Physical Attributes of Chautauqua County

Chautauqua County is in the extreme Western part of New York. It is bounded on the north by Lake Erie; on the west by Erie County, Pennsylvania; on the south by Warren County, Pennsylvania; and on the east by Cattaraugus County, New York. Its northeast corner is bounded by the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. Chautauqua County has a total land area of 680,000 acres which roughly equates to 1,062 square miles. Mayville, New York is the county seat.

Although Chautauqua County has one of the highest numbers of farms per county in New York State, the number of farms in Chautauqua County has steadily declined over the years. In 1945, there were 5,778 farms in Chautauqua County. This number decreased dramatically to 1,678 farms by 2004.

As of 2017, preliminary data shows a 19% decrease of the total number of farms in Chautauqua County, down from 1,515 in 2012 to 1,228 in 2017. The average size of farms located in Chautauqua County has continually increased over the years. The average size of an individual farm was 89.4 acres in 1945, 151 acres in 2004 and was recorded as 182 acres in 2017 with a median farm size of 85 acres. Chautauqua County is situated in two contrasting physio-graphic provinces, the Erie- Ontario Plain province and the Allegheny Plateau province, and thus it supports two different kinds of farming enterprises.

While farm production is dominated by dairy and grape production, Chautauqua County also has significant sales of cattle, vegetables, fruits, timber, and maple products.