Swede Family Protects Acreage Across Three Towns
Gary and Sharon Swede and their two sons Jason and Ryan permanently protected their farmland by placing three conservation easements on their Gary Swede Farms to protect 1,114 acres of highly productive Genesee Valley acres from subdivision and non-agricultural development forever.
Diversity is key
The Swede family has worked lands in the Genesee Valley since 1975 and diversity has been the major factor in their growth strategy since the farm’s inception. Their goal as a farm operation has been to integrate diverse business units into their venture to allow for flexibility in adapting to the highs and lows so common in the industry, essentially creating agricultural hedges against uncertainty.
On top of the variety of vegetables they grow for Bonduella USA in Genesee County—peas, lima beans and corn—the Swede’s also have a seed dealership, provide custom farming services to local growers, grow and store small commodity grains in a 500,000-bushell grain storage facility, offer custom planting and trucking services, and grow livestock forages that are sold to local dairy farms. It is easy to see why the Swede farming operation has endured the agricultural roller-coaster in their first half-century of operation.
This conservation project adds significantly to the work Genesee Valley Conservancy has been doing in the Towns of Perry and Leicester, and is the first conservation project in the Town of Covington. The farm is directly adjacent to three previously protected farms and adds over five miles of protection along highly scenic roads.
Beyond the Soils
The farm has incredible soil quality, a landscape feature of all farmland projects the Conservancy engages in across the watershed. Over 72% of these lands are classified as USDA Prime soil. The soils have helped the Swede’s consistently surpass most New York State yield averages in wheat, soybeans, corn silage, sweet corn and alfalfa.
In addition to the soils and genetic material that will be preserved and reserved for agriculture through this project, the lands also contain other important environmental features that will receive added protection. As part of the project, a Resource Protection Area will be integrated into the Conservation Easement so as to create a 60-foot riparian buffer immediately adjacent to the Genesee River, reducing the likelihood of nearby activities from having a negative influence on the river ecosystem as it drains north to Lake Ontario. Little Beards Creek also flows through portions of their farm-land that is just .2 miles east of Lake LeRoy. The farm family has maintained a buffer along these lands as well, allowing for infiltration of surface waters and groundwaters from surrounding urban and agricultural run-off.
Nourishing Today and Tomorrow
The Swede’s have seen first-hand the many threats that exist for farmers, one of which is non-agricultural development. They have observed many consumers, family, and friends being removed further and further from the local food system, thus unable to see or understand the dire importance that agriculture has on the surrounding fabric of life. They fear a decline in agricultural operations and productive land to support them could create a void in rural communities that would be next to impossible to fill.
It was this steadfastness to farming as a noble, honorable and necessary profession that motivated the Swede Family to commit to this conservation project. Handing the next generation of Swede farmers a thriving, protected, and differentiated agricultural enterprise both excites and humbles the farm family as they concluded the four-year process of permanently protecting their lands. This project adds the 104th, 105th and 106th conservation easements accepted by the Conservancy.
How It Happened
In 2017, the family attended a farmland protection workshop hosted by the Genesee Valley Conservancy to learn about conservation easements and the New York State grant program that funds these efforts.
The family decided to pursue the program and applied to the local Wyoming County selection process that had only recently created a formal mechanism for farms to apply through. This process pre-ranks interested farms so that the competitive grant applications submitted to NYS are the best the region has to offer. During the 2018 ranking, Swede Farms was ranked as one of the top farms and the project was subsequently awarded funding by NYS and their land protection project began.
This project was the result of a collaboration between Genesee Valley Conservancy, Wyoming and Livingston County, Wyoming and Livingston County Board of Supervisors, Wyoming County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, Livingston County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, the Towns of Leicester, Perry, and Covington, and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. To-date, the collaborative effort between Genesee Valley Conservancy and local partners has resulted in over $27 million invested in protecting over 15,900 acres of some of the State’s most productive agricultural lands in the Genesee Valley.
In Summary
This project was supported by the Wyoming County and Livingston County Agricultural & Farmland Protection Board, and the Towns of Leicester, Perry, and Covington. Each municipality recognized the fact that highly productive farmland is critical to the local economy and the economic future of the 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 26,400 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.