Location: Town of Parma, Monroe County
Size: 320 acres
Description: De Meyer Family Farms is a grain and vegetable operation, growing wheat, corn, soybeans, hay, and winter squash on 319 acres. Marilyn and her son, Richard De Meyer, are the sole operators, owning 100 acres and leasing an additional 219 acres from John and Margaret Adams. This project will allow the De Meyer family to purchase the land they have been leasing from the Adams.
The farm produces enough squash on 5-6 acres each year to supply buyers through the winter months. Squash is sold to local distributors supplying retail and food service outlets, and NYC buyers with exposure to a broad range of ethnicities well suited to the array of squash varieties. Cash grains and hay are grown on the remaining 275 acres of tillable soil. The grain production history for the farm is consistently above the county average. Wheat is sold to a local flour mill and alfalfa hay is harvested for the high nutrition that performance animal owners demand.
In recent years the De Meyers have seen challenges to a predominantly cash grain operation. Trade negotiations have introduced more uncertainty and volatility into the market. Additionally, climate change has brought uncertainty with regard to precipitation in particular. Therefore, they have been trialing beneficial microbial seed treatments to enhance nutrient uptake and reduce the severity of drought stress, leading to more resilient crops. They also use cover crops to reduce soil erosion and improve soil health. In the past 5 years they have purchased new tillage equipment to work the ground with fewer passes increasing efficiency, lessening impacts on soil structure, and reducing carbon emissions.
Marilyn has been a very active member of the agricultural community working to ensure farmland and agriculture remain vibrant, vital aspects of the community. Marilyn currently serves on the Monroe County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and Monroe County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board. She has previously served on the Town of Parma Farmland and Open Space Preservation Committee and was instrumental in drafting the Town’s Farmland and Open Space Protection Plan. Richard is following in Marilyn’s footsteps, being actively involved with Monroe County Farm Bureau, educating Monroe County legislators at the annual Taste of Monroe Reception, and travelling to Albany for lobby days.
History: De Meyer Family Farms was started by Belgian immigrants, Peter and Alice De Meyer, in 1921, and was originally located in Greece, NY. In 1955, together with their son, Eugene, they purchased more land in the Town of Parma. When the elder De Meyers died and development pressure rose in Greece, the farm had to be sold to settle the estate between Eugene and his four sisters. Eugene married Marilyn in 1992, after she had worked for him since 1980 at both the Greece and Parma farms. Since Eugene’s passing in 2012, Marilyn and their two children, Richard and Elizabeth, have been honored to continue the farm.