What's New At Hudson River Flows
We continue to share stories about people committed to creating a healthier and more equitable food system in our region.
Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. — A Market Comitted to Equitable Food Access
We are fortunate to have several food markets in the Hudson Valley that are working to provide nutritious food to everyone regardless of financial, means while at the same time offering a fair price to the farmers who grow that food. In this first of a Hudson River Flows series on these community-based models, we profile Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. market in Millerton.
Intro to "commodity Farmers Who Partner with the Soil"
A new breed of commodity farmers are cultivating a way of farming that stretches their creativity and resourcefulness as they working increasingly as collaborators with the soil. The exciting news is they are finding they can depend less, or not at all, on synthetic inputs. The learning curve and challenges are significant, but they are coming to embrace the complexity and the rewards of farming as both an art and a vocation.
A Commodity Farmer in Partnership with the Soil: John Macauley on Embracing Change
“I saw all that was happening,” recalls John Macauley of Macauley farms. “My soil had a different smell and when I pulled back the cover crop the worms and bugs were running around in it." He credits his progressive father for encouraging him: "If you stay in the same track you never get out of the rut," was the wisdom he imbibed.
A Commodity Farmer In Partnership with the Soil: Forrest Watson on the Intricate System of Farming
“When people say cows are bad for the environment, well having no cows and only farming soy and corn is worse,” says Forrest Watson of Mulligan Farm says. “Maybe cows produce more methane but they also produce manure and using only synthetic fertilizer for your crops because you don’t have the natural manure is probably worse."
A Commodity Farmer In Partnership With The Soil: Jay Goldmark on Extending the Soil's Sabbatical
Farmers once understood the fundamentals of crop rotation and disease management without chemical inputs, says Jay Goldmark of certified organic Stone House Farm. “It’s only until recent history, within the last hundred years, that we've lost that intrinsic balance on farms,” he notes, when synthetic inputs became substitutes for sound soil management practices.
American Farmland Trust's Bianca Moebius-Clune on a "New "Conventional" Agriculture
“We want to bring about a shift to a form of agriculture across the country that we can all be proud of, where the new normal, the new conventional, is to successfully adapt soil health management systems to every farm, and for farmers to thrive as a result,” says Moebius-Clune.
Aaron Ristow on the Challenges of the Transition
As conventional farmers continue to build soil health it will become clearly and consistently reflective in their bottom lines, Ristow hopes: “They might have lower yields in a given season they might also have offsetting lower input costs. And maybe there will actually, over time, be some improvement in yield because the soil is more resilient. That is what we are hoping to demonstrate.”
"Leap of Faith" Short Doc Coming Soon
Drawing on his unique storytelling gifts and his life experiences in both the world of conventional and regenerative organic farming, Jay Goldmark of Stone House Farm in Hudson, NY, offers a nonjudgmental perspective into the challenges, rewards, and complexities of farming in harmony with our natural and human communities.
