The Changing Face of New Hampshire Agriculture
Two hundred and fifty years ago the majority of New Hampshire residents got their living from the land. Nearly all our settled land was open fields and pastures, and the forest began at the "frontier". Today more than 85% of the state is covered with trees, and the rest holds over a million people.
The first settlers in New Hampshire in the 1600’s were subsistence farmers. They farmed aggressively, growing a little bit of everything, in order to survive. As farms expanded beyond the subsistence level, farmers began to harvest salt marsh hay in the Great Bay salt marshes and ship it to Boston , Thus, Market Agriculture was born.
As time passed, agriculture spread west to the Merrimack River Valley from the coastal regions. Farms also began to appear along the Connecticut River as settlers migrated north from Massachusetts and Connecticut .
The great heyday for agriculture in New Hampshire occurred during the period between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Many thousands of acres of land were cleared. Trees were girdled and farmers either burned down the dead trees or waited for them to fall. Then they planted crops between the stumps. By 1850, 70% of all the land in the state was cleared, and 85% of all the land south of the White Mountains was cleared. All the old stone walls you see today as you stroll through the woods mark the boundaries of once open fields - fields that were cleared by backbreaking labor. The major agricultural products during this period were grains, meat, cheese and wool.
The beginning of the 1800's marked the sheep boom which was centered in western New Hampshire and along the Connecticut River as far north as Littleton . The dietary habits of settlers from the British Isles were largely responsible for the great success of the sheep industry; this group consumed large amounts of lamb and mutton. In fact, during this period there were some small towns that had as many as 18,000 head of sheep at a time! As water-power factories grew up along our fast rivers, sheep wool became one of the most important raw materials for the mills.
During this profitable era, agriculture helped to create many of the fortunes that were responsible for the fine architecture of the post-revolutionary period. Many of these early farms, along with their large, handsome houses, are still in use today. Others, although they still enhance our landscape, are no longer working farms. Mostly this is because many smaller farms were not able to adapt to the large-scale operating methods that became necessary in order to compete with the developing west.
After the Civil War, railroads opened the western territories for settlement, and the number of farms in New Hampshire declined. Farms consolidated and the rural population decreased. Because of the severe climate and thin soils, most of the farms in the northern part of the state that were above 1500 feet elevation were abandoned.
The sheep industry further declined with the influx of a Southern European immigrant population who did not have lamb and mutton as a dietary staple. In addition, the spread of central heat lessened the need for sheep wool for the manufacture of woolen garments.
With the advent of the 1900s, the United States became more and more industrialized. The few remaining subsistence farms faded into dust. For the first time refrigerator cars allowed the shipment of fluid milk to cities. Up to this time dairy products had consisted mostly of butter and cheese. The first half of this century saw the rise of the dairy, poultry, and fruit and vegetable industries. Most farmers shipped in bulk to large cities.
The heyday of the poultry industry was in the 1940's and 50's. New Hampshire poultry production once led the world, and apartment-style hen houses still dot our landscape. But gradually this industry migrated closer to its feed sources. It is now centralized in rural southern areas of the country.
Until just recently, the dairy and apple industries held the largest shares of New Hampshire 's agricultural markets. Unfortunately, local farmers are experiencing stiff competition in these commodity areas from regions of the country where production costs are lower, or even from overseas.
To a large extent, New Hampshire dairy farmers have to import concentrate feeds from the midwest where they're produced. This leads to higher production costs. Urban pressures - higher tax bases and the temptation to sell to developers - also affect the dairy industry. High land costs mean higher production costs. Another element is the fact that the dairy industry as a whole can produce as much milk today as 20 years ago on one-quarter the number of dairy farms with half as many cows. Obviously, the squeeze is on.
Another industry feeling the squeeze, despite its advances in efficiency, is the apple industry. Maybe this is because the typical German consumes 100 pounds of apples per person per year, while the typical American consumes only 23 pounds of apples per person per year. Or maybe not.
New Hampshire 's total production in terms of bushels of apples has significantly declined in the last 15 years. But four factors have increased its efficiency: the use of dwarfing root stocks which increase production per acre, the implementation of IPM (integrated pest management) which decreases reliance on chemical protection, the improvement of storage facilities which allows farmers to store apples for 8 to 10 months of the year, and the use of drip irrigation. More than ever, apple growers are selling their apples through local retail markets, rather than selling wholesale to large brokers.
What does seem to be working for New Hampshire 's farmers, in addition to increasing their production efficiency, is direct sales to consumers. Roadside stands and farmer's markets have aided the profitability of many a farm, So has the addition of specialized, high-value crops that appeal to only certain segments of the market. Have a yen for oriental vegetables, goat cheese, culinary herbs or old-fashioned roses? You can find producers of all these right here in New Hampshire . Smaller-sized farms and farmers markets and niche markets are definitely the wave of the future.
The agricultural industries with the largest market shares today are ornamental horticulture, dairy, horses, livestock and vegetables. Ornamental horticulture alone is now worth $400 million or more. It includes everything from greenhouses to nursery and perennial growers, to sod farms, garden centers, landscape businesses, athletic fields and golf courses.
Why are the horticultural commodities doing so well? Because they lend themselves to direct sales, and many farmers now do a tremendous job of marketing and merchandising their crops. As more than one person has been known to say - "Marketing is the name of the game!"
Call the UNH Cooperative Extension's Family, Home & Garden Education Center 's Info-Line toll-free at 1-877-3984769 for "Practical Solutions to Everyday Questions." Trained volunteers are available to answer your questions Monday through Friday from 9 am to 2 pm .
By Margaret Hagen, Extension Educator, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Hillsborough County