Honoring an agricultural legacy by safeguarding it for the future
When Edward Meagher’s Aunt Catherine died a few months short of her hundredth birthday, he quickly realized he had much more on his hands than just grief.
With Catherine Relihan’s passing, Edward had the responsibility of deciding what to do with the 96-acre family farm. Stretching back from Route 22 into the low rolling hills of White Creek, the family’s history on the property dates back to 1867 when it was purchased as a 10-acre lot. Over the years, parcels were added on, each supporting the family’s successful dairy operation. Widowed in her 70s, Edward’s aunt found a way to keep the property’s agricultural legacy going by leasing the land to a neighboring dairy farm — an arrangement that remains in place over 30 years later.
“It was important to me to honor the legacy my aunt, and all those who came before her, established on the property,” says Edward. “Working with ASA to conserve the land was the perfect and, frankly, only option. I’m incredibly grateful the organization values the land as much as I do and is providing the means to keep it operating as a working farm the way it has been for generations.”
Funding for this project was provided by the New York State Environmental Protection Fund administered by the Department of Agriculture and Markets.
