HVADC Program: Ulster County Farm Viability & Sustainability Grants

On a summer morning in Ulster County, the hum of agriculture isn’t just tractors and irrigation pumps. It’s the quiet whir of a refrigeration unit that no longer leaks greenhouse gases. It’s the glide of an electric cargo van headed down the Thruway before dawn. It’s sunlight hitting a barn roof lined with solar panels.

The common thread isn’t just hard work. It’s intention.

Through the Ulster County Farm Viability & Sustainability Grant program, nine farms are betting that energy efficiency isn’t a luxury. It’s survival.

Ulster County has backed its agricultural community for years, most recently through the Agricultural Crisis Relief Program, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and passed by the County Legislature in 2023. HVADC administered the program, bringing an established track record with programs like the NYS Meat Processing Expansion Grant and NYS Grown & Certified.

“Ulster County is committed to helping farmers meet today’s challenges while building a more sustainable future in the face of dramatically rising energy costs, extreme weather events and the long-term effects of climate change,” said Deborah DeWan, Agricultural Services Administrator for Ulster County’s Department of Economic Development. “With this grant program, we were able to invest directly in the ability of our farmers to meet these challenges.”

The grants prioritized energy efficiency, climate resiliency and long-term viability. For some recipients, that means rethinking how they deliver products. For others, it means overhauling decades-old infrastructure. For all of them, it means looking ahead.

The program, which awarded more than $586,000 in 2025, asked farms to examine their operations and identify where smarter energy use could strengthen their bottom line. Here’s a look at four of the recipients making it happen through energy efficiency improvements.

Prospect Hill Orchards, Milton

Prospect Hill Orchards, part of the Clark Family Farms enterprise, has survived by never standing still. When wholesale buyers who once packed fruit on-site started citing labor costs as a reason to step back, Managing Partner Pam Torres pivoted. She built a niche around hand-packed, high-quality boxed fruit and began delivering directly.

The only problem was the trucks.

“We needed something newer, and just the right size to carry some heavier loads,” Torres said. “And right about the same time, I came across the grant.”

HVADC has worked with Prospect Hill in various capacities over the years, so Torres was already familiar with the organization when she applied for the grant.

Prospect Hill had been hauling produce to farmers ’markets mostly in New York City and wholesale customers across the region with a small fleet of aging vehicles. The grant enabled the farm to consolidate by purchasing a newer diesel box truck equipped with a lift gate. The new truck allows staff to unload pallets of boxed fruit at stops without a forklift. It runs on a biodiesel blend supplied through a local provider.

“You don’t need any special mechanic or any special maintenance,” Torres noted. The newer engine also produces far lower emissions than the equipment it replaced.

The capacity jump was immediate. Torres said the farm went from a maximum of four pallets per delivery run to loading six or seven pallets with ease. And the driver math adds up quickly.

“We’re currently using three trucks for three farmers' markets and hiring three drivers,” Torres said. “If we can use one truck for multiple markets, we can cut down our staff by one driver — and in the slower winter months, maybe by two.” That translates to savings of roughly $285 to $570 per week.

Torres gives Ulster County credit for structuring the grant around both viability and sustainability. “It is super encouraging to have Ulster County really prioritize their farms,” she remarked. “Access to capital is so important.

Treadlight Farm, Kerhonkson

General Manager Matt Dell describes Treadlight Farm as a bit of a unicorn. The certified organic operation grows cut flowers and ornamental plants at a commercial scale. Dahlias, poppies, native grasses, foliages, seed heads — anything a florist might reach for. Treadlight’s clients include wholesalers in New York City’s historic flower market and some of the city’s top floral design firms.

“We sort of straddle a three-part Venn diagram of cut flowers, organic farming, and ornamental horticulture,” Dell said.

For years, the farm rented delivery vehicles throughout the growing season: box trucks and commercial vans, whatever was available. It worked, sort of. But the logistics were a grind. Dell said he spent at least three labor hours a week just retrieving and returning rental vehicles. The unpredictability made it hard to offer a driver consistent work. In 2024 alone, the farm spent

more than $14,000 on vehicle rentals. Applying for this grant was Dell’s first interaction with HVADC.

The grant will fund the purchase of an all-electric cargo van. Dell had been slowly setting money aside for electrification, but without support, the purchase would have been years away. “This [grant] absolutely accelerated the timeline,” he said.

He expects the move will cut at least 50 percent of annual rental costs. The van will carry Treadlight’s branding, something a rental never could.

“Drawing attention to the fact that there is an electric vehicle — that no fossil fuel was needed to deliver these plants — I think is going to be a good marketing opportunity,” Dell remarked.

More delivery days mean more clients. Treadlight’s nursery business, which sells certified organic native plant plugs to wholesale buyers and now retail customers through an online shop, has more than doubled in each of its first two years. Dell sees the van as the piece that lets the whole thing scale.

“Our business is proof that farming can adapt to our new realities of climate change and ecological destruction,” Dell said. “Opportunities like this [grant] can really make it feasible for people to do the right thing.”

Sugarshack Mushrooms, Highland

Owner Alisa Javits has been trying to go solar for years. The quotes came in, the numbers made sense. But the money wasn’t there. “We just couldn’t afford it,” she said plainly. “We really wanted to do it.”

Sugarshack Mushrooms, now in its seventh season, grows specialty mushroom varieties using a hybrid method: controlled indoor environments where humidity and airflow can be managed, but the mushrooms are still exposed to temperature fluctuations and real sunlight. It’s an approach that sets the farm apart — and it uses a lot of electricity. Sugarshack runs a pasteurizer, multiple climate-controlled growing rooms, fans, coolers, and seasonal heating and cooling equipment. The farm’s electric bill runs close to $1,000 a month.

When Javits saw the Ulster County grant — she heard about it through the Rondout Valley Growers Association, which also connected her with an informational HVADC webinar — she paused a different project to apply. “When we saw this grant, I was like, this is perfect,” she said.

The grant funds will cover the purchase and installation of solar panels, moving the farm to 100 percent solar power. Permits are in place, the roofing work is nearly complete, and the contractors are ready. The only thing holding things up right now is winter.

“We’re just waiting for the snow to melt,” Javits said. Once the system is up — she expected late March or early April — installation should take about a week. The savings will kick in almost immediately.

"Once it's installed, we expect to get pretty much all of our electricity costs reduced," she said. "We should hopefully be paying almost nothing on our electricity once this goes through."

Beyond the finances, Javits said the project has changed something less quantifiable: her confidence in the farm’s future.

“This project is helping us have more confidence around the whole farm and the longer perpetuity of it,” she said. “We’re really excited to neutralize some of the carbon impact we’re making and be able to talk to people about that.”

Hepworth Farms, Milton

Head of Sales Allison Bennett has been selling produce for most of her professional life, working with chefs, specialty food distributors, and major retailers since the 1990s. When she saw the potential of Hepworth Farms, she started finding buyers for them. Eventually, it made more sense to just work for them directly.

Hepworth Farms traces its roots to 1818 and spans roughly 350 acres across multiple parcels in Milton. Under the leadership of Amy Hepworth, the farm transitioned from an apple orchard to a diversified, certified-organic operation, building relationships with Whole Foods, Baldor Specialty Foods, and other major accounts.

The farm's challenge heading into this season is cold storage. Specifically, a warehouse refrigeration system that's more than 80 years old and leaking refrigerant at an unsustainable rate. In peak season, Hepworth has been spending around $32,000 a year on refrigerant replacement alone.

"It's costing us an incredible amount of money," Bennett said. "We would really rather use that money to plant more vegetables."

The grant will fund the installation of Durastar mini-split units — paired with "CoolBot" controllers to bring them down to produce-safe temperatures — in the warehouse's six climate zones. Mini-splits use 30 to 60 percent less energy than conventional refrigeration systems, and the refrigerant is sealed within the unit. They are expected to last up to 20 years without replenishment. The economics are compelling: no more monthly refrigerant bills, far fewer leaks, and better temperature control for different crops.

“Tomatoes require a different temperature than dark leafy greens,” Bennett noted. “Better control means better preservation.”

Bennett's outlook for the coming season is optimistic. Two new produce companies have already called, looking to set up accounts, and a major retailer with more than 30 locations has expressed interest.

“There’s no greater reward,” Bennett said, “than to have a great season and hear somebody say that was the best meal of my life.”

A Shift in the Fields

One farm buys a truck. Another buys a van. Another installs solar. Another replaces refrigeration. The projects don’t look identical, but the throughline is clear.

DeWan added, "The Ulster County Farm Viability and Sustainability Grant Program provides long-term benefits for the economic health and sustainability of these farm businesses, which are at the heart of our economy and the character of our communities.”

Energy efficiency isn’t an abstract climate goal. It’s a strategy for survival. And in Ulster County, HVADC’s assistance helped make it possible for farms to act on what they already knew they needed to do.