OPINION: LI farmers need a mobile unit for humane animal slaughter

Dee Muma, founder of Tweeds Restaurant and the upcoming Dark Horse Restaurant in downtown Riverhead, raises bison on a Riverhead farm.

Once upon a time, and not very long ago, all of Long Island was engaged in agricultural production for the regional market. As recently as post-World War II, Nassau County as well as Suffolk were almost completely agricultural. The Hempstead Plain grew potatoes and market crops for generations before it began to sprout housing developments.

Both counties were home to robust farm economies: Farms were close to their market, with great soil and long growing seasons, and were well-supplied with all the infrastructure that supported this honest work. The sellers of tractors and other farm equipment, fertilizers and seeds, farm animals, and the supporting businesses and services - they were all here.

Now most farming activity is restricted to the East End. Suffolk may still be the highest farm crop-grossing county in New York State, but the businesses and services that support this agricultural work are dangerously close to or below critical mass. Where once there were 10 different tractor and equipment dealers, now there are two. The same goes for the commercial agricultural machine shops that keep the older tractors and their implements going.

Unlike the huge expanses of farmland in the center of the United States - where there is a big financial disconnect between the growing of large, raw-material crops like wheat, corn and soybeans and the sale of these commodities to the end consumer - Long Island is fortunate to be at the front door of its market. But the Island's relatively long growing season for crops is still limited by the winter weather. So the month-to-month income of Long Island farmers varies with the time of year. It's a long time between early December and mid-April, and there aren't many paydays for farmers during that time.

Paradoxically, just at a time when many suburbanites from western Long Island have realized the value of buying fresh and local foods, many of the remaining farmers face ever-rising pressures on their land and livelihoods. If this farming world on the East End is to continue for the benefit of all of us, the ability to raise and harvest animals must be a part of the farmers' incomes.

Traditional, Colonial agriculture in the Northeast has always had a harvest animal component. Farmers grew crops on a section of their land, harvested the crops, then allowed the animals in to clean up the "leftovers." These poultry - or cows, or pigs, or sheep - were then harvested in their turn, providing food and income for the farmer.

Nowadays, the image of raising animals for food has been sullied. We have all heard of the gigantic animal factories in other parts of the country. These huge facilities have shown us sickening images: thousands of animals jammed together, unable to move about (if at all), generating tons and tons of waste, dead or "down" animals, sickness and disease. No one wants to see this here on Long Island, and we won't.

Here, we really have family farms, and the forces that drive family farming are different from those behind corporate farming. Corporate farming needs huge outlays of capital for fertilizers, chemicals, irrigation and the like. Corporations look to the short-term bottom line of profits. By contrast, family farmers here on the East End make their decisions in the interest of the next generation of the family, who will take over the farm in the years to come.

Sustainable agriculture is almost always practiced on a smaller, more human scale. A family farm can plan seasonally rotational crops, which require fewer amendments to the soil. Adding a small animal "crop" to these rotations only improves the quality of the soil. In this model there is a much, much lower density per acre of free-range animals, as well as lower absolute numbers of animals. At this density, the animal manure can be composted and used to improve the growing power of the farm - as well as to lower the fertilizer bills.

The stumbling block for the farmers' ability to gain the value of this crop, however, is the humane and safe slaughter of these animals. There is no facility for this purpose on Long Island, so at the moment, I have to trailer my buffalo to an eastern Pennsylvania slaughterhouse. Making the trip is very stressful to the animals, as well as expensive and time-consuming for us.

But there is a better model. The Hudson Valley farming area is now being served by a mobile slaughter truck that allows animals to be processed humanely and with excellent sanitation.

The farmer makes an appointment with the mobile unit, which comes to his or her farm. Staff includes a USDA inspector who stamps the meat for commercial sale. This designation gives the farmer the best possible price for the product, and allows restaurants to gain a supply of excellent local foods.

Suffolk County agriculture would be well served by the acquisition of a similar mobile unit. Long Island animal producers have formed the Long Island Livestock Association to work together toward this goal.

The Hudson Valley group has worked very hard to reconcile federal, state and county health regulations to bring its mobile slaughter facility to reality. We on Long Island will have to do the same. But the efforts will surely be worth it. Long Island consumers will not only be better off, but the future of Long Island's farms will be, too.