When we protect a farm, we preserve a way of life. For generations, people in the Catskills have appreciated the rural character of the region’s undeveloped landscape: a beautiful patchwork of farm and forestland run through with cool mountain streams. To work and live in an active farming community is to be a part of a vibrant landscape where farmers milk cows, grow hay and tap maple trees. Looking towards the future, Catskill farmers are growing new markets with specialty food crops like organic vegetables, grass-fed beef and poultry and farmstead cheese.