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Upcoming Events
| Jun 7, Game of Logging Level I Friday ---------------------------------------- |
| Jun 8, Game of Logging Level I Saturday ---------------------------------------- |
| Jun 9, Farm Photography Flying Pigs Farm ---------------------------------------- |
| Jun 15, Farm Photography - Northern Spy Farm ---------------------------------------- |
| Jul 20, Farm Photography - Deep Roots Holsteins ---------------------------------------- |
To date, ASA has assisted landowners with the conservation of 14,165 acres on 92 properties!
Since its inception in 1990, the Agricultural Stewardship Association has helped landowners protect a variety of lands throughout Washington and Rensselaer counties. Regardless of their size, location, or type of easement, the unifying characteristic of these properties is that they are working lands, actively used for agriculture or forestry. Check out our maps of conserved land in Washington and Rensselaer counties
Breese Hollow Dairy
May, 2012 - Conserved 164 acres in Hoosick
Chuck and Diane Phippen originally came from a suburban community in the Hartford, Connecticut area. They shared an interest in agriculture and Chuck found a job with a local farmer milking once a week. He often brought his children along and remembers it as a "big adventure" that got them started on the road to becoming dairy farmers. They bought a farm in Central New York, but their goal was to raise grass fed cows and conditions there weren't quite right.
Slocum Farm
May, 2012 - Conserved 322 acres in Easton
Sitting in the kitchen of Ed Slocum's family farmhouse on Route 40 in Easton, I asked Ed when his family moved there. He said, "Oh, I think it was about 1950 that we came here." I asked where they'd come from and he replied drily, pointing behind him, "Over on the mountain road." Remembering the farm his family used to own, Ed said, "They built a mansion up there. I decided I didn't need such stuff here."He's an Easton farmer through and through and so were his father and grandfather before him. Ed's family has been farming here as long as he can remember, and long before there was electricity.
Clark Family Farm
December 2011 - Conserved 240 acres in Jackson and Petersburgh
Guy “Skip” Clark appreciates the value of good cropland. He’s a third generation dairy farmer and says that when his grandfather bought the family farm on Ashgrove Road in Cambridge in 1919 there were 29 small dairy farms in operation there. A neighbor picked up cans of milk from each family to bring to town daily. They started with 14 cows and farmed through the depression, although Skip says they almost couldn’t hold onto the land.
Hooskip Farm
December 2011 - Conserved 343 acres in Petersburgh and Hoosick
John McMahon proudly shows off his mounted collection of arrowheads which have all been found on his 714-acre farm located along the Hoosic River on Indian Massacre Road in Petersburgh and straddling the Vermont state border. A state historian has determined that some in the collection date back as far as 6,000 years. John explains, “My son Dan plows deep. Because of the rich, deep river-bottom soil here, you can plow 12” instead of the usual 8”and we’re always turning up arrowheads. People have been hunting, fishing and living here for a long time because it’s such a fertile valley. It’s also a great place to farm. ”
Jermain Hill Farm
December, 2011 - Donated an easement on 319 acres in White Creek
Alex Zagoreos is clearly proud to be milling the 7" x 7" beams needed to repair the barn sills at Jermain Hill Farm in White Creek. "It's such a pleasure when you're able to take the timber right from your own woods and see it transformed for use on the farm." He and his wife Marine and several partners bought this beautiful 319-acre farm, which connects the Mount Tom State Reforestation Area to the Little White Creek, in 1977.
Cannon Cattle Ranch
October, 2011 - Protected 391 acres in Pittstown
“I was supposed to go to Yale and become a lawyer,” admits Matt Cannon, who grew up in a non-farming family in a suburb of Boston. “But I liked cows and the farming lifestyle and it was never a question what I wanted to do”. When he was 15 he spent a summer working on a local chicken farm and the next summer on a dairy farm in Lowville, NY where he developed his love for cows. From there he got a job at a dairy farm in Tunbridge, VT and went on to receive his degree in dairy herd management at Vermont Technical College.
Stewart Farm
Conserved final 234 acres in May, 2011 - Easton
“We’re in the dairy business and we’re going to stay in the dairy business”. Despite many hardships and challenges faced in more than 50 years of farming, Cliff Stewart is still passionate about how he and his family make their living. In 1959, he and his wife Janet bought Autumn View Acres on Route 40 in Easton on contract from a man who continued to live upstairs for a number of years until their family expanded. The Stewarts were just getting started with a small herd of 27 cows and the first of six children on the way.
Braymer Farm
October 2010 - Protected 145 acres in Salem
“If Evelyn said the farm dates back to the Revolutionary War times, believe her.”
That was the response I received from the town historian when I questioned him about the age of Evelyn Braymer’s farm. The 145-acre farm on County Route 153 in Salem sits on a hill overlooking farm fields in all directions. The barns on her property date back to the 18th century and were likely built around the time of Salem’s founding in 1761. She has an astounding memory of life growing up with farming in Washington County as well as many insightful things to say about the state of agriculture today.
Stone Wall Hill Farm
Conserved 108 acres in December 2009, Stephentown
Stone Wall Hill Farm, home of “The Berry Patch” is permanently protected
The loyal customers of The Berry Patch in Stephentown got a fabulous Christmas present when their neighborhood produce farm was permanently protected on December 22, 2009. The fields and farm store owned by Dale Riggs and Don Miles are well known in the area, and the conservation project generated broad community support. Over 100 people directly contributed about $13,000 to help with project costs and to ensure that this part of their valley would always remain in agriculture.
Robe-Jan Farm
This January, ASA was pleased to start the New Year by helping the Herrington family complete protection of their 120-acre Robe-Jan Farm in Schaghticoke.
Brotherhood Farms
Final 302-Acre Portion of Brotherhood Farms
Town of Easton
George C. Houser Jr. Conserves the Final 302-Acre Portion of the 1,030-Acre Brotherhood Farms in Easton
St. Croix Farm
Conserved 688.47 acres on December 31, 2008
Town of Schaghticoke
This farm is well known for its rich history, quality soils, and scenic beauty, and now has the further distinction of being the largest farmland conservation project in Rensselaer County.
St. Croix is a 688-acre farm in northern Rensselaer County with fertile soils and frontage on the Hoosick River. The farm has a long and colorful history. It began as part of an enormous land grant given to the Van Rensselaer family by the Dutch government. In its current dimensions of roughly a square mile, St. Croix has been in continuous cultivation since the 1780’s under a succession of just four families. The beautiful farmhouse was built in the 1860’s, while the large barns were constructed very early in the 20th century. These structures, now used by the third and fourth generations of the Moore family, stand as testaments to the ongoing productivity of the farm.
Ives Hill
Conserved 116 acres on May 1, 2008
Town of Easton
This beautiful farmland was conserved by ASA with help from the Castanea Foundation. It has now been purchased at its agricultural value by neighboring farmers as support land for their dairy operation.
Cary Farm
Conserved 203.27 acres on May 13, 2008
Town of Easton
Collaboration between ASA and the Castanea Foundation allowed this farm to be purchased, conserved, and then sold at its agricultural value to the Michel family, a multigenerational family who had everything they needed for farming except their own land.
Underwood Property
Conserved 40 acres on September 26, 2008
Town of Hebron
John and Peg Underwood, working together with ASA and the Battenkill Conservancy, protected their productive forested property on a tributary of the Battenkill River, thus assuring that it will remain working land for generations to come.
Tiashoke Farm
Conserved 342.92 acres on September 29, 2008
Town of Easton
Following the lead of their parents whose farm was protected a year earlier, the three Ziehm brothers conserved their newly acquired farm in order to be able to realize the dream of farming in Washington County.
Sanders' Property
Conserved 371.83 acres on December 23, 2008
Town of Salem
Derial Sanders generously donated a conservation easement on a magnificent parcel of land which supports abundant wildlife on its prominent hilltops, managed forestland, and working fields.
October Farm
47 Acres Conserved
Town of Jackson
Mahoney Family Protects Historic Farmstead in Jackson
The Latest NEWS
Clark Family Farm
Skip and Selena Clark, dairy farmers who also operate a custom crop business, have conserved 240 acres in Jackson and Petersburgh
Hooskip Dairy Farm
John McMahon and his son Dan have protected 343 rich, riverbottom acres in Petersburgh.
Jermain Hill Farm
Alex and Marine Zagoreos have donated a conservation easement on their 319-acre farm in White Creek.
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