Northeast Region

The Northeast Region faces a unique set of trends, opportunities, and constraints compared with some other regions still highly engaged in traditional row crop agriculture.

From Washington, DC, to New York City, and up into the Atlantic Provinces, local food production has taken different forms from the past, and management of soil and water has expanded to concern a group beyond farmers. Urbanization continues to spread, and concerns related to urban soil and water management emerge as novel issues. Green Infrastructure for urban stormwater management has been increasingly adopted as a preferred solution for improving watershed health. As the number of active farms declines, preservation of farmland becomes a priority, while focus on soil and water conservation in a historic sense declines as pressures from cultivation diminish. Meanwhile, new arrangements are emerging for land trusts and first-time farmers to engage in farm-to-market production. These include Community Supported Agriculture whereby people pay upfront to help finance growers who provide weekly harvest shares of vegetables, fruits, cheese, honey, and other farm products. Other farm-to-table relationships providing agricultural produce to specialty restaurants, farmers' markets, and pop-up eateries have become mainstays for foodies valuing freshness, quality, and unique local offerings. How we serve the current local needs surrounding soil and water conservation is looking very different from the solutions that galvanized action after the Dust Bowl, and they will likely continue to change into the future.