Dairy farms in Orange county may be disappearing, but for the Buckbee family, whose Bellvale Farms has been actively operating since the 1800s, is firmly resolved to remaining a working farm.
Its 400 acres, nestled in Warwick”™s bountiful farm country, hosted an open house Sept. 23, giving visitors the opportunity to explore how that carton of milk in the refrigerator got there.
Working with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County and sponsored by Farm Credit East, ongoing tours of the farm”™s milking operations, samplings of fresh milk and the opportunity to indulge in its signature ice cream brought nearly 2,000 visitors.
Volunteers were on hand giving tours, offering information about the nuances of farming and the opportunities to get involved. Participating volunteers included 4H Clubs, Orange County Citizens Foundation, Orange County Land Trust, Future Farmers of America and the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
“Every year, we ask a farm to host an open house,” said Audrey Reith, equine and livestock educator for Cornell”™s Middletown office. “It gives the public an opportunity to learn where the vegetable, fruits, meat and dairy products they consume come from and how much work goes into the growing, production and marketing farmers do to put food on the table.”
The Buckbee family traces its roots back to the 1700s and the land has passed to different members of the family over the past 300 years. Now owned by Al Buckbee Sr. and his wife, Judy, their son and daughter are ready to carry on the family’s farming tradition.
Al Buckbee III, his sister, Amy Noteboom and her husband, Tim, are the 11th of Bellvale farmers to operate the dairy; sadly, says Buckbee, theirs is only one of 40 left in the county.
Bellvale grows vegetables and fruits in addition to its dairy operation, selling crops and offering pick-your-own opportunities during the season. Pumpkins and hayrides carry the family business through till the end of October. The Buckbees opened Bellvale Farms Creamery (see related story) in 2002, attracting ice cream lovers from all over the metropolitan area and beyond. “It”™s one way we”™ve managed to keep the farm sustainable,” Buckbee said. “You need to find ways to be creative and profitable in this day and age.”
While much of its 400 acres have been added to the Forever Farmland program, “Cuts in the state budget will make it difficult to continue adding to the acreage we have protected right now,” Buckbee said.
“It”™s a tough economy for farmers,” he said, watching the last of the open-house visitors drive off at 3 p.m. Bellvale, the first farm in the region to earn the Dairy of Distinction title, has 80 milking cows and another 120 nursing new babies. “It”™s a 365-day-a-year business ”“ you put in a 12-hour day seven days a week.”
Visiting friend and fellow farmer Harold Baxter of New Windsor, has closed his own milking operation, but will be keeping 100 steers and bulls to put out to stud. “With no one interested in taking over the business when I retire, it was time to move on and look at other options … with dairy farming, the intense workday doesn”™t end … it just didn”™t make sense physically or financially anymore.”
In addition to growing more vegetables and fruit, Baxter will be working with the Orange County Business Accelerator”™s Continental Organics, which specializes in aquaculture.”
Buckbee estimates Bellvale”™s cows yield at least 1 million pounds of milk a year, sold through a county cooperative of nearly a dozen farms and then sold to a distributor. Vegetables, fruits, pumpkin picking and hayrides, along with Bellvale Creamery, have helped add to the farm”™s bottom line.
“The New York City marketplace and our local Hudson Valley restaurants want fresh, home-grown vegetables, fruits and dairy products; they are willing to pay top dollar for local, grain-fed beef and meat products. The new USDA processing facility coming to Liberty will be a real plus to our livestock farmers. Most people downstate don”™t realize how much New York counts on agriculture for revenue; it is one of the top three income producers in the state. It offers a way for farmers to make their operations financially viable.”
