Latest farm purchase completes 98-acre ‘ag center’ in Southold

FARMERS OF THE FUTURE

With the final pieces of the ag center now in place, Mr. Caufield said the land trust is “cautiously optimistic” that the entire program will be financially sustainable in the years to come.

So far, the nonprofit’s sister program on the South Fork, at the 200-acre Quail Hill Farm, has been a marked success, he said.

“Over the past 25 years, [Quail Hill] has seen 150 apprentices come and go through that program and many of them have gone on to successful agricultural operations,” he said. “We hope a number of them here get a start and actually get into their own operation — hopefully here in our region and, if not, somewhere else.”

Since 2010, the land trust’s farmer-development efforts on the North Forth have already seen some success, with at least three new operations now flourishing after getting started at the ag center.

The Browders, who raised chickens on five acres at the Southold center for three years, went on to purchase 13 acres of protected farmland on Sound Avenue in Mattituck from the land trust in 2012.

They say the land trust and its mentoring program were vital in helping them get Browder’s Birds off the ground.

“We were so uneducated on what our needs were when we started,” Ms. Browder said. “If we’d had to buy a farm [without the proper training] we would have bought the wrong one.”

But Ms. Browder said she misses the camaraderie and friendship she felt daily at the ag center.

“It’s nice being around other farmers. I think what we’re going to miss the most is seeing Stephanie Gaylor,” another young farmer program participant, “or Dan Heston,” Ms. Browder said.

“The community gardeners were there, so there were always people to support you and even bring you customers,” she added.

Ms. Gaylor, who operates Invincible Summer Farms at the ag center, said there’s much value not only in the mentors, but in having other farmers to lean on.

“When you’re up against something and you don’t really know the right things to do, such as a problem with irrigation, instead of reinventing the wheel every time, you could talk to someone,” she said.

Even with the help and support, Ms. Browder stressed that the day-to-day labor, coupled with the financial strains of farming, isn’t for the faint of heart.

“The biggest challenge is how can you support yourself and make a profit, because you definitely work hard,” she said. “We’ve seen really amazing young farmers come through the program and they moved on.”

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