Future of Green River Farm - Williamstown, MA

[Northern Berkshire Transition]

Some Thoughts on Green River Farms, Williamstown, MA

January 2012

H.W. Art

Green River Farms is situated in a particular geography. It is the southern gateway to Williamstown, a landscape that firmly anchors South Williamstown in the Green River valley between Mt. Greylock rising to the east and the Taconic Range flanking to the west.  cenically, the farm is at the center of one of the most appreciated and photographed landscapes in the region.

Green River Farms possess prime soils and a range of topographic aspects that allow for diverse approaches to agricultural production. The farm includes 216.2 acres of farmland, 180 of which are “tillable cropland.” The productive capacity of the farm directly led to it being the first tract in Berkshire County to be included in the Massachusetts Agricultural Preservation Restriction program in 1982. However, the farm is simultaneously blessed and cursed by being dissected by U.S. Route 7 and MA State Route 43; transportation to the site is advantaged, but within the site is made more problematic.

The Green River Farms have had a long and rich history, spanning over 2 and a half centuries: from 18 th Century subsistence agriculture, to 19th Century diverse production, to 20 th Century dairy farm, and in the 21st Century a transition back to diverse production of fruits, vegetables and hay, coupled with limited food processing and retail/wholesale.   Curently the farm is in dormancy, awaiting the evolution of its next phase.

A bit of background . Early in the 20th Century (1915), the Steele family acquired both the Farm, which they named “The Modern Dairy Farm” and the adjacent commercial property that became known as “Steele’s Store.” In 1954 the Steele family sold the dairy farm to Fritz Langer who continued the dairy for the next quarter-century, milking about 100 cows until 1980. Langer enrolled the property in the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) in1982-3 as he shifted his operation to the production of replacement dairy stock and hay. Fifteen years later, in 1997, Langer sold the Modern Dairy Farm to the Paradise Farm Corp., owned by Harry S. Patten who renamed the property the Green River Farms ( GRF).

After a brief period, GRF underwent a transition from beef production to vegetable and fruit production. GRF also added a farm store that sold their produce along with other grocery,  akery, and Mazzeo’s Meat Market products. Patten established an apple orchard on the hill slope pasture east of US Route 7, a cider works to process apples, and greenhouses for the production of ornamental plants. The farm also briefly served as a host site for a wholesale produce distribution business when Patten purchased the business from Guido’s Fresh  arketplace in Pittsfield. The wholesale business was closed in September 2004, after less than a year of operation. In January 2009 the GRF 2 was sold to Jim Galusha for “$1 and other considerations”. Galusha in turn sold the farm to C. Franklin Lewis in April 2010. In December 2010 Lewis was given approval by the Williamstown Conservation Commission to install geothermal heat sources for the three existing green houses and to construct an additional greenhouse north of the main barn. In 1978 the Steele’s Store property was sold to the Vanderbilt family of Oblong Road. They renamed the store “The Store at 5 Corners.” The store was operated by the

Vanderbilts into the 1980s and then was sold to the Goulds and Bandmans, who, in 1992 sold the store to Stuart and Andi Shatken. It was under the Shatken’s management that the store property and the Five Corners Historical District became listed in the National Register of Historic Sites (1993). The Shatkens sold the store to Tom Massone and Meredith  oodyard in the 2000s and they in turn sold the property to Frank Lewis in July 2009. The following year Lewis purchased the GRF from Galusha and brought the properties together for the second time in their history. The store and the farm continued in operation until early January 2011, when Lewis abruptly closed both operations for “renovation and  reorganization.” No agricultural or commercial activity occurred on these properties during the 2011growing season. Harry Patten has taking over the management of the orchard to bring it back into production for the 2012 growing season, and pruning of the dormant apple trees commenced in January 2012.

The Future

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Multiple conversations and discussion about the future of GRF/Store at Five Corners as a sustainable enterprise(s) have been taking place since the cessation of operations nearly a year ago. At this point there are many models that might be considered, but economic analysis of specific alternative elements have not been undertaken.

Some possible components of a Sustainable Agricultural Center• Organic/Grass-based Food Production.

GRF could become to be a site for production of organic and “ecologic” food for Williams College, local schools, and other institutions under contract. Williams College has had the goal of increasing the amounts of local foods served by its Dining Service. In the past they purchased apples, cider, and cut flowers from GRF, and the menu of food items locally produces could certainly expand. Brent Wasser

[e-mail] has recently been appointed as the College’s Sustainable Food and Agriculture Program Manager and will be working with Robert Volpi,

[e-mail] , Director of Dining Services, and other members of the College in implementing this aspect of the developing Sustainability Plan for Williams. A Farm-to-School Program might well developed similar to those that are gaining momentum nationally (See http://www.farmtoschool.org/.) The proximity of Mt. Greylock Regional High School (and even the Williamstown Elementary School) makes this an attractive local food option. The greenhouses on the premises could extend the production of hydroponic or 3 hot house vegetables and greens to a year-round basis. The proximity to the “piggery” on Mt. Hope Farm might diversify the production even further.

In addition, the Green River Farms might well serve as the processor of compost from Williams College, WES, and MGRHS dining services. The compost could then be used directly on the fields, further closing the nutrient cycle loops and increasing the sustainability of the operation.

• Food/Agriculture Education Center.

The proximity of GRF to MGRHS, Williams College, and Williamstown Elementary School make it a perfect site for food and agriculture programs linking K-12 and higher education. Food and agriculture are rapidly expanding arenas of student interest at all of these levels. GRF could serve as a site for course and independent projects, for field trips and field work by a diversity of students and faculty who have interest in all aspects of food production, its ecology, geology, history, biology, etc. The educational programs might be both curricular and extra-curricular and even link into the Food-to-School arena.

• CSA/Organic farm incubator.

While GRF should not develop in a fashion that would directly compete with the other Community Supported Agriculture operations in the immediate region, it could cooperate with them and serve an educational role in the training of the next generation of farmers through establishing a site for the exchange of ideas about techniques, providing apprentice opportunities through a low-cost way for potential farmers to gain experience. Caretaker Farm, Square-roots Farm, Mighty Foods Farm, Brian Young, Sam & Elizabeth Smith, and Cricket Creek Farms might all be involved in the enterprise. The Intervale Center (just north of Burlington, VT) is a model a farm incubator run by 501(c)3 that might be modified to our local situation http://www.intervale.org/

See their annual report at: http://www.intervale.org/documents/2009AnnualReportWEBPDF_002.pdf

• Food Hub.

A ‘food hub,’ as defined by the Regional Food Hub Subcommittee of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is “a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products” Berkshire Organics in south county is such an operation {see http://www.berkshireorganics.com/ }.

There is a basic skeleton already present at GRF with its kitchen, cider works, freezer, and other cold storage space. Further development of storage for root vegetables and other crops might expand potential food contracts with local institutions. Developing canning and processing facilities also would help “expand the season” of local food availability and make contracts with local institutions more attractive.

A local slaughterhouse that would serve the needs of this farm and other meat producers in the immediate region would relieve a bottleneck in the production of local meat products, there being a 6 month waiting list for the facility at Eagle Bridge Custom Meat and Smokehouse 139 Center Road Eagle Bridge (White Creek), New York.