LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — The sun set over the undulating hills around Livingston Manor as farmers from around Sullivan County ambled into the Upward Brewing Company. 

Taylor Adam, manager of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Beginner Farmer Program, welcomed each one to the program’s mixer. Some smile and wave to other farmers across the room. Others embrace. Some seem not to know anyone. 

The farmer-to-farmer mentorship program is funded by a USDA Technical Assistance Grant awarded to the Cornell Cooperative’s Agriculture and Food Systems Team. It helps young farmers in the Catskills and Hudson Valley region succeed through training, one-on-one planning meetings, farm visits, and networking. 

Adam told the River Reporter that, before the USDA grant, “There was a ton of inquiry and need but focusing on beginner farmers wasn’t feasible. We didn’t have the staff to support the need.”

The program has just entered its second year. Its advisory board includes a mix of seasoned farmers—like Kendra Payne of The Herbal Scoop in Callicoon, Brett Budde of Majestic Farm in Mountaindale, and Eugene Thalmann of Sprouting Dreams Farm in Liberty—as well as beginner farmers who help structure the programming. 

“When I look at this program and grant, and what Sullivan County is doing its going to shape farming in the county for the next 10 years, really, we are building a farming community,” said Budde. “This is exactly the program’s goal.”

Adam said farmers fall into one of three buckets when they’re looking for help: How to start their farm, how to find funding, and how to find a community.

“There are a ton of resources,” said Adam, “but if you’re just getting started, it’s so hard to know where to look and how to ask.”

Budde said success doesn’t happen in a vacuum. “It requires government input, and these programs are important to the success of our county farmers.”

Like running a corporation

The program has around 15 mentorship pairs. The mentees receive a $10,000 stipend for the 12-month commitment.

“The hope is the compensation can help in meeting their goals,” said Adam, “and some of that can be used as startup capital, which is really hard to get, especially if you are historically underserved.”

Mentors are compensated as well. “It’s really great to actually compensate farmers for their time and labor, because that is not historically how farming has existed,” Adam said. “People commonly work crazy weeks and don’t get paid.”

Operating a successful farm takes a range of skills. The program’s goal is to allow more people with an interest in farming to have a sustainable lifestyle.

Ryan Mitro owns Fare View Gardens in Fallsburg and recently joined up as a mentee. As an eight-year-old, growing up across the street from M&S farms in Fallsburg, he helped deliver goats. “Since then I’ve been really wanting to do this,” he said. He returned to farming in 2014.

Manon Frappier and Ian Miner established Painter’s Hill Farm in Mountaindale with business and marketing skills but no farming experience. They just entered their second year as mentees.

“I feel so many other industries have a better way to pass on this knowledge, but not farming or agriculture for some reason,” Frappier said. “So this program is just great.”

They spend much of their winters doing research. Where can they find grants? What equipment or construction project will they invest in next? 

“The summer is so intensive,” Frappier said. “You’re in the garden, you’re never going to sit behind the computer. Finally the fall and the winter come and you think you’re gonna rest and, yes, you’re physically resting from the garden, but you have all the financial statements to catch up on.”

She compared farming to running a big corporation. “And you’re doing it between two people.”

Avoiding mistakes saves money

With the slim margins involved in farming, Adam said sharing knowledge not only saves time and prevents mistakes, it also saves money.

Frappier said learning from someone farming with the same soils and weather patterns is invaluable. 

“The Catskills are mountainous, and there’s so many different microclimates,” she said. “Having someone right there to say, ‘This variety, this is how we treat it,’ and “We followed that, that didn’t work.’ ‘Try this, try that.’ It’s a wealth of knowledge and information. We’re accelerating our learning curve probably three years faster than we would have any other way.”

Budde said his farm sustained a significant financial loss after losing an entire crop to a late frost. “Past weather is no longer a predictor,” he said.

He has two children to support and never wants to be in that situation again. “So many people are looking for farming experiences,” he said. But with a small farm, “we’re not going to win a whole sale bid” from a grocery store.

He hopes mentees will learn from the adjustments he’s made by diversifying his farm’s revenue streams. This spring, Majestic Farms will open a pizza oven and offer a drinks option to their visitors.

The program also offers zoning and education about ag-districts.

“When I was starting in the area, I wish there was something like this,” said Mitro of Fare View Gardens, whose neighbor had objected to the proximity of his greenhouse. Cornell helped Mitro navigate the approval process.

Overhead costs are the biggest burden for smaller and newer farms. A farming community can help—by sharing machinery, buying and selling equipment at lower prices, and trading money-saving know-how. When the margins are thin, community can make a huge difference. 

The program offers information on towns that are friendly to farmers.

‘Vote with your money’

The farmers said the best way to support them is to “vote with your money.”

“Rethink where you spend that money for your food,” said Adam. Instead of going to ShopRite, a big corporation, you can get “fresher, more nutritious products right here in your backyard.”

Shoppers can get a “veggie box” from Community Supported Agriculture, a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer.

“You know, there’s a range—you can just try it for a month, or you can really support that farmer with a whole season,” Adam said. “And it makes such a big difference.” (See list of CSAs below.)

For more information, email Taylor Adam at beginnerfarmer@cornell.edu or call 845-292-6180 ext. 130.

CSA farms in Sullivan County, NY

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a cooperative relationship between the grower and the consumer: The consumer pays for a crop “share” in advance, and growers commit to supplying them with fresh, high-quality produce regularly throughout the growing season.

The advance payment eases the grower’s financial burden in the early season and provides them with both a market and an income. Because they know their market, they are less likely to over- or under-produce, or be devastated by unexpected weather conditions because they grow a wide range of crops.
Here are CSAs in Sullivan County:
Channery Hill Farm
Owner: Jen McGlashan & Kai Brothers
77 Keller Rd., Callicoon Center
channeryhillfarm@gmail.com
Gorzynski Ornery Farm
Owner: John Gorzynski
7460 Rte. 52, Narrowsburg
845/252-7570
Root ‘N Roost Farm
Owners: Sean and Cheyenne Zigmund
64 Mineral Springs Rd., Livingston Manor
845/292-9126
info@rootnroost.com
www.facebook.com/rootnroostfarm
www.rootnroost.com
Somewhere In Time Farm
Owner: Justin Sutherland
Parksville
845/807-8702
sutherland.ju@gmail.com
Winterton Farms, LLC
Owner: Kent Findley
689 Winterton Rd., Bloomingburg
845/733-1989 / 646/210-3443
kent.findley@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/wintertonfarms
Source: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County (https://sullivancce.org/agriculture/buy-local-sullivan-fresh)