Success Stories

Generations of sowing seeds and raising stock

Murray Farm, Jefferson

Conserved

2015

County

Jefferson

Acres

1,265

Murray Farm could be taking the long view and conserving the farm was simply “the right thing to do for both our family and the land.”

Lynn Murray

Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
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Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
Murray family
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It will remain a farm, forever…

Murray family

When Lynn and Peggy look out their farmhouse window over the fields, they often smile. Sometimes it’s the sight of their grandkids running in the field; other times it’s because a new crop of hay just made it in before the rain.

But often, it’s because they know that this portion of their farm—all 1,265 acres of it—will remain free of haphazard development, forever. It will remain a farm.

The Murrays have owned this farm for over 80 years. Their family has grown up there and the farm has changed. There’s more conservation tillage practices than 20 years ago; they’re rotating crops and using winter rye to reduce winter erosion.

As part of the headwaters of Sandy Creek, which flows into Lake Ontario, taking the long view and conserving the farm was simply “the right thing to do for both our family and the land,” remarked Lynn.

 

Happy Cows

The cows are happier too, with new, well ventilated barns and dry paddocks. Conservation for the Murrays means taking care of the land, their animals, and their family in a way that will ensure that it’s both a thriving and profitable family business and a great place to live, work and play.

Your support, as a Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust member, helped the Murrays conserve their farm. Thanks to you, we were able to assist them in protecting their land with a combination of state and federal funding through the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program (ACUB)—as well as a number of other farm families in Tug Hill.

 

Several programs help in protecting lands

Funding for these farmland protection projects usually comes from the Army, in addition to New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund through the New York State Agriculture and Markets farmland protection program. While they often take years to complete, the end result is a family farm that will be here for generations to come.

Over the past 25 years, 93 families have conserved the lands they call home and, in so doing, the heritage of our region and the landscape that makes this place so special. Thanks to you, in the coming year, families like the Murrays will be able to conserve their farms as well.