Trump war in Iran threatens farmer livelihoods on East End

WLIW-FM gives us something to believe in. If you’re enjoying this podcast, consider a donation today, during our Spring Fund Drive.Donate hereCan’t afford to make a donation? Rate and review this show on your favorite podcast platform, and send this show to just 1 person who could benefit from it. Word of mouth makes our community stronger.***The number of cars hitting deer on Long Island rose 75% over eight years to the highest level on record, a consequence of what biologists say is severe overpopulation of deer on the East End and Suffolk County North Shore that's spreading west.Southold Town Highway Department worker Fred Friedberg, a 42 year veteran, has seen the aftermath firsthand — he's had to remove an increasing number of dead deer, as many as six a day. More than 220 deer, roughly one per mile, were killed on north fork roadways in a single year, according to Southold Town Police."It can be nasty, gruesome," said the 61-year-old maintenance mechanic who lives in Cutchogue."The deer are literally running into cars," said Jean Thatcher, the mayor of Lloyd Harbor, a village in the Town of Huntington that also has a large deer population. "It's an extremely serious problem of public safety, public health and environmental degradation."Peter Gill reports in NEWSDAY that around 570 deer strikes were reported in 2016, increasing to about 1,000 in 2024, according to data from the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, which goes back to 2009. Crashes are most common in Suffolk County, but in Nassau, deer strikes rose from just 11 in 2016 to nearly 70 in 2024. All the figures may be undercounts, since drivers are only required to report deer-vehicle crashes when there is significant property damage or injury, and even then, they don't always do so.Biologists say that with the elimination of their natural predators, and suburban landscapes providing plenty of food, the ungulates likely number in the tens of thousands across Long Island — though no one knows the exact number because there is no large-scale census, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.The increase in deer strikes is not explained by changes in traffic volume or worsening driving behaviors alone. Over the same period that deer-vehicle crashes rose 75% on Long Island, the cumulative miles driven stayed roughly steady. Meanwhile, the total number of non-deer crashes did rise, but only by about 21%.Drivers are advised to use precautions such as driving slowly. But biologists say the most effective way to reduce deer crashes is through hunting and deer culls, though some say restrictions have reduced culling's effectiveness. Deer crashes are most common during mating season, when they are most active, from October to December — especially around sunset.AAA advises drivers to be extra vigilant, use high beams when appropriate and remember that deer travel in groups — so if you see one, expect others.***Two East End towns are taking steps to spur new accessory apartments in the hopes of alleviating the region's affordable housing crisis. Alek Lewis and Tara Smith report in NEWSDAY that East Hampton is weighing a package of zone changes and financial incentives to encourage more accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, apartments that share property with a single-family home, either within the home or in a detached structure such as a garage.The Town of East Hampton is looking to eliminate a ban on second homeowners from creating ADUs. Officials also plan to lower minimum lot size requirements so more properties are eligible to build the apartments.On Tuesday, the Town of Riverhead overhauled its ADU rules, streamlining the permitting process and abolishing the approval requirement of a review board. The new law increased the townwide cap of ADUs to 500. In East Hampton, ADUs can be up to two bedrooms and between 300 and 1,200 square feet. In Riverhead, they can have no more than one bedroom and must be between 400 and 1,000 square feet. In both towns, ADUs cannot be used for short-term rentals.Interest in ADUs has jumped on Long Island, Newsday has reported. For homeowners, the apartments can mean extra income or a separate living space for a family member.In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to launch tools to support ADU development. Some Long Island governments have rejected calls over worries about increased traffic and stress on public services.East Hampton officials see ADUs as valuable for increasing housing stock on the South Fork, where home prices have climbed to record levels and affordable housing options are limited.In East Hampton, ADUs are considered affordable housing and must be rented at or under prices established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.In Riverhead, the ADU permit process will now be handled entirely by the town's building department. Previously, a now-defunct review board oversaw the approval process.The law increases the allowed maximum size of ADUs. The town continues to require that the principal dwelling unit of a property with an ADU be owner-occupied. There are around 130 ADUs in Riverhead Town, officials said.***As Riverhead-area farmers head into the growing season, a war half a world away is threatening to drive up the cost of the fertilizer and fuel they depend on most, adding fresh pressure to an industry already squeezed by the high cost of farming on Long Island. The concern is not so much that local growers will be unable to get fertilizer this spring, but that they will have to pay more for it — and for the freight and fuel costs that ripple through nearly every aspect of farming.Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Middle East tensions have rattled fertilizer markets just as many U.S. farmers are making or finalizing spring purchases.That global market turmoil is landing at an especially difficult time for local farmers, said Bill Zalakar, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau.“Most farmers probably do not have their fertilizer on hand as of right now,” Zalakar told Riverheadlocal on Tuesday. “Most farmers will start buying that in the next month or so as the weather starts to warm up a little bit.”Zalakar said the impact here may extend beyond fertilizer itself.“Probably even bigger than the fertilizer is just going to be the fuel and transportation cost,” he said, noting that farmers rely on diesel for tractors and other equipment and that shipping costs affect nearly everything that comes onto — and leaves — Long Island.AAA’s Nassau-Suffolk metro average for diesel on March 17 was $5.207 a gallon, up from $3.933 a month earlier.For a farming region like Riverhead, where agricultural heritage remains a defining part of the community even as suburban development has steadily reduced farmland, the latest spike in input costs is a reminder of how vulnerable local agriculture remains to forces far beyond the East End.