Stories

Sam Rose began his farming journey as a teacher, first in a high school classroom, followed by a decade of teaching field science in Mexico and co-founding an agricultural nonprofit. Sam’s passion for growing food and community led him to the Hudson Valley, where he would search for a farm of his own.

Maddie Morley has been working directly with Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, a Farmland for a New Generation New York Regional Navigator, since she first moved to the Hudson Valley from California in 2013. She started as a Glynwood employee, working first as a Livestock Apprentice and later as a Livestock Assistant, and then went on to participate in their farm business incubator, receiving direct technical assistance from Glynwood’s Director of Farmer Training and Regional Navigator Dave Llewellyn as she began to dream up her own farm business.

Mike Parker, a first-generation beginning farmer, had been seeking the right opportunity to start a diversified livestock enterprise while working for the National Young Farmers Coalition in Hudson, NY. In 2019, using Farmland for a New Generation New York’s farmland finder website, Mike reached out to the owners of Pinehurst Farm in Otsego county. The property had been a wholesale dairy for decades, but the tenant dairy farmer's upcoming retirement encouraged the landowning family to seek out a new farmer who would prioritize environmental sustainability. Mike's plan for a regenerative grazing operation was a match!

While living in New York City, Chris Tsimbidis used to imagine building a diversified farm to produce healthy food while improving the soil, healing ecosystems, and capturing carbon. In October 2019 he enrolled in the Farmer Assistance Program offered by GrowNYC, a Farmland for a New Generation New York Regional Navigator, to prepare a business plan for his future farm. Once he was ready to find land, Chris created a profile on the Farmland for a New Generation New York website and attended a farm tour in the upper Hudson Valley hosted by another Regional Navigator, Agricultural Stewardship Association (ASA).

Eugene Kwak and Claire Ko shared a conviction to do more to support New York farms. As an architect and professor, Eugene had a vision to create a space that would bring farming, food and people together. He spent two years immersed in learning about farming and searching for land. With help from several Hudson Valley Farmlink Network partners, Eugene and Claire bought farmland in Orange County, built a shared home on the land, and found a farm family to partner with, offering them a long-term, secure lease. 

Carlos L. Valery Jr. is the fourth generation in his family to be farming, and currently raises grass-fed beef on his farm in Meredith, NY. Carlos immigrated from Venezuela to live in New York City, but after a few years working in Brooklyn, he decided to move upstate and start his own beef cattle operation. Carlos connected to a landowner through AFT's Farmland for a New Generation New York website. 

Good timing is crucial for many aspects of farming, and for Bari Zeiger, one opportunity came at just the right time. During the fall of 2019, Bari was preparing to purchase 12 acres of land in Wyoming County to start a farm of her own, following years of experience working on farms and deciding that she was on the right path. Soon after putting in her first offer, Bari was awarded a microgrant from American Farmland Trust, which she used to help cover the closing costs on the property. 

Meet Farmland for a New Generation New York Regional Navigator Jon Brown, Food and Beverage Law Clinic at Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University. 

Kama Doucoure applied for a $1,000 microgrant from AFT to hire a business planning consultant to further his goal of developing a community managed farm business that serves his community in the Bronx. 

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.