OTISVILLE, N.Y. — A 196-acre working farm in the Town of Mount Hope that produces meat, eggs, vegetables, and goats’ milk has been protected through a conservation easement that keeps the land in agriculture and in the hands of a young farming family.
The conservation easement was finalized on Friday, March 22, thanks to the joint efforts of the Orange County Land Trust (OCLT), Scenic Hudson, Equity Trust, the farm’s prior owners, and the farm’s current operators. A first-of-its-kind project in New York State, it will both keep the land affordable for future generations of farmers and in active agricultural production.
The idea of protecting the farm was initiated by the farm’s late owner, William “Bill” Topp, who had owned the farm since 1984 and was leasing it to Patricia “Trish” Southway and Matt Southway, the owners of the Farmer’s Daughter farm store in Otisville, NY. Mr. Topp wished to sell the farm to the Southways, a young and entrepreneurial farm family, but like many farmers seeking to own land, they were not in a position to buy the property for full market value.
View of the 196-acre Hidden Hollow Dairy Farm in Otisville. (Courtesy Photo)At Mr. Topp’s request, the Orange County Land Trust, Scenic Hudson, and Equity Trust developed a plan to protect the farm and facilitate the affordable transfer of ownership to the Southways. OCLT applied for and received a grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets through its Farmland Protection Implementation Grant Program. Using funding from the Environmental Protection Fund, this grant program has helped protect over 73,800 acres of farmland through 2018.
The grant helped pay for the purchase of a permanent restriction, known as a conservation easement, which limits future development on the property to protect the agricultural land, productive soils, and a wetland and stream that flows to the Shawangunk Kill. However, preventing development does not guarantee that the property will remain affordable, available to farmers, or in agricultural use. To address these concerns, the project partners agreed to include two innovative tools in the easement.
The first is a restriction that keeps the land affordable and in the hands of farmers by requiring that if the farm is sold, it must be to a farmer, and for a price that reflects its agricultural value. The second ensures that the farm stays in productive use by requiring that the owners generate a minimum level of commercial agricultural activity. Both tools have only been recently introduced to New York and the resale restriction got a boost last summer when lawmakers voted to allow state funding for such provisions. This project is the first in the Hudson Valley, and the first in collaboration with New York State funding, to use both of these tools. The end result is that the barriers to entry into farm ownership are reduced for farmers like the Southways.
The Southways have moved their family onto the farm, and are in the process of starting a goat dairy, called Hidden Hollow Dairy, to add to their already impressively diverse operation that includes meat, eggs, and vegetables. Their Farmer’s Daughter farm store on Route 211 in Otisville will be open on Saturdays starting in May, and a self-serve stand on the farm on Shoddy Hollow Road will be open Monday through Saturday. They plan on holding public open farm days starting this summer.
NYS Ag & Markets contributed $294,744 toward total project costs through a grant to the Orange County Land Trust and The Scenic Hudson Land Trust contributed $103,559. Equity Trust contributed $210,900 for the value of the two affordability provisions.
Unfortunately, Bill Topp passed away not long after the project began taking shape, but his family and estate carried out his wishes to see this project through to its completion.
“This has been our dream since the day we met,” said Trish Southway of Farmer’s Daughter/Hidden Hollow Dairy Farm. “Words cannot express how grateful we are to have been able to purchase this farm so that we can continue doing what we love.”
“We hope thisserves as a model for other projects in Orange County,” said Jim Delaune, Executive Director of the Orange County Land Trust. “Through these innovative tools, we can protect the agricultural land base while ensuring that farms stay affordable and in the hands of farmers. Our thanks to Equity Trust and Scenic Hudson for leading the way on these innovative tools in the Hudson Valley, and to the Department of Agriculture & Markets for their continued support of farmland conservation through the Environmental Protection Fund.”
“This productive land was a high priority for conservation in Scenic Hudson’s Hudson Valley-New York City Foodshed Conservation Plan,” said Scenic Hudson Land Trust Executive Director Steve Rosenberg.
“It was Bill Topp’s desire that it always be farmed, supplying fresh, local food to the community. Conserving this farm is a tribute to Bill’s vision, and to the hard work of the Southways in making the farm part of their operation. We are grateful for this, for the support of Governor Cuomo and the state Legislature for the NYS Farmland Protection Program, and for the tenacity of our project partners in making this happen.”
“Equity Trust is delighted by the collaborative effort that has successfully preserved this affordable working farm,” said Jim Oldham, Equity Trust’s executive director. “This is exactly the outcome our Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program aims to promote, and we have great hope and expectations for the continued growth and development of the Southway’s farm now that the property has been secured in this way.”
Chair of the New York Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Jen Metzger, said: “This unique collaboration among the Orange County Land Trust, Scenic Hudson, Equity Trust, Mr. Topp and the Southways is a model for how we can keep agricultural land in production while helping to reduce the financial barriers to farming and make it viable for the next generation. I am thrilled that the State Environmental Protection Fund’s farmland protection program was able to help support this important project, and I want to congratulate the Southways, the family and estate of Mr. Topp, and our land trust partners on their successful efforts to protect this farm and keep it affordable to the farmers. Collaborations like this contribute to a vibrant agricultural economy and help ensure the future of farming in New York.”
Orange County Land Trust is dedicated to preserving Orange County’s natural resources, scenic landscapes, and working farmland through conservation agreements with willing landowners. For more information call (845) 534-3690 or visit www.oclt.org
Scenic Hudson preserves land and farms and creates parks that connect people with the inspirational power of the Hudson River, while fighting threats to the river and the natural resources that are the foundation of prosperity in the Hudson Valley. www.scenichudson.org
Equity Trust, Inc. has worked nationally to promote the protection of affordable “farms for farmers” for over 25 years. Its Hudson Valley Farm Affordability Program complements and enhances efforts of the many conservation groups working in the region, with technical assistance to farm protection projects designed to keep farmers on the land, as well as funding in the form of grants and bridge loans. www.equitytrust.org
–Orange County Land Trust
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