Well-known Fruit Business Has a New Home on Conserved Land
Charlotte – December 20, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Adam’s Berry Farm is a popular farm business in Chittenden County. After 10 years of renting land in Burlington’s Intervale, Adam Hausmann has built up a strong customer base for his organic berries and table grapes. Today he secured the future of his business by purchasing 56 acres of farmland in Charlotte. The Vermont Land Trust helped Adam buy the land from Nancy Hinsdale by purchasing a conservation easement on the property.
While Adam’s business at the Intervale was highly successful, recent flooding had him looking for new land. Adam grows 20 varieties of strawberries, 10 of blueberries, and four varieties of raspberries, plus blackberries and table grapes, which are sold locally through restaurants, markets, and pick-your-own sales.
“We are thrilled to be moving our operation to more secure ground while still being able to support and expand upon existing markets due to the land’s close proximity to Burlington,” said Adam. “We can’t wait to invite our loyal and new customers down to our beautiful new farmland over the next couple of seasons.”
The Charlotte parcel is well suited to Adam’s needs. It has very good agricultural soils. Sixteen acres have prime loam soils that are excellent for berries. Thirty-eight acres are tillable, and the remaining land is a mixture of pasture and woods.
Nancy Hinsdale, a supporter of farming and conservation, generously sold the conservation easement for less than its full value. “It’s been a dream of mine for years to conserve this land,” said Nancy. “I’m comforted to know that the land will be farmed; Adam came along at the perfect time to make this happen. I’m thrilled that there’s so much conserved land in Charlotte and I’m pleased to do my part.”
The purchase of the easement was funded by local, state and federal sources. A grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board was matched by the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program managed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Town of Charlotte Conservation Fund and the Charlotte Land Trust also contributed to the conservation of the land.
“So many people and groups came together in support of this project,” said Al Karnatz of the Vermont Land Trust. “It’s a testament to the community’s support of farming, land conservation, and to the excellent business that Adam has built up over these past 10 years.”
The Vermont Land Trust helps landowners and communities conserve land through the use of a conservation easement— a legal tool that limits development on productive farmland and forestland, and other meaningful natural and community places. Landowners continue to own, manage, and pay taxes on the land and can sell their land; however, the conservation easement permanently remains on the property.
“We are excited to see a growing concentration of conserved land linked together in East Charlotte,” said Adam. “It is particularly rewarding knowing that this piece will be farmed for generations to come.”
