* Did we identify all of the farms and farm businesses in Cato? Help us out by adding to our Google map!
** Check out our new Town of Cato Interactive Mapping Application!
Welcome to the Town's Ag Planning Website! We're excited to be involved in this effort to make sure that farming can remain a part of this Town – just as it has for centuries.
In 2008 we completed the joint Town of Ira & Town of Cato Comprehensive Plan which identified the preservation of active farmland and rural character as one of its primary goals. It says, “the Towns of Ira and Cato will strive to maintain the viability of agriculture within the community as an integral part of the local economy and an important land use activity to sustain future generations”. In order to achieve this goal we came up with 15 objectives (listed below). With the momentum generated from the completion of the Comprehensive Plan, the Town was able to secure a Farmland Protection Planning Grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. This grant allows us to take a closer look at ways to implement our objectives and achieve our goal of maintaining the viability of agriculture in Cato.
This website is intended to serve as a clearinghouse for information about the planning process and to provide a way for you to share your ideas and energy with the volunteers that make up the Ag and Farmland Protection Planning Committee. The best ways to share your thoughts with the committee are:
Join us at a meeting!
Call or write Geoff Milz at 253-1276 - Geoff is our project consultant and will compile all of the comments and share them with the Committee
Contact the Committee members directly
We look forward to hearing from you as we work to ensure that Cato remains a great place to live and a great place to farm!
Charlie Ray, Supervisor
1. Ira and Cato will encourage farming and agricultural commerce as a means to preserve rural character and open space
2. Ensure agriculture to continue as the primary economic activity in the community
3. Treat farming as a business enterprise and as the primary land use in the community
4. Encourage a supportive business climate for agricultural commerce
5. Support clean energy technology and cooperation with business that provides new paradigms to improve the economic viability of farming in the community (for example: bio-fuel support, waste-to-energy production and nutrient recycling).
6. The Towns of Ira and Cato should coordinate to develop consistency in local land use procedures that addresses agriculture
7. The Town Planning Boards will discourage fragmentation of currently active and potentially active farmland for other land uses
8. Strive to maintain the most productive agricultural land for future generations.
9. Work with local members of the agricultural community to encourage individual farmers to secure funding for farmland protection and open space conservation.
10.Encourage sound farming practices in accordance with the guidelines of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Best Management Practices (BMP) to include:
11. Provide a climate where business, particularly locally owned operations, can benefit from the Town's agricultural heritage
12. Discourage commercial or industrial activity that does not compliment agricultural infrastructure or operation from locating in the agricultural zoning district and encourage those activities to locate in areas adjacent to the Villages or within close proximity to the New York State Thruway
13. Promote business development that supports and/or is supported by agriculture in the community
14. Foster an economic climate that supports and promotes the expansion of agri-tourism within each municipality
15. Provide incentives for specialty farms, hobby farms, and self sufficiency farm and encourage agriculture that is compatible with residential development (i.e. farm stands, nurseries, local product outlets) in residential areas.