Driving past Gibson Farms in late summer, one sees fields of alfalfa, corn and soybeans, lush despite a rain-soaked summer that forced late planting of crops.
George Gibson - who farms more than 1,000 acres in Columbia and Rensselaer counties - proudly points to one of his verdant fields. Gibson's corn yields are impressive. When asked the secret of his bountiful harvests, he credits the "soil, management and climate."
Now 82, Gibson still tends to the fields. With no heirs, he plans to leave the farm to his managers, Ken Ellers and his son Mike. Mike Ellers has spent his whole life here, and Gibson talks about how successful farming involves a long process of learning the skills needed to keep a farm going. "He's got it from the grass roots and up," he says, pointing to Mike.
Gibson also has conserved much of the farm by placing conservation easements on his land. "I'd like to keep the land in farming," he says.
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| Stuyvesant crop farmer George Gibson still tends his impressive corn crops. |
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