Sustainable Agriculture
Canola in flower.Grain Production
The 2018 fall harvest is in – and not a moment too soon. Snow came earlier than expected for most farmers along Erie’s eastern shore this year. We awoke to 6 inches of heavy snow early in November leaving may area farmers scrambling to harvest corn and soybeans or finish picking grapes. We managed to get our crops in and even had time to fit up a small field before getting blanketed with snow.
Much of our farmland was rented again this year to a local field crop farmer. Each year, a new crop is rotated into the fields to help 
reserve soil vitality and control pests and disease. Soybeans were at the top of the batting order for this year’s rotation. A wet spring delayed planting until early June and a wet fall meant that the mature beans were carrying a lot of moisture at harvest. But with more snow looming on the horizon, Chad and Donny couldn’t risk leaving the beans on the vine in the hopes of better drying conditions. So they cranked up their combines and were able to harvest about 50 acres of soybeans from our lands the day after Thanksgiving. Bring in a modest crop of Canola and watching the combine’s hopper fill with the field’s bounty imparts meaning and perhaps a slightly deeper appreciation for the wonders of modern agriculture and the extraordinary efforts that farmers make to bring that food from the field to our pantry.
Restoration of the Wright mansion
The farmhouse
The primary dwelling is a 6800 square foot, 3 story house originally built in the Queen Anne Victorian style in 1883-’84 and substantially renovated in 1922-23 to reflect traditional colonial architectural lines. The house was listed on the NY State and National Register of Historic Places in 1983 due to its unique architectural features and the remarkable legacy of cultural and economic growth left by Ruben Gridley Wright .
