Heindale Farm Protects Land Across Three Towns
Heindale Farm is a first-generation dairy based in Caledonia, New York. Ron and Michele Heineman began their operation with rented cows and a barn when they were dating in high school. With a $5,000 line of credit, they built their dairy business and started a family.
Ron and Michelle now work alongside their daughters Kacey (who returned to the farm after gaining degrees from SUNY Morrisville), Kayla (who works part-time on the farm and is starting a farm with her husband) and son, Kyle (who works part-time on the farm as he finishes his senior year of high school).
Ron and Michelle experienced first-hand the pressures of development near the site of their original operation, so protecting their current land was an important piece of the legacy they wanted to leave their children.
As new farmers, Ron and Michele did not own the land they relied upon. They rented the barn and ground they needed to feed their small herd. While this was necessary as they got their start, not owning the land started becoming an issue. Lands the Heinemans were farming started to be sold from under them for subdivisions and housing developments. They saw neighboring fields convert from farmland to housing tracts.
As renters there was little the Heinemans could do. They realized they had no future in Erie County in what was quickly becoming a suburban landscape: certainly not for a successful farm they hoped might one day pass to the next generation.
Ron and Michele picked up and moved to Caledonia where they saw plenty of active and productive farms and a community that wanted to remain agricultural. The Heinemans were in a position to purchase land and found a seller who, like them, valued agricultural land and wished to keep it in production. The new Heindale Farm was established.
Owning land gave Ron and Michele more control over their operation, removed the threat that they could lose the lands they needed to feed their herd, and gave them a chance to do what they couldn’t before: pass down productive farmland to their children.
Now, Ron and Michele have protected their land to ensure it remains open and available for farming: by them, by their children, or by new start up farmers like they once were. While the farmers will change over time, the land will be there to be worked and grow crops on these productive soils.
Joining Ron and Michele in protecting Heindale Farm was daughter Kasey. She is an integral part of the operation, has acquired her own land to help grow the operation, and protected her fields as part of this effort to protect the whole farm.
The Conservancy also worked with Joan Petzen, a longtime agricultural advocate. Joan retired from a long career with Cornell Cooperative Extension supporting agricultural families in the region. She is landowner of the Sinclair Farm, a property that has been in her family and has been leased to the Heinemans for many years.
While Joan and her family are no longer farming, she knew protecting it was a critical step to take to ensure the Heinemans would not again lose ground integral to their operation. She was also able to satisfy her lifelong wish of ensuring productive lands remain in agriculture.
In total, the Heindale project protects four blocks of farmland, 656 acres in all, in the towns of Caledonia, York, and East Bethany in partnership with Genesee Valley Conservancy.
This conservation project involved accepting the 7th and 8th conservation easements in the town of York by the Conservancy and the first easements in Caledonia and East Bethany. The Conservancy has now accepted 127 conservation easements since its founding in 1990. The total land protected via Genesee Valley Conservancy is now 31,672 acres as the organization strides past the 30,000 acre milestone reached earlier this month.
Significantly, this is the first farmland protection project completed by the Conservancy in Genesee County, one of New York State’s leading agricultural counties (alongside Wyoming and Livingston). The Conservancy has now protected lands in eight counties. Cattaraugus County, with a small section in the watershed, is the only part of the Genesee River watershed the Conservancy has yet to complete a conservation project.
The Heindale Farm lands protected by this project include 54% USDA Prime soils and 5% soils of New York State importance.
Lands protected as part of this project include over 3.9 miles of scenic road frontage which will remain as intact vistas of the rural, agricultural landscape that defines the regions rural and agricultural character.
This project was the result of a collaboration between Genesee Valley Conservancy, Livingston County Board of Supervisors, Livingston County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, Town of York, Town of Caledonia, Genesee County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, Town of East Bethany, and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.
To-date, the collaborative effort between Genesee Valley Conservancy and local partners has resulted in more than $36 million invested in protecting 20,954 acres of some of the State’s most productive agricultural lands, right here in the Genesee Valley.
This farmland protection project was made possible by funding from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets in the form of a ‘dairy transition’ conservation project. The dairy transition project aims to support protecting farmland as part of an operations shift from one generation of owner to the next. By helping farms bring on their next generation of owners, the program aims to ensure the valuable soil resources that are the foundation of any farm remain protected and available for continued use by the agricultural operation. Further support for this project was provided by contributions from the landowners.
The town boards of Caledonia, York and East Bethany each endorsed this project, which aligns with the town’s respective Comprehensive Plans to keep productive lands in agriculture and maintain the farm economy that supports our region.
Genesee Valley Conservancy works throughout the Genesee River watershed to protect high quality habitat, open space and farmland for the community. The Conservancy now oversees the protection of 31,672 acres.
Landowners in the Genesee River watershed interested in pursuing conservation options for their property, be it farmland, habitat, or a potential public nature preserve, should contact Genesee Valley Conservancy for more information.