By Patricia Breakey
A young farm family is living a dream after purchasing a 388-acre dairy farm in Bloomville.
Kyle and Bonnie Rockefeller and their children, Alexis, 5, and Chase, 3, live on Crowe Road at a farm they have named Rockycrest Holsteins.
The Rockefellers were renting a farm on Kelso Road in East Meredith and were looking to buy when fate stepped in.
In July 2007, the Open Space Institute's land-acquisition affiliate, the Open Space Conservancy, acquired the Deerfield Farm from Jim and Barbara Robertson with funds from the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Endowment.
Deerfield Farm was one of 10 pilot farms in the Watershed Agriculture Council's Whole Farm Planning program, which aims to manage a farm's economic and production needs while balancing environmental sustainability.
The farm was part of a long-term study by the state Department of Environmental Conservation that examined conservation practices meant to prevent or reduce pollution and protect water quality.
Amy Kenyon, Farm Catskills president, met with Open Space Institute representatives, encouraging them to ensure the farm remained owned by a farming family.
Farm Catskills is an organization working to build a sustainable farming community in Delaware County.
Kenyon knew the Rockefellers, and the rest fell into place.
"Farm Catskills knew we were looking at one or two places to buy," Kyle Rockefeller said Thursday. "I have always known the Robertsons, but I didn't know their place was for sale."
Kenyon said that without OSI's involvement, the Robertson farm could have been sold for development.
"There were no good options to keep this land in agriculture before OSI stepped in," Kenyon said. "Farm Catskills' role in this was small but important."
Rockefeller, 30, said he didn't grow up on a farm, but his grandfather and uncle owned farms and he always worked at one.
Rockefeller attended the University of Maryland on a baseball scholarship, but he said he wasn't happy there and wanted to come home to Delaware County and own a farm.
"We really enjoy the farm," he said. "It's big enough for me to handle alone right now."
Bonnie Rockefeller handles the books and works full time raising their children.
"I've done quite a few other things, and this is what I want to do," Kyle Rockefeller said in an OSI media release. "I like my one-lane dirt road traffic when I come home at night."
After years of working with Deerfield Farm, the Watershed Agricultural Council purchased a conservation easement on the property in 2008, opening the door to sell to the Rockefellers.
"This was a win-win situation for everybody," said Fred Huneke, WAC chairman, in the release. "It was vitally important for us to continue the operation of this farm so we can continue to make sure the best management practices work the way they're supposed to for water quality."
"We follow a plan, so the runoff is minimal," Rockefeller said in the release. "Up here, it's basically all natural."
"Kyle and Bonnie epitomize the strength and conviction necessary for this generation of dairy operators to learn, grow and succeed in challenging times," said Jennifer Grossman, OSI's vice president of acquisition.
"OSI really acted like a critical bridge to keep this property in agriculture," Kenyon said. "It was very important that they realized the special value of giving a farm family the opportunity to own their own farm."
