The Town Board recognizes farming is an essential
enterprise and an important industry which enhances the economic base,
natural environment and quality of life in the Town of Cobleskill.
The Town Board further declares that it shall be the policy of this
Town to encourage agriculture and foster understanding by all residents
of the necessary day-to-day operations involved in farming so as to
encourage cooperation with those practices. It is the general purpose
and intent of this chapter to maintain and preserve the rural traditions
and character of the Town, to permit the continuation of agricultural
practices, to protect the existence and operation of farms, to encourage
the initiation and expansion of farms and agribusiness, and to promote
new ways to resolve disputes concerning agricultural practices and
farm operations. In order to maintain a viable farming economy in
the Town of Cobleskill, it is necessary to limit the circumstances
under which farming may be deemed to be nuisance, and to allow agricultural
practices inherent to and necessary for the business of farming to
proceed and be undertaken free of unreasonable and unwarranted interference
or restriction.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
Those practices necessary for the on-farm production, preparation
and marketing of agricultural commodities. Examples of such practices
include, but are not limited to, operation of farm equipment, proper
use of agricultural chemicals and other crop production methods, and
construction and use of farm structures.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Those products as defined in § 301, Subdivision
2, of Article 25-AA of the State Agriculture and Markets Law, including
but not limited to:
A.
Field crops, including corn, wheat, rye, barley,
hay, potatoes and dry beans.
B.
Fruits, including apples, peaches, grapes, cherries
and berries.
C.
Vegetables, including tomatoes, snap beans,
cabbage, carrots, beets and onions.
D.
Horticultural specialties, including nursery
stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees and flowers.
E.
Livestock and livestock products, including
cattle, sheep, hogs, goats, horses, poultry, llamas, ratites, such
as ostriches, emus, rheas and kiwis, farmed deer, farmed buffalo,
fur-bearing animals, milk and milk products, eggs, furs, and poultry
products.
F.
Maple sap and sugar products.
G.
Christmas trees derived from a managed Christmas
tree operation whether dug for transplanting or cut from the stump.
H.
Aquaculture products, including fish, fish products,
water plants, and shellfish.
I.
Short rotation woody crops raised for bioenergy.
J.
Production and sale of woodland products, including
but not limited to logs, lumber, posts and firewood.
FARMER
Any person, organization, entity, association, partnership,
limited liability company, or corporation engaged in the business
of agriculture, whether for profit or otherwise, including the cultivation
of land, the raising of crops, or the raising of livestock.
FARMLAND
Land used in agricultural production, as defined in Subdivision
4 of § 301 of Article 25-AA of the State Agriculture and
Markets Law.
FARM OPERATION
Shall be defined in § 301, Subdivision 11, in the
State Agriculture and Markets Law.
This chapter and its provisions are in addition
to all other applicable laws, rules and regulations.