Stories

Committed to Conservation: A Dairy Farmer Revitalizes the Land and Brings in the Next Generation

Peter Mapstone has always worked to leave the land better than he found it. Working with New York Agricultural Land Trust, a Regional Navigator for Farmland for a New Generation New York, Peter applied to permanently protect his farm with a conservation easement, allowing him to revitalize more acres and bring the next generation into the farm business.

Farmer Profile: Jason Duverney-Gaspar

Jason is a trained horticulturist with a passion for food, farming, and community! Check out his profile to learn about his 5-year plan and his hopes for engaging diverse communities of New York.

Management Experiences Help a New Generation Move Past Honeymoon Phase of Farming and Find a Farm to Lease

Orlando Diaz and Leah Munsey met while working on a farm in Montana, and moved back east together to search for a farm in the Hudson Valley, where Orlando grew up. After a few twists and turns, they found an opportunity to lease land at Taliaferro Farms, an established CSA farm business that was looking to transition the land to new farmers. Read the story to learn how they connected with Pete Taliaferro through the Hudson Valley farmland finder website, and used micro-grant funding to develop their farm lease.

Young Farmers and Landowners Search for a Farm Together

Farmers Christine and Fabio first searched for land to lease through the Hudson Valley farmland finder - but what they found was a deeply-rooted connection. One year later, when the landowners decided to relocate, they invited the farmers to join their search for a new property.

A First-Generation Farmer Finds Happiness in a Herd

Lee Hennessy left his hometown seeking success and happiness on the west coast. After climbing the professional ladder, Lee realized he would be happiest on the ground in a pair of dirty boots. Read how Lee found his way to raising goats and buying his own farm with help from several organizations working together in New York.

A Weekend Home Becomes a Farm, A CSA Becomes a Family

Larry and Betti decide to leave the city to move to their weekend home in Red Hook with the vision of turning the property into a farm. Learn how they made it happen with a flexible lease with a young, ambitious farmer, and how the farm and its CSA has impacted their connection with the local community.

Windfall Farms: Orange County Farmer Helps New Farmers Get Their Start

Morse Pitts watched farms disappear around him for decades as warehouses and factories sprung up around his 142 acre farm in Orange County, leaving Windfall Farms as an island of farmland in an industrial sea. Find out how the Hudson Valley Farmlink Network partners at GrowNYC and Orange County Land Trust helped Morse keep his land in farming and provide opportunities to jump-start the next generation of farmers on his land.

Laughing Earth Farm: Farmland Protection Aligns Values and Financial Needs

After leasing farmland in Illinois for five years, Zack and Annie Metzger returned to Annie's native New York to put down more permanent roots. Read how the Metzgers worked with their landowners and local partners to utilize state farmland protection funding to buy the farm and protect it from development forever.

Keeping an Open Mind During the Farm Search

“The wider net you cast, the better.” Farmer Erik Schellenberg isn’t giving fishing tips, he’s talking about farmland – specifically the struggle that farmers face in finding the right farm to catch their hook on.