Arrowhead Farm
Arrowhead Farm Agricultural Center, LLC (AFAC) purchased Arrowhead Farm in the Rondout Valley on Route 209 in Kerhonkson, New York, on May 18, 2018. This third-generation family farm is a tremendous addition to NEFA’s work to expand access to mid-scale organic agriculture in the Hudson Valley.
We have begun to transition this 271-acre former dairy to organic management practices, and bring in farmer-lessees experienced in raising everything from flowers to seeds, vegetables to livestock and maple syrup. For the 2018 growing season, former owner Peter Davis is planting a second year of cover crops in the transition to organic.
Infrastructure includes a fine, old tie-stall dairy barn, large newer free-stall barn, tractor shop, young-stock housing barn, commodity shed, woodshed, storage shed, manure pit and sugar house. A large farmhouse (with four bedrooms), an additional farmhouse (two bedrooms) and a wood-frame cabin located next to the sugar house provide farmer housing options on the property. The cabin is already under renovation.
More than 120 acres of Unadilla silt loam run along the Rondout Creek, with 100 acres of higher ground in pasture and sugar bush. There are many water sources, including 1.4 miles along the Roundout Creek adjacent to tillable land, a drilled well at the farmstead complex, two ponds and additional springs.
History
After purchase by the family in 1911, Arrowhead was a dairy farm that produced corn, soy, hay and grains. In June 2008, Open Space Institute and the Ulster County Farmland Protection Board announced the permanent protection of the 346-acre Arrowhead (Davis) Farm north of Kerhonkson on Route 209 in the Towns of Rochester and Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York.There is a conservation easement on the land, and the soil quality is above average for the area. It is currently in use for haying and livestock production and the acreage for farmland is in a program of cover-crop succession.
Now Arrowhead Farm includes some of the Rondout Valley’s finest agricultural land. It sits in the center of the Valley, between the Catskill Mountains and the Shawangunk Ridge and runs along the Rondout Creek. Rolling hills and prime soils provide excellent drainage. Sweeping vistas and frontage along NYS Route 209 make the Davis Farm one of the most scenic and vital farms in Ulster County.
“In recent years, my family and I have received numerous offers to sell the farm for development, including plans to develop the property with hundreds of homes and commercial retail space along Route 209,” said Peter Davis.
With the funds from the conservation easement, the Davis’s turned their farm into a diversified agricultural business, so residents of the Rondout Valley had greater access to locally grown, safe, fresh and nutritious food, and ensuring that their family farm and heritage will be preserved forever.
Lessees
Acorn Hill Farm – Joyce Rose, Aleah Rose
Acorn Hill Farm is a small family farm and micro-creamery in the Mid-Hudson Valley/Catskill region of New York that produces a variety of goat milk cheeses, goat milk fudge and goat milk soaps using the milk of organically managed dairy goats.Joyce and Aleah Rose’s small herd of Nubian goats is made up of around 35 whom they milk twice a day year-round. They care for their goats using natural methods, love, and respect. Joyce will bring fresh, sustainable goat dairy products to regional communities that feel that knowing where their food comes from matters.