HVADC Program: Ulster County Farm Viability & Sustainability Grants (Part 2)

This story is the second in a series. The first group of grant recipients was profiled earlier this year.

A late spring frost can wipe out an orchard’s crop before the season even begins. A broken skid steer can grind fieldwork to a halt during the busiest week of the year. For farmers, uncertainty is part of the job.

While farmers can't control the weather or every unexpected expense, they can make investments that help their businesses withstand challenges and adapt to change. Across Ulster County, farms are upgrading equipment, diversifying production, improving infrastructure and reducing energy costs.

The Ulster County Farm Viability & Sustainability Grant Program, administered by HVADC, is helping support those efforts. In 2025, the program awarded more than $586,000 for projects designed to improve operational efficiency, environmental sustainability, and long-term farm viability.

Here’s a look at five awardees that represent a cross-section of Hudson Valley agriculture. While the projects look very different on paper, they share a common goal: investing in the long-term success of their farms.

“Every farm faces its own set of challenges, but what these awardees have in common is a commitment to adapting and moving forward,” shared Mary Ann Johnson, HVADC Deputy Director. “We’re honored to help support these efforts and grateful to Ulster County for investing in local agriculture through this program. These projects demonstrate how strategic funding can help farms remain viable, sustainable and resilient for generations to come.”

Westwind Orchard, Accord

For many farmers, sustainability begins with acknowledging a reality that's becoming harder to ignore.

Weather patterns are changing.

At Westwind Orchard in Accord, owner Fabio Chizzola has spent years transforming an abandoned apple orchard into a diversified farm, cidery, restaurant and gathering place. The farm's story began more than two decades ago when Chizzola purchased what was then a neglected orchard.

"Everybody thought I was crazy," Chizzola recalled. "There was a stone house in the middle of 33 acres of an abandoned farm, and for me it was like an empty canvas."

Over the years, he restored the orchard, planted new crops, introduced hard cider production, built a tasting room and restaurant, and created a destination that now draws visitors from throughout the region.

But even successful farms remain vulnerable to forces beyond their control. A devastating frost several years ago wiped out an apple crop. More recently, spring freezes have become an increasingly common concern for fruit growers throughout the Hudson Valley.

"I think my biggest lesson here is that you have to diversify," Chizzola remarked. "You cannot just grow one thing."

His grant-funded projects reflect that philosophy. Westwind used the funding to install overhead frost-protection sprinklers covering approximately five acres for apple and pear orchards, improve climate-controlled cider storage and construct a high tunnel that will allow the farm to grow figs and additional vegetables. Together, the investments reduce risk while creating new revenue opportunities.

For Chizzola, that's become essential to modern farming. He encourages other farms to seek out support from groups like HVADC when they can. The farm has worked with HVADC to receive specialized business technical assistance and also participates in HVADC’s Hudson Valley Bounty program.

“They understand that you don’t have much time, so they connect you with the right people who can do some of the work for you,” Chizzola said of HVADC. “It’s totally worth it to cut half an hour from the field to do this kind of research and connect with them, because the help they give you is invaluable.”

Long Season Farm, Kerhonkson

At Long Season Farm, the challenge wasn't a lack of production. It was geography.

Since launching the certified organic vegetable farm in 2014, owners Sam Zurofsky and Erin Enouen have steadily expanded their operation. Long Season Farm began as a winter CSA and over the years evolved into a full-time business serving customers throughout the region.

As the farm expanded, production moved to larger, more suitable fields. But key infrastructure remained at the original farm location.

The result was a daily logistical challenge. Harvest crews routinely transported crops between locations. Wash and pack operations occurred off-site. Vehicles traveled back and forth throughout the day moving produce, equipment and staff.

"We were just going back and forth all the time," Zurofsky said.

The grant helped Long Season Farm complete a new centralized facility at its primary production site, bringing critical operations together for the first time. The project included insulated workspaces, climate-control systems, bathrooms and supporting infrastructure — improvements that affect nearly every part of the operation.

With production, storage and packing now at the same site, the farm spends less time and fuel moving between locations. Because the building relies on electric systems rather than fossil fuels, it also supports the farm's broader efforts to reduce energy use and operate more efficiently. These upgrades reflect a founding mission of the farm: providing fresh produce even in winter months when it's scarce. The centralized facility gives the farm more refrigeration and storage capacity, extending the shelf life of vegetables, reducing operational bottlenecks, and supplying customers beyond the peak growing season.

For Zurofsky, the project strengthens the business while preparing it for the future. "It just makes the farm structurally much more resilient," he said.

Agricultural investment like this often goes unnoticed, so the grant represented something beyond the funding itself. "You feel like you're in a community where you're seen and appreciated and supported," Zurofsky said. "It's not something every farmer gets to say."

Catskill Wagyu, Accord

Sometimes sustainability isn't about expanding production.

Sometimes it's about making a long-held vision possible.

At Catskill Wagyu at Hilltop Farm, Becky Collins Brooks and Barton Brooks have spent years building a small, community-focused dairy. Barton grew up on a dairy farm. As a child, he milked cows alongside his grandfather. Later, he operated a commercial dairy before economic pressures forced him to leave the industry.

The dream never disappeared.

"Our dream has always been to have a small dairy," Collins Brooks recalled. "Just the two of us that we could manage and sell raw milk to our community."

The challenge was cost. Establishing a modern dairy operation requires specialized equipment, regulatory compliance and significant upfront investment. For years, the project remained largely out of reach.

The grant changed that. Funding supported the installation of an energy-efficient milk-handling system that includes a pipeline milking setup, pre-cooling tube cooler and bulk tank. The system dramatically reduces energy use by cooling milk with cold well water before it reaches the refrigeration tank. The same water is then reused for livestock consumption.

On NYSERDA's recommendation, the farm compared electric bills from six months before installing the system to six months after. The comparison showed a 20-30% drop in monthly electric costs — a concrete measure of the kind of sustainability and resiliency gains the grant program is designed to support.

"It's really efficient, and it's really amazing," Collins Brooks remarked.

The sustainability benefits aligned closely with the grant program's goals while helping the farm move closer to obtaining its dairy license. Today, the equipment is installed and operational as the farm completes the final steps toward licensing.

For a project years in the making, the grant helped bridge the gap between aspiration and reality. It did something else, too.

“The thing we’re most proud of is our relationship with our community,” Collins Brooks said. “It’s a reciprocal relationship…being embraced like that is something we can’t even describe.”

As the farm moves toward receiving its dairy license, Collins Brooks said the new equipment has transformed what once felt like a distant dream into an achievable next step.

Balsam Ridge Farm, Clintondale

At Balsam Ridge Farm, diversification has become just as important.

Many Hudson Valley residents know the farm for its Christmas trees. But owner Gene Knudsen has steadily expanded beyond seasonal tree sales, adding garlic, apples and other agricultural enterprises to the operation.

"Farming is inherently risky," Knudsen explained. "Diversification provides a hedge against weather, pests and market fluctuations."

As the farm grows, however, new challenges emerge. The operation lacked critical infrastructure, including adequate storage and processing space. Equipment, tools and supplies had limited protection from the elements. Garlic production required specialized curing and storage conditions. Additional crops required dependable water access.

Through the grant program, Balsam Ridge addressed those constraints by constructing a pole barn, expanding electrical service and adding a dedicated irrigation well.

The pole barn provides protected storage for equipment and agricultural supplies while creating space for garlic curing and processing. Electrical service enables the farm to operate ventilation systems and support additional activities on site. The new well supplies water for drip irrigation, helping the farm use water more efficiently while improving crop health.

The investments may not be as visible to customers as rows of Christmas trees or garlic harvests. Still, they represent the type of infrastructure needed to support the farm’s expanding operations.

Honeybee Sun Farm, Kerhonkson

At Honeybee Sun Farm, the work of building a more resilient operation has been underway for years.

Ivan Goodman has managed the 140-acre farm for 13 years, starting with hay production and steadily expanding into agroforestry. This practice integrates trees and shrubs into working farmland to diversify income while improving habitat and watershed health. The farm now supports climate-resilient crop trees including chestnuts, elderberries, hazelnuts and bitternut hickory.

Recent flooding made water management an urgent priority.

The grant is funding three projects: a contour chestnut orchard expansion designed to slow runoff across the slope, an embankment pond with a spillway to capture surface runoff, and a compact tractor with low ground pressure and side-slope capability to work safely along waterways and contour plantings.

Together, the investments treat erosion not just as a problem to fix, but as an opportunity to build smarter — layering productivity, water management and habitat into the same landscape.

“Honeybee Sun Farm isn’t just responding to today’s challenges,” said HVADC Business Services Coordinator Duane Stanton. “Ivan has spent years building a farm where the landscape does more – managing water, improving habitat and producing crops that will still make sense decades from now. This grant helps move that work forward.”

Investing in the Future of Agriculture

The five projects highlighted here are very different, but each addresses practical challenges facing today’s farms. One helps an orchard adapt to changing weather patterns. Another supports crop diversification. Others improve energy efficiency, water management and day-to-day operations.

Together, they illustrate how targeted investments can help farms address immediate needs while preparing for future operations.

Ulster County Legislative Vice Chair Megan Sperry, who chairs the Economic Development Planning, Education, Employment, Arts & Agriculture Committee, put it plainly in a statement announcing the grants on the Ulster County website.

"When we support our farms, we support their families, their communities and the county at large," Sperry said. "We are a county that is rich in agriculture and benefits from agri-tourism. Our farmers face rising costs associated with tariffs, climate change and cost of living increases. Anytime we can invest in our farms we invest in our county — and I'm looking forward to seeing this round of grants bring a cascade effect for years to come."