The Gerlock farmland protection project almost fell through this fall due to delayed grant funds. But Genesee Land Trust was able to save the project by temporarily using our reserve funds to cover costs. Without the support of generous donors like you, we wouldn’t have been financially strong enough to act quickly. Thank you!
Farmington has become one of the fastest-growing towns in our region.
In the past 20 years many world-class fields in this agricultural community have been lost to housing and light industrial development as the suburbs of Canandaigua and Rochester expand.
The pressure for farmers to sell keeps rising.
In 2017 Bob Gerlock reached out to Genesee Land Trust to talk about protecting his 420 acres of crops and cattle pastures. When Bob passed away a year later his sons Todd and Charlie could have easily sold the family farm. Instead, they continued the conservation process.
Protecting a family’s future
In the coming months the Gerlocks will become the first farmers in Farmington to permanently protect their farm. (December update: the project closed in late November.)
Charlie Gerlock
Charlie says the funds will help him pay for expenses like fertilizer and invest in equipment to improve efficiency. He might build a new barn.
To create the Gerlock Bros. Farm conservation easement, Genesee Land Trust staff spent hundreds of hours securing a competitive Farmland Protection Implementation Grant (FPIG) from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, funded through the Environmental Protection Fund.
Protecting the farm keeps the land in agriculture forever. It also gives Charlie’s daughter Meghan, 28, the opportunity to take over one day. She currently raises 50 red angus cows with her boyfriend Kyle Coryn and wants to grow the beef business.
Connecting with the community
Meghan says the future of small family farming in Farmington — and across the region — requires connecting people with their food. She takes every opportunity to share her life on the farm and posts on Facebook and Instagram as “Coryn Red Cattle Co.”
People follow her adventures, like last year when Meghan saved a nearly frozen newborn calf with blankets and a hair dryer. Bailey (pictured below) lived in Meghan’s house for two weeks until she was strong enough to go outside.
“The only way to save agriculture in our small towns is to bridge the gap between farmers and the rest of the community,” Meghan says. “I think this next generation of young farmers are just the group to welcome people back to the farm.”
Protecting farmland today means young farmers will have access to world-class fields for generations to come.
Meghan Gerlock and her cow Bailey.
Original story ran in Fall 2023 print newsletter
Photos by Elliotte Bowerman