Selected Stories of Morley Roberts by Morley Roberts

That includes access to speedier loan options, whereas beginning farmers largely rely on slow-moving loans through the United States Department of Agriculture.Īccess to affordable farmland is a major challenge nationally, particularly for people of color, who today make up 2 percent of farmland owners. “We’ve seen a surge in interest from non-farmer buyers in the Hudson Valley,” she said, adding that such bidders often have a buyer’s advantage over farmers just starting out.

Sophie Ackoff, an executive director of the National Young Farmers Coalition, a nonprofit that supports the interests of beginning farmers, is no stranger to the issue. “Or we would hear, ‘I want to see goats out on the pasture.’ But the thing is, it’s hard to make money raising goats.” One location they visited included a barn that the owner suggested could be used for both housing animals and holding wedding receptions, depending on the season. “A good pasture-based livestock operation doesn’t look like a well-mowed lawn, and that was a sticking point for many landowners we spoke to,” Ms. Many of them suggested a “trial one-year run” - an impossibly short time frame for a business like theirs - and seemed to have a scant appreciation of the sights, sounds and smells of farming. But since the pandemic, demand for properties there, especially farms, has surged.īut what they found instead were newcomers, mostly from the city, who wanted a storybook version of a farm, minus the manure and the noise, and one that fit within their own agendas and schedules, Ms. It has long been a popular destination for second-home buyers in search of a pastoral lifestyle. The Hudson Valley is a prime agricultural region stretching from New York City to Albany, N.Y., home to an eclectic mix of tractor dealerships, twee specialty food shops, dollar stores and high-end furniture boutiques. “Folks who were trying to leave the city were making all-cash offers,” Ms. Their affordable lease in New Paltz, N.Y., negotiated in 2015 with the help of a farming nonprofit, had just ended, and they were suddenly thrust into a market where buyers were paying above asking price. But then the pandemic hit, followed by a rush of wealthy urbanites seeking fresh-air retreats in bucolic settings. They were making a profit selling their pasture-raised meats, and the next step was to buy a permanent home for their business, Grass + Grit Farm. As first-time livestock farmers, Maddie Morley and Benjamin Roberts had beaten the odds in a profession that is often expensive and grueling for those starting out.

Selected Stories of Morley Roberts by Morley Roberts