327 Co Rd 21C, Ghent, NY 12075

This visit will include an overview of Hawthorne Valley’s grass based dairy production model, our herd health management, our milking schedules and milk quality management, and our grazing management. We will also discuss how incorporates Biodynamic farming techniques (which HVF has been following for over 40 years). We will examine the concept of the farm individuality, central to Biodynamic farming principle, and discuss how our different enterprises nest into one another.

Hawthorne Valley is a certified Organic and Biodynamic diversified farm, part of the 50+ year old non-profit Hawthorne Valley Association. The farm includes a dairy operation, livestock production, vegetable production, a creamery and an organic baker. Direct to consumer marketing includes 8 farmers markets a week in New York City, a CSA, and our Farm Store, a full-line natural foods store open 7 days a week. Our farm spans 400 acres of woodlands and rolling hills, open fields and meadows, and flowing creeks and streams. We lease an additional 400 acres in the area, allowing us to produce almost all of our own feed on farm for our cows, pigs and meat chickens.

At the heart of the farm is the closed herd of cows which, to a large degree, provides the pulse for and rhythm of the adjunct operations. The cows furnish the milk for our Creamery operation, and provide, along with the other farm animals, the basis of our compost, which is essential for building soil fertility to ensure a continuous, regenerative cycle.