Stone House Farm

About this land node

Overview

Project Vision

We see Stone House in twenty years as the reference farm for regenerative grain in the Northeast: soils measurably richer in carbon than when the transition began, a web of regional farms fed by its organic grain and seed, and open data from Hudson Carbon that lets any farmer compare practices and get paid for the carbon they store.

Project Purpose

To prove that major commodity crops can be grown organically at scale while rebuilding soil and sequestering carbon, and to supply the organic grain, seed and feed that Hudson Valley farms need so that the regional food system can regenerate from the ground up.

Project Title

Stone House Farm / Stone House Grain

Ecoregional Location

Northeast US Coastal Forests, Northeastern American Mixed Forests (NA10)

Local Location

Upper Hudson Valley

Political Location

Town of Livingston, Columbia County, New York, United States

Ecology & biodiversity

Biodiversity context

Columbia County's large farms provide some of the Hudson Valley's most important grassland and open-country habitat. Converting 2,200 acres to organic, cover-cropped, perennial-rich management removes pesticides from a large block of that landscape and benefits pollinators, soil life and farmland birds.

Ecological corridors

Old Mud Creek and hedgerows link the farm to the Hudson River shoreline and to woodlots and farmland to the east, part of the agricultural mosaic connecting the river to the Taconic hills.

Natural boundaries

The farm spreads across the rolling Hudson Valley lowland of the Town of Livingston, between US Route 9 and the Hudson River, south of the City of Hudson. Old Mud Creek flows through the fields, and the neighboring Old Mud Creek Farm and Churchtown Dairy lie on adjoining Rockefeller farmland.

Ecosystem unity

Stone House sits in the Northeast US Coastal Forests ecoregion in a landscape of large open fields, hedgerows, creek corridors and woodlots that has been farmed since the colonial manor era. Its fields, pastures and cover crops form a working agricultural ecosystem connected by Old Mud Creek to the Hudson estuary.

Climate & water

Climate Zones

Humid continental climate at the transition between hot-summer (Köppen Dfa) and warm-summer (Dfb) types, with a growing season from roughly late April to mid-October.

Rainfall patterns

Precipitation is spread evenly through the year with no dry season; late summer and early autumn are slightly wetter, often boosted by thunderstorms and the remnants of tropical storms. Winter precipitation falls as snow, sleet and rain, and spring snowmelt drives peak streamflow in March and April.

Average Rainfall

Approximately 1,000 to 1,100 mm per year, usually sufficient for rain-fed grain and forage.

Temperature Extremes

July highs typically reach 28 to 30°C with occasional heat waves above 32°C. January lows average around -9°C, and cold snaps below -20°C occur in some winters.

Average Temperature

About 9°C annually, from roughly -4°C in January to 22°C in July.

Watershed

Within the Hudson River watershed. Old Mud Creek drains the farm westward to the tidal Hudson, a few kilometres away.

Nearby water bodies

Old Mud Creek flows through the farm. The Hudson River lies roughly 4 km to the west.

Land & terrain

Elevation & slope

Gently rolling lowland between roughly 50 and 120 metres above sea level, with mild slopes toward Old Mud Creek and the Hudson.

Landforms

Glacial lake plain and till-covered lowland dissected by shallow creek valleys, part of the Hudson Valley lowland between the river and the Taconic foothills.

Soil Types

Silt loams and silty clay loams formed in glacial lake sediments and till over Ordovician shale, typical of the Hudson Valley lowland in Columbia County. The heavy, moisture-retentive soils suit grain and forage but are prone to compaction, which minimal tillage and cover crops counter.

Soil health

Decades of conventional corn and soy depleted organic matter before 2013. Under regenerative organic management soil carbon has risen year on year, documented by Hudson Carbon's deep-soil sampling and carbon-flux monitoring, and biological activity and water infiltration have improved.

Erosion risk

Low to moderate. Large fields on silty soils can lose soil in heavy rain, which the farm's permanent cover crops, perennials and reduced tillage are designed to prevent.

Renewable resource potential

Soil carbon sequestration at farm scale, already monitored and marketed; solar on barns and grain facilities; biomass and hemp as low-input crops.

People & history

Land Acknowledgements

Stone House Farm lies within the homeland of the Mohican people, the Muhheaconneok, who named the Hudson Muhheakantuck, the river that flows both ways. We acknowledge the Mohican people and their descendants in the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, whose relationship with this land continues.

Recent land history

Part of the colonial Livingston Manor, the land passed through generations of family farms and dairy. Peggy Rockefeller protected it among more than 2,700 acres she bought in the 1980s; after her death it was farmed conventionally in corn and soy until Abby Rockefeller inherited it and hired Ben Dobson in 2013 to lead the organic transition. Hudson Carbon was founded in 2015, and Old Mud Creek Farm began growing hemp in 2017.

Regenerative practice

Regenerative Focus

Regenerative Agriculture & Soil Health, Regenerative Grazing, Research & Participatory Science, Regenerative Finance & Impact Investing

Regenerative Methodologies

Minimal mechanical tillage; organic and non-GMO seed with no synthetic fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides; diverse cover crops planted whenever a staple crop is not in the ground; long rotations with more than half the acreage in perennials such as alfalfa, chicory and hay; integrating grazing livestock to build soil; on-farm carbon-flux and deep-soil monitoring through Hudson Carbon; holistic management planning.

Environmental objectives

Rebuild soil organic matter and store carbon on large-scale cropland; eliminate synthetic chemical inputs on 2,200 acres; protect water quality in Old Mud Creek and the Hudson; produce rigorous data on carbon, nitrogen and water cycles under regenerative management.

Community objectives

Supply organic livestock feed, forage, grain and seed that were underproduced in the Hudson Valley, without competing with small vegetable and livestock farms; keep roughly 80 to 85 cents of each revenue dollar circulating within 40 miles of the farm; support neighboring farms transitioning to regenerative practice through Hudson Carbon research sites.

Community engagement

The farm supplies organic dairies, livestock farms and food and beverage producers across the region, including Churchtown Dairy, and hosts field days and gatherings for researchers, farmers and entrepreneurs. Hudson Carbon runs long-term research sites on neighboring farms as well as at Stone House, and the farm has been a demonstration site in New York State's carbon farming policy discussions.

Economic Model

Revenue from certified organic grain, seed, feed, hay and baleage sold mainly to regional farms, plus livestock. The transition and the Hudson Carbon monitoring system were made possible by philanthropic investment from the Rockefeller family, and Hudson Carbon has piloted a direct-to-consumer market for farm carbon offsets.

Impact

Expressed Impact

Stone House shows that regenerative organic farming is not limited to small market gardens: a multi-thousand-acre commodity operation can approach conventional yields without chemicals while storing carbon. By measuring that carbon rigorously and selling grain locally, it links soil health to regional economics and policy, and it helped inspire New York's Hudson Valley Carbon Farming Pilot.

Key impact metrics

About 2,200 acres certified organic; transition from conventional corn and soy began 2013; more than half of acreage in perennials; soil carbon sequestration documented by Hudson Carbon, with 403 pounds of CO2 per acre recorded in 2016–2017 and roughly 15,000 tons CO2e reported sequestered by 2021; 80–85% of revenue spent within 40 miles.

Visiting & links

Nearest urban centres

The City of Hudson (population about 5,900) is roughly 8 km to the north. Albany is about 60 km north and New York City about 180 km south.

Connections

In the same bioregion

Nearby