Robie Farm
ACT was honored to work with the Robie family to conserve their historic family farm well known for its superb artisan cheeses and humanely raised beef and pork.
The 150-acre farm is located on a beautiful stretch of the Connecticut River, just south of Piermont village. Pastoral fields dotted with dairy cows sweep down from National Scenic Byway NH Route 10 to the river. This place undoubtedly would have become a trophy home site, or sites, if not for conservation.
The seventh generation of Robies on the farm.
Farm owners Lee and Betty Sue Robie live and work on the land with the family of one of their sons. Their grandchildren are the seventh generation to grow up on the farm.
“We wanted to make the farm viable for the next generation,” said Betty Sue Robie. “We want it to be a working farm that is a productive source of food and fiber forever.”
“It was love at first sight. ACT understood what we wanted to do and how we wanted to run our farm business.”
The Robie Farm is situated in an area that is home to wildlife and dynamic ecosystems. Along the riverfront there are silver maple floodplain forests, an important ecosystem that accommodates flooding and stabilizes the riverbanks from erosion. Federally endangered dwarf wedge mussels live in the riverbed.
ACT was initially approached about the project by The Trust for Public Land, a national non-profit conservation organization with a mission of “conserving land for people.”
The Robies needed a conservation partner like ACT to that shared their vision for their farm, understood the complexities of conserving a working farm, and was flexible in considering new uses like agri-tourism.
“It was love at first sight,” said Betty Sue recalling when she first met the ACT team. “ACT understood what we wanted to do and how we wanted to run our farm business.”
