Our Farmers
Hudson Valley Hops and Grains
Stuart Farr, originally from the UK, grew up in a farming family. He's living his dream of splitting his time between New York City as a professional and Columbia County, NY where he works the land as a farmer. A few years ago he bought a farm in Ancramdale, NY and started cultivating hops, eventually adding grains. I met Stuart at a Grain Workshop in upstate New York. With a European background and an ideological understanding from where I was coming, Stuart liked Ulli’s Oil Mill concept. Immediately he offered to grow oilseeds for me.
Stuart, is growing canola and camelina sativa as a single and a mixed crop cultivation with wheat organically for Ulli’s Oil Mill.
http://www.hudsonvalleyhopsandgrains.com
Gianforte Farm
I met Luke Gianforte in September last year on my upstate New York farm tour.
Luke was immediately open to the idea of growing oilseeds for me, especially camelina sativa as a mixed crop with his rye and wheat. In Austria, mixed crop cultivation is well known as a means to suppress weeds. On top of harvesting wheat you also harvest camelina sativa with minimum input. Isn’t this the most sustainable way to farm?!
Gianforte Farm tills 600 acres of Honeoye soils in the rolling hilltops north of Cazenovia, New York. Success in organic farming represents a delicate dance between crop selection, tillage practices, weather and timing to produce a good crop yield and reduce weeds and pests. Any given year they grow up to 10 different organic grains and grow crops as well as underseed fields with legumes to bolster fertility. Soil health is carefully monitored and enhanced through crop selection and periodic use of soil amendments such as gypsum and compost. Gianforte Farm produces up to 13 different organic food-grade grains and beans in its planned crop rotation.
Luke sowed end of April and we are excited to share how the project goes so stay tuned.