Morse spins alpaca fiber to sell once a year, but otherwise the farm is just for them.

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