HVADC Client: Klein’s Kill Fruit Farms

Klein's Kill Fruit Farms' new packing house in Germantown hummed to life this month, sorting thousands of apples through a grader engineered for a scale the farm's founders could never have imagined. It's the culmination of a massive $2.7 million overhaul, an advance made possible by funding and support from HVADC and its sister organization, the Farm and Food Growth Fund (FFGF).

For 105 years, the Bartolotta family has grown apples, peaches, pears, nectarines and plums, selling to farm stands, wholesale markets and major grocery chains. The farm now grows 350 acres of apples across 17 varieties, plus 70 acres of peaches — the largest peach operation in the Hudson Valley.

As the next generation of the family farm took on more of the operation, they pushed to modernize, adding apple varieties such as SnapDragon, Pink Lady and EverCrisp alongside fast-selling staples such as Gala, Fuji and Honeycrisp. As the new varieties ramped up, it became clear the original packing house could not keep up.

"This was the right moment for us to expand," said John Porreca, the farm's CFO. "We decided to apply for the FFGF grant and we are so thankful we were one of the lucky growers chosen for improvements to our farm."

There was a catch: the USDA’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Grant Program, which FFGF administers, paid out through reimbursement, meaning Klein's Kill had to cover construction costs upfront and get repaid later. The HVADC Agribusiness Loan Fund and FFGF worked together to bridge that gap, lining up bridge loan financing so the project could break ground this year instead of waiting on the grant timeline.

Here's how it all came together.

When 1968 Was No Longer Enough

The old grader dated to 1968, patched together for decades. Keeping up with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) food safety standards — voluntary guidelines covering how crops are grown, harvested and handled to protect customers, workers and the environment — meant it was time for something new.

"We needed a state-of-the-art grader to keep up with food safety standards," Porreca noted. "We also needed more volume of packed fruit for our customers."

Klein's Kill connected with HVADC and FFGF through Todd Erling, HVADC's Executive Director. HVADC Business Services Manager Taylor Mignone worked with the farm to facilitate the bridge loan, while FFGF Senior Grants Manager Laura Conn and FFGF Grants Program Specialist Channon Greer helped with the broader grant and financing process.

While Klein's Kill waited on its RFSI reimbursement HVADC's loan fund stepped in to help arrange a $468,080 bridge loan with funding partially provided through the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), so the farm could start paying contractors and suppliers and keep the project on schedule.

"We would not have been able to meet the timeline without the funding," Porreca said. He submitted the farm's first RFSI reimbursement request in September, with a second expected in October.

A New Workplace, A Longer Season

Construction brought its own short-term jobs, but Porreca said the packing house's real staffing impact will show up over time. A longer packing season, stretching further into winter and eventually closer to year-round, means retaining seasonal workers longer and adding positions on the grader line itself.

"We're proud to provide this facility to our employees," Porreca said, noting the new grader also gives the crew a more modern day-to-day working environment.

That fits into a bigger identity Klein's Kill has built regionally: selling at the Hudson Farmers Market, supplying other packing facilities, growing a merchandise line and building a social media presence. The farm's apples carry the New York State Grown & Certified stamp, a program Porreca said the family takes seriously.

"Klein’s Kill Fruit Farms represents the very best of Hudson Valley agriculture. As an established and highly respected farm that is woven into the region’s agricultural identity, they brought expertise, vision, and a practical approach that made them exceptionally easy to work with,” Said Mignone.

Building for the Next Generation

Next up is expanding the farm’s controlled-atmosphere cold storage facility, timed to when new plantings hit full production in the coming years — the goal being to pack fruit nearly year-round instead of wrapping up each February.

Asked what he'd tell another farm weighing a similar expansion, Porreca said, "If you are in this business for the long haul, you have to take the risks involved," he said. "We want the farm to keep going for generations more."

To learn more about the type of funding the HVADC Agribusiness Loan Fund can provide farms and food producers, visit https://www.hvadc.org/ag-loans-agribusiness-loan-fund.