ITHACA, N.Y. — Greg Mruk recently transitioned to Executive Director of NY FarmNet after serving as a financial consultant covering the lower Hudson Valley since 2018. His professional career includes time as a County Supervisor for FSA, Senior Executive Vice President for a community bank, and an agricultural loan officer for a statewide bank. After he left banking, Greg shifted his focus to farming and operated a small market farm and ran a consulting business to assist farmers and small businesses. He served 13 years as a member and officer of the Board of Directors for a local hospital, and it was during this time that he became familiar with the challenges rural families have in accessing health care and mental health services.
Greg grew up in New York State and is a graduate of UMass Amherst with a B.S in Agricultural Economics and St. Michaels College with an M.S. in Administration. He paid his way through college working on a 400-cow dairy. After graduating from UMass in 1985, Greg moved to northern Vermont and for 30 years lived and worked in the Champlain Valley region. This area is very dairy and maple centric, and it was here that he really learned the challenges for farm families in running a successful farm operation and the toll it can take on the family.
Currently, Greg and his wife Dawn farm layers, broilers, and replacement pullets and operate a maple sugaring operation in Dutchess County. He is the market manager for the Millbrook Farmers Market, and recently wrapped up a position as a consultant for Hudson Valley Ag Development Corp in their Incubator Without Walls program. Dawn recently retired after 30 years as a special education teacher and remains his right-hand on the farm. They have five children and one grandchild. Greg will be splitting his time between the NY FarmNet office at Cornell University in Ithaca, and his farm in Millbrook. He can be reached at gem245@cornell.edu
NY FarmNet helps farmers, farm families, and agricultural professionals navigate times of crisis, growth, and opportunity. Farm clients are assigned both a family and a financial consultant to help address the many issues they may face. All services are free of charge and completely confidential. For more information or to request assistance, call 1-800-547-3276 or visit www.nyarmnet.org and click the red “Contact” button.
NY FarmNet was founded by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University in response to the national farm crisis in the 1980s. NY FarmNet still operates at Cornell as part of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management. The Dyson School is part of both Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the SC Johnson College of Business. NY FarmNet is funded by the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets, NYS Office of Mental Health, the private sector, and individual donations. If you are interested in making a donation to NY FarmNet, visit www.nyfarmnet.org and click the banner across the top.
–NY FarmNet
Cornell University