HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE EASEMENT TEAM!
Wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season, while also expressing gratitude for our collective commitment to land conservation in the western Catskills. Our team looks forward to seeing our easement landowners again, in 2026. We are also eager to hear from those of you interested in learning more about protecting our farms & forests! —WAC Easement Program Staff
CATSKILL REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCE
January 9th, 9:30 AM – 2:40 PM
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County, in partnership with the Watershed Agricultural Council, will be hosting the 23rd Annual Catskill Regional Agriculture Conference on Friday, January 9, 2026, beginning at 10:00 AM in Farrell Hall at the SUNY Delhi campus. Come and join farmers from around the region for this premier agricultural event. Our top-notch speakers will be presenting timely information about Dairy, Livestock, Vegetable, and Flower Production as well as Grazing Management with a focus on effective practices for farmers in the Catskill Region.
Registration will begin at 9:30 am with Early Bird sessions at 10:00 am. Dairy, Livestock, Grazing, Vegetable and Flower Production tracts start at 11:00, 1:40 and 2:40. At noon attendees will enjoy a delicious local food lunch while learning about Local Food Systems. Register here or with Kim Holden, 607 510-7126, kmh19@cornell.edu
SUCCESSION PLANNING, FARM TRANSITION AND HOW WAC CAN HELP
“Research from American Farmland Trust suggests that about 30 percent of the country’s agricultural land—more than 300 million acres—will change hands in the next two decades as aging farmers retire…How that land transfers, and to whom it transfers, matters.
This acreage could shift to young, aspiring farmers in the next generation. That’s the logical next step for an agricultural property. The current owners step away; they pass their land down to an heir interested in farming or sell it to a non-family member looking to get started; the land remains in agriculture and the new farmers thrive, producing food and fiber into the future.That process sounds simple, but it usually isn’t. For a variety of reasons, transitioning a farm from one generation to the next is complex.” — Dan Skeeters, “We Need a Plan“, Colorado Cattleman’s Agricultural Land Trust
Read the article by Dan, and learn more about how WAC can help farms in the NYC Watershed approach the idea of transition, with our Farms and Forests in Transition Grants. If you have questions about how we can help your family in this process, email evprogram@nycwatershed.org or call Kristan Morley at 607-865-7090.
Read these stores and more in the December 2025 News here.
