Stacy Family Farm buys the ODNR nursery in Marietta

Several years ago, Rural Action got a call from Janet Stacy looking for a place for one of her boys to sell a truck load of cauliflower. Luckily the Sustainable Agriculture team was working with the Chesterhill Produce Auction (CPA) at the time. Since then they have become regular producers at the CPA as well as several area farmers markets, including the Athens Farmers Market. The Stacys are a fifth generation family farm. Their story is available on their website.

Parents Bill and Janet Stacy are strong supporters of their children’s’ dreams - dreams that have centered closely on the agricultural world. Their daughter Amanda is an attorney practicing agricultural law in Columbus. Their son Todd is a graduate of the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, and the younger son Tyler is in high school, learning welding and growing cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. A couple years ago, Janet commented to Rural Action’s Bob Fedyski that they were looking to increase their production and were interested in the Marietta State Nursery, a 98-acre tract along State Route 7, and were looking for financing. Rural Action is a member of CAN, the Central Appalachian Network, and through CAN were introduced to Dave McCann, Business Lender with Natural Capital Investment Fund, Inc., who were growing into Ohio. Bob saw the connection, and made the introductions. A short time ago Rural Action’s Executive Director, Michelle Decker received the following email:

Hi, Michelle:

Good news! Tell Bob and Tom I just ordered title work to start the closing process along with Farm Credit Services for Bill and Janet Stacy. Many thanks for this referral and we hope to include you folks in the glory of this project once it is fully completed. I am very excited to have this project come to a loan closing soon.

Thanks again and take care,

Dave

Though it was anything but simple, hard work persevered, and on January 10 at 6:00 pm in the Reno Community Center, the Port Authority announced the sale of the property to the Stacys.

 

Todd has big visions for the property, such as expanding the farm’s available “U-pick” crops and drawing in more crowds for education. Approximately 1,800 children tour the Stacy Family Farm each year, and the new property will provide more educational opportunities for students to learn about farming, said Todd. "Our parents, lots of them have stories about that summer they worked on the farm. Our generation does not have that," he said, pointing out that the farm could be a great summer job for high school students. Stacy Family Farm currently employs 12 to 15 seasonal workers, and that number is expected to increase with the new farm.

In purchasing the property, the Stacy family agreed to permanently restrict 50 acres of the property for agricultural use and also to permanently protect a known site of five endangered plant species: midland sedge, northern croton, cottonweed, old-field toadflax, villous panic grass, and one threatened species, the milk-pea. Not only will the Stacys be preserving habitat, they’ll also be preserving another endangered entity - the family farm.