Scenic Hudson Helps Family Dairy Farms in Rondout Valley

Ulster County dairy farmers Randy Brooks (left) and his parents, Cyndi and Frank.

Scenic Hudson and The Open Space Institute (OSI) recently announced another milestone in their combined efforts to protect farmland in the Rondout Valley (Ulster County). OSI announced the sale of approximately 45 acres of the former Misner Farm in Marbletown to Frank and Cyndi Brooks. At the same time, Scenic Hudson announced that farm will be protected by a conservation easement, which permanently limits development on the property except for expanded agricultural use. Randy Brooks, the oldest son of Frank and Cyndi, will be launching a new dairy operation on the Misner farm, to continue an impressive stewardship of this historic working landscape. Randy praised the many cooperative farmland and open space preservation efforts in the region, saying such efforts "make it affordable for a young person like myself to start a farm. We would be out of business in ten years if it weren't for the acres preserved in the area. Development would price us out."

For more information about the newest Brooks farm, see this news release. Or see this release for details about Scenic Hudson's other farmland protection efforts in the Rondout Valley.