Agricultural Adaptation to Urbanization: Farm Types in Northeast Metropolitan Areas

Abstract

Metropolitan agriculture is not homogeneous. This paper delves beneath metropolitan county averages using data on individual farms in the Northeast classified into three statistically distinct types. A small group of adaptive farms profit from intensive production on smaller acreage to accommodate themselves to the urban environment. Traditional farms have increased costs and pressures on their more extensive operations without compensating increases in revenue from better-adapted enterprises. A large group of recreational farms subsidize small-farm activities from nonfarm income. Operating characteristics of each farm type are presented and their importance to metropolitan agriculture is assessed. Implications for preserving farming and farmland in the Northeast are drawn.

Peri-urban farmland conservation and development of alternative food networks: Insights from a case-study area in metropolitan Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain)

“…This 'positive' approach considers the advantages of market proximity and is based on the assumption that, due to the high value of the land, farmers have to invest more and work harder to balance urban pressures, leading to increased revenues (Bryant and Johnston, 1992); hence, the notion of "agricultural adaptation to urbanization" (Heimlich and Barnard, 1997). Positive and innovative behaviour by farmers in response to urban competition has facilitated their transition from conventional farming to alternative practices; for example, organic farming (Beauchesne and Bryant, 1999), direct selling by farmers to consumers rather than through supermarkets, specific labelling identifying product origin, etc., that is, the development of multiple AFNs.…”

Finding Farms: Comparing Indicators of Farming Dependence and Agricultural Importance in the United States

“…Similarly, studies of farming in urban contexts suggest that a significant amount of overall farm output is produced in metro counties and in economically robust nonmetro counties adjacent to these urban core areas (Heimlich 1989;Isserman 2001). Studies of metro agriculture find farms in urban areas, although qualitatively different from other farms, are surprisingly vibrant and robust (Heaton 1980;Heimlich 1989;Heimlich and Barnard 1992;Sharp et al 2002).…”

Avenues into Food Planning: A Review of Scholarly Food System Research

“…Geographers and agricultural economists have built upon the Von Thünen theory, showing that as urbanization drives up agricultural land rents, farmers switch to high-value commodity production. The von Thünen model is supported by numerous data-driven studies from agricultural economists, showing that farms near urbanized areas produce more valuable products on less land with more diverse ownership (Heaton 1980; Hart 1991; Heimlich and Barnard 1992, 1997; Barnard and Heimlich 1993; Losada et al 1998; Heimlich and Anderson 2001). When the values of peri-urban crops are high enough, they can deter lower value residential developments thus constraining sprawl (Thomas and Howell 2003; Angel et al 2005; Sheppard 2011).…”