Four Farms on Batten Kill Are Permanently Protected
January 26, 2007 / News archive
Drive down Skellie Road in the late summer and you will see lush fields of corn and alfalfa. The rich river bottom soils along this stretch of valley, deposited by the Batten Kill and Black Creek, make it extremely valuable for raising a variety of crops. Members of the Skellie family have been farming here since the early 1800s, successfully adjusting to a changing rural economy. Now, Jay and Kim Skellie, and Jay’s cousin Tom Jilek and his wife Diane, have ensured that this rich land will forever be available for farming.
Jay, Kim and Tom are partners in Hi-Brow Farms, LLC. Together they owned three farms and rented Richland Farm, on which their milking facility is located, from their uncle Dick Skellie. The four farms, totaling 665 acres, support Hi-Brow’s 450-cow dairy operation and are located in the towns of Jackson, Salem and Greenwich.
When Dick Skellie wanted to put Richland Farm up for sale, Jay and Tom turned to the Agricultural Stewardship Association (ASA) to help them find a way to buy the farm at its agricultural value. ASA contacted The Conservation Fund (TCF), a national organization with whom they had worked on projects before and presented the situation.
TCF purchased Richland Farm with the agreement that ASA would apply for funding to buy the development rights, protecting the farm with an easement while reducing its value and making it affordable for Jay and Tom. As part of the deal, Jay and Tom would also sell development rights on their three farms and use the proceeds to purchase Richland Farm from TCF.
ASA and Washington County were successful, applying for and receiving $741,134 of farmland protection funding from the New York State Department of Ag and Markets and $219,160 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They purchased development rights on all four farms, permanently protecting them from future development. Tom and Jay acquired the land and milking facility they need for their operation.
Together these farms contain over 1.5 miles of river frontage on the Batten Kill and 1 mile of river frontage on the Black Creek, a tributary of the Batten Kill. Marilyn Pulver, Chairman of the Washington County Farmland Protection Board said, “We are pleased to partner with ASA to conserve the agricultural properties of the Hi-Brow and Richland Farms. The purchase of these development rights will enable expansion of present operations while also protecting some of our county’s most fertile farmland.”
Jay Skellie is a former president of the Washington County Farm Bureau and has just been elected to serve as Director for Region 8 for the State Farm Bureau. Jay and Tom believe in being good stewards of the land, protecting the river by managing dairy manure to reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and maintaining hedgerows. Jay explains, “These farms have some of the highest yielding land in New York State. Fields on two farms have been used as test plots for major seed companies because they are so productive.” They know the value of the land and believe that conserving it for future farmers is the right thing to do.
Tom Jilek also explains how selling their development rights will help them grow their dairy operation. “The PDR program is an important tool for farmers. The money we received enabled us to purchase more land and upgrade and diversify our operation. It’s a saving grace that will help us weather these tough economic times while ensuring the viability of our operation so we can pass it on to the next generation.”
“One need look no further than the Washington County Fair to see the importance and tremendous influence of agriculture in this region,” said Senator Betty Little. “Our agricultural industry continues to define our rural quality of life and contributes greatly to our economy. Preserving farmland while keeping operational farms viable is very important and is something I am pleased to support. This federal, state and local collaborative effort has and will continue to be effective.”
