Even to casual observer farms in New York are quite different and varied. I looked at one way of categorizing farms under a fodder called Farm Metrics. That method might be useful at comparing hobby farms to professional farmers and the scale of operation but it seems to leave a lot of factors missing. Some other possibilities include:

• How Urban is the Area?
• How Flat is the Terrain?
• What Kind of Soil Conditions?
• Socio-economic Background of the Farmer

How Urban is the Area

Urbanization is a major pressure on farms. In urban areas there are more jobs for people to work off-the-farm encouraging more hobby farms. There also is more development pressure and a tendency for neighbors not to understand the realities of farming as it exists. In areas near urban centers, farmers are often seen as throwbacks to an earlier era, but in rural areas farming is just a way of life for most people around. Farms near cities tend to be less about commodities and more about direct to consumer sales.

How Flat is the Terrain?

Flat land is easier to farm. Fields in big flood plains tend to be more fertile, and you can get more work done with less labor with big tractors and other toys. This encourages larger CAFO farms and the alike to be located in such area. Likewise, flat areas at least in New York State tend to be closer to sources of water allowing more livestock to be water and crops to be irrigated then otherwise would be able in the mountains. Farms in the hills typically are smaller and more diverse in what they grow.

Soil Condition

Soil condition is everything on the farm. You need to have soils that allow for crops to grow and produce lots of feedstock. This factor is one of the biggest limiters of farming in a lot of the Adirondacks and other high mountain regions, but it also is deeply connected to these other things.

Socio-Economic Status of Farmer

The last one is the most interesting as it's based on the first three and can say much about how a farmer chooses how to farm. Most farms have a long history of farming in the family, and the crops or livestock raised today usually aren't all that significantly different from what the farmer chooses to raise today. Socio-economic status and experience it generates can determine things like:

• Crops Raised: Apples, Dairy, Wine
• Professional Farm: Or is it just a hobby farm?

Experience of farming and farm cultures is the most important factor in determining a farm and how it exists today and in the future. Experience creates human beings as it is the product of our socialization. We are social animals and can only live the life that we learn from our own lives.