Agriculture played a major role in the early growth of Connecticut as one of the original 13 colonies that would form the United States of America, particularly in the Connecticut River valley which provides fertile soil, temperate climate and easy access to markets. As the Industrial Revolution helped focus capital on mercantile centers in the 19th century, Connecticut farmers over time ceded their relative economic and political influence.

In the 21st century, farming remains a relatively small but still significant industry in Connecticut, employing some 12,000 people as of 2010. Breaking a pattern of steady decline in the number of Connecticut farms, between 2002 and 2012 the number of Connecticut farms increased by 43%. A potential cause of this change in trend is increased consumer preference for locally sourced food, drawing some younger people to start up small farms. Connecticut had nearly 6,000 farms with 437,000 acres of land as of 2012, producing $551 million in revenue that year. In 2012, the total value of Connecticut farmland and buildings was $4.4 billion, down 3.5% from 2011.

Connecticut farms received $141 million in federal subsidies between 1995 and 2012, including commodity programs, conservation payments, crop insurance, and disaster aid, ranking it 45th of the 50 states.

Agricultural policy

Connecticut Department of Agriculture

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture steers agricultural policy at the state level, with membership-based farm bureaus and other nonprofits contributing to policy direction. The department has several responsibilities: foster a healthy economic and environmental climate for farms; protect resources; enforce laws related to domestic animals; and promote the industry. The agency includes a commissioner's office; bureaus for regulation and inspection, aquaculture; and agricultural development and resource preservation; and an administrative arm overseeing a farmer's market in Hartford.

In 2011, Governor Dannel Malloy appointed Steven Reviczky as commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, with Reviczky previously executive director of the nonprofit Connecticut Farm Bureau Association from 2006 to 2011. Reviczky chairs a Governor's Council for Agricultural Development charged with developing policies to encourage Connecticut residents to spend at least 5% of their food purchases on locally grown products by 2020. The state Department of Agriculture oversees several programs that provide direct funding for farms, including the:

CT Grown Joint Venture Grant Program; Environmental Assistance Program; Farm Reinvestment Grant; Farm Transition Grant; Farm Viability Grant Program for Municipalities; and Specialty Crop Block Grant. The state has also authorized one-time assistance programs, including the Production Loss Assistance Needed Today (PLANT) Grant program authorized in 2013 that provided funds for farmers impacted by storms and flooding. A state Bureau of Inspection and Regulation has oversight for a wide range of duties, including inspecting inputs like feed and fertilizer, as well as milk and produce produced for schools; animal control and health, including tracking West Nile virus and other communicable diseases; monitoring milk prices; and licensing agricultural and animal health facilities. The department publishes varying reports on the sector, including a weekly agricultural report; listings of farms; and guides to assist agricultural businesses, farmers markets and new farmers.

Land conservation

As the Connecticut economy expanded following World War II, developers accelerated purchases of farmland for conversion to residential and commercial developments. In 1978, the state established the Connecticut Farmland Preservation Program with the goal of protecting 130,000 acres of land from development, at least 85,000 of that amount as cropland. Under the Connecticut Farmland Preservation Program, farms sell their local government a conservation easement to their property, providing cash to the farm and control for the town to ensure the land can be withheld from future development. As of July 2019, under the direction of the state Department of Agriculture, the program has preserved more than 44,500 acres on 370 farms. The long-term goal is to preserve 130,000 acres.

In 1986, the state authorized a Joint State-Town Farmland Preservation Program to encourage municipalities to create their own preservation programs. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection administers the Connecticut Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grants Program, established in 1998 to help towns, conservation groups and water companies protect land deemed important, including farmland.

Despite those efforts, over a five-year period between 1997 and 2002, Connecticut lost 12% of its farmland to development, the highest percentage of any state in the nation.

Taxation of agricultural enterprises

Under Connecticut Public Act 490, for the purposes of local property taxation farmland is assessed at use value rather than fair market value, with the law intended to protect farmers from higher taxes caused by escalating land values in Connecticut. Despite the law, farm property taxes across Connecticut rose 44% between 1997 and 2002, the second highest rate of increase in the Northeast over that period.

Under Connecticut law, farmers can claim exemptions from property taxes on machinery and equipment valued up to $100,000; temporary structures used in the agricultural process; livestock and produce; and in the case of aquaculture, vessels used for commercial fishing. Municipalities have the option of allowing a tax abatement of up to 50% for other farm property. Connecticut exempts several farm products from sales tax, including fruit, vegetables, eggs, maple syrup, honey, cakes and pies. Farms are also exempt from paying sales tax on goods they purchase or lease that are used exclusively in the agricultural production process.

Agricultural products

In 1986, Connecticut created the Connecticut Grown Program to help farmers promote products to consumers who wish to buy locally. Other efforts to promote consumer awareness of local farms include a Farmers' Markets program; signage directing visitors to farms; a Farm-to-School program; a Farm-to-Chef program; crop seasonal availability calendars; and promotional boards focused on apples, milk, seafood and wine, among other products.

The top 15 agricultural products of Connecticut by value as of 2015:

1. Nursery and horticulture $252.9 million2. Milk $69.8 million3. Poultry and eggs $48.9 million4. Vegetables, melons, potatoes, and sweet potatoes $36.4 million5. Tobacco $35.7 million6. Fruits, nuts and berries $27.3 million7. Aquaculture $19.7 million8. Hay and other crops $15.5 million9. Grains, beans and peas $15.2 million10. Cattle $9.8 million11. Horses $8.1 million12. Christmas trees and greenery $6 million13. Other animals $6.2 million14. Sheep, goats, wool and milk $1.4 million15. Pork $1.3 million

Connecticut farmers increasingly are offering Community Supported Agriculture programs in which consumers purchase produce with an up-front payment for a full growing season.

As of 2007, Connecticut ranked first nationally in direct market sales at $27,000 per farm, with 22.4% of farms selling directly to markets, the second highest percentage in the nation.

Agricultural research

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station researches plants, pests, youth soil, and water. In addition to its main laboratory in New Haven, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station operates outdoor laboratories at Lockwood Farm in Hamden; Valley Laboratory in Windsor; and Griswold Research Center in Griswold. Major breakthroughs by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station include the development of a hybrid corn in 1918 that would have a major impact on world agriculture; creating the first organic fungicide to protect crops in 1940; and developing tests in 1984 to identify Lyme disease in the lab.

The University of Connecticut College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources runs the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station.

Agritourism

Many Connecticut farms derive a portion of their revenue from tourists, with organizers having published a Connecticut Farm Map and trails highlighting wine, beer, and cheese producers; farmers markets; and historic barns. Between July and October, agricultural fairs occur throughout the state, and many producers attend the Eastern States Exposition, held annually in September in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

Aquaculture

While the aquaculture industry nationally is monitored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, in Connecticut it is regulated by the state Department of Agriculture. In 2010, Connecticut's aquaculture industry produced 450,000 bushels of clams and 200,000 bushels of oysters, supporting about 300 jobs. As of 2010, the state leased 53,000 acres of waterbeds to aquaculture operators, and municipalities leased another 20,000 acres.

History

17th century

Before the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans farmed portions of Connecticut, growing corn, beans, and squash, among other plants; and tilling land using stone hoes, bones, turtle shells and wood. Native American tribes in New England are thought to have rotated crops, allowed land to lie fallow, and cleared land for cultivation using fire. Colonial settlers assimilated some practices of Native American farmers, particularly their reliance on corn as a crop; the use of fish and marine mud as a fertilizer; and their gathering of wild-growing "Indian rice", berries and hemp.

New settlers introduced their own practices such as clearing and plowing fields—using wooden plows sheathed with sheet iron or tin—and husbanding livestock to produce better yields. While the land that makes up modern day Connecticut was heavily forested, natural clearings suitable for cultivation were also available. Early farmers had to contend with predators representing a threat to livestock, including wolves, and relatively poor grass for dairy cattle that encouraged the breeding of hogs for meat. Over time, towns would develop village greens on quality pasture land to better feed and protect livestock.

As settlers organized townships along Long Island Sound and major rivers, some traded various articles to Native Americans for deeds to arable land in the interior sections of the state, leading to the establishment of new towns. The glaciers that formed Connecticut's ridges and river valleys left boulders in their wake, which farmers uprooted for use in stone walls demarcating boundaries.

Connecticut's produce increased in variety to include apples, barley, beets, carrots, cabbage, herbs, lettuce, oats, onions, parsnips, pears, peas, radishes, turnips, wheat and broadleaf tobacco. Crops were vulnerable to a range of threats, including birds, rodents, insects, flooding, drought and blight.

Farmers also enjoyed abundant years that resulted in gluts of corn and other crops, with Connecticut's early colonial government attempting without success varying mechanisms to maintain prices, including purchase pools that sought to eliminate middlemen.

Early Connecticut farmers exported beef and produce primarily to Boston, with smaller amounts shipped to Barbados, Jamaica and other Caribbean islands.

Settlers cultivated tobacco as early as 1640, despite some prohibitions on its use. By the 18th century most restrictions were no longer on the books, and tobacco exports grew. In 1784, Connecticut implemented measures in a bid to ensure that only the best quality tobacco was packaged for export, assigning inspectors and holding them accountable.

18th century

Probate records show that during the 100-year period spanning 1670 to 1759, the median Connecticut farm's livestock holdings consisted of three horses, 13 cattle, 16 sheep and seven pigs.