The Land
Property owner
Location
15589 State Route 22, Stephentown, NY
Total number of acres available with this property
Acres of cropland or tillable land
Acres of pasture
Acres of forested land
Other open and/or non-farmable land
Farm Information
Water sources present
Types of water sources present
- Drilled well
- Irrigation system
- Pond
Water sources details
The greenhouse and high tunnels are watered from a drilled well that also supplies water to the farm store and worker housing. The well has always had an adequate flow for the demand of the farm store, worker housing, greenhouses, and raspberry tunnel and has never run dry.
Farm infrastructure details
Existing 3 season farm store has 1350 square feet with outdoor display area, indoor prep room, back storage room, and large walk in cooler with shelving. It includes a True lighted 2 door display cooler, a display freezer, and re-stock freezer in the back room, Display tables and benches, check out counters, and heated enclosure for the water pressure tank are also included. The farm store is set up with wifi and a Ring Security system with three cameras. Additional cameras can be added to the system.
The heated greenhouse is 34' x 144', has two propane powered forced air heaters, and underground heat provided by a commercial hot water heater. It has a roof vent and thermostatically controlled roll up sides. One end is polycarbonate with sliding polycarbonate doors, the west end is woven poly with sliding polycarbonate doors. Two irrigation hydrants make it easy to water manually with a hose from one end and have a timed drip irrigation system set up from the other end. Exclusion netting is on the two sidewalls and is has perimeter ground insulation.
High tunnel "B" is 34' x 156' with the front 16 feet equipped with a three bay stainless sink wash station and laundry sink for initial rinsing. There is also a Tew Manufacturing wash line and rotary table in the wash area. The rest of the tunnel is used for vegetable production and has a hydrant for drip irrigation and overhead sprinklers for irrigation. It has thermostatically controlled gable end vents, a thermostatically controlled south sidewall, manual roll up north side wall, roll up garage doors on both ends, and perimeter ground insulation.
High tunnel "C" is 34' x 144' and is used for various vegetable crops, has a water hydrant for both drip irrigation and overhead sprinkler irrigation, has roll up garage doors on both ends, thermostatically controlled gable end vents, a thermostatically controlled sidewall on the south side, and a manual roll up sidewall on the north side.
High Tunnel "D" is 34' x 72', has a water hydrant for drip irrigation, roll up garage doors on both ends, and manual roll up sides.
High Tunnel "E" is 30' x 144' with single layer poly and has 6 varieties of fall raspberries in it that are managed as a fall only crop. The tunnel has exclusion netting on the sidewalls and ends with a double door vestibule to exclude Spotted Wing Drosophila.
A highly productive half acre blueberry planting is set up with a permanent support structure and exclusion netting system to exclude Spotted Wing Drosophila. We are the first farm in the country to beat SWD without spraying any type of pesticides. Over 12 years of using this system, we have less than 0.50 % infestation from SWD. There are 19 varieties of blueberries, 7 - 9 feet tall, approximately 450 bushes that routinely bring in $30,000 - $40,000 in sales per year. The planting has a drip system, wood chip mulch and non-woven weed mat between the rows. Yields are routinely in the same quantity as yields from Oregon, the highest yielding blueberry production area in the country.
A three bedroom, two bath trailer for worker housing set back and away from the main production and sales area is also included as part of the infrastructure
Farmer housing
Farmer housing details
Equipment and machinery
Equipment and machinery details
Is the property enrolled in a current use or other state program that affects property taxes?
Is the property protected with any type of Conservation Easement?
Easement details
Is the property certified organic, or does it qualify for organic certification under federal organic regulations?
If the property is contracted to be sold through a real estate agent, please provide name of agent and/or agency and the MLS #
N/A
Tenure Arrangement
Tenure arrangement
- Property for sale
- Property for lease
- Other tenure arrangement
Property for sale
Property for lease
The newly renovated farmhouse is also available to lease.
We are also amenable to creating a limited term LLC with all members sharing in expenses and income as a way to ensure a smooth transition. In this case, there would not be a lease fee as we would be sharing all income and all expenses. Details of the percentages of how the LLC members would be divided and how responsibilities would be divided are subject to discussion with potential successors.
Other tenure arrangement
Additional Information
Farm is Located in Stephentown, NY, just 200 yards from the MA Border
The Berry Patch Farm enterprise can be leased or purchased as a turn-key operation that offers a high revenue producing operation from the very start. Current operations focus on the production and sales of quality berries, vegetables and plants. This is an ideal opportunity to walk into an operation that is highly respected in Western Mass, Eastern New York, and throughout New England and New York. Berkshire Ag Ventures, based in Great Barrington Massachusetts views The Berry Patch as a local "agricultural institution". The Berry Patch is recognized as a highly innovative, cutting edge farm producing the highest quality pesticide-free berries and vegetables found in the Berkshires and Eastern New York.
This package allows someone with production, marketing, and management skills to walk into a going concern and take over our established markets and clientele that we have been cultivating for 28 years. We have a very popular booth at the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market that new owners will be able to take over, an established clientele at our farm store (which was the first farm store in the area to sell exclusively local products), a blueberry pick your own operation that also brings people into the farm store, and established restaurant clients in the Berkshires for which we will provide introductions to the chefs who buy from us now and who bought from us pre-Covid before we ceased doing restaurant deliveries.
The Berry Patch is on a major north/south highway with good traffic from New York City/ New Jersey/Connecticut traveling to Vermont. We are in a beautiful rural area, 10 miles from Pittsfield Massachusetts, 12 miles from Tanglewood Performing Arts Center, 15 miles from Williams College, 25 miles from Bennington, 25 miles from Troy NY, 22 miles from Albany NY, and 6 miles from Jiminy Peak Ski Resort. Recreational and cultural opportunities abound. We are in a good school district yet the area also has a robust home-schooling population. The Berkshire County area, Eastern New York, and Bennington County area have a good population of younger farmers on smaller scale farms. There are also ample off-farm employment opportunities in the adjacent Capital District and local school districts.
The owners, Dale-Ila Riggs and Don Miles are open to various arrangements that provide win-win opportunities for both parties, while providing a fair return for the 28 years of our lives that we put into transforming an old worn out corn field without any improvements into a vibrant, respected business that has incredible opportunities for further growth. We are open to providing expertise and perspective where and when desired. We are not going anywhere and will be retaining the rest of the property that we own (and that we lease to another farmer in town) and enjoying our woodlands and wetlands for personal use.