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- Land Conservation
The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (Forest Society) has once again been given the opportunity by Morrill Farm Dairy to purchase a 193-acre conservation easement on their main farm property in Penacook. The Morrill Farm Dairy has been in operation for nearly a century, founded in 1925, and is known for its red and white Holsteins. Today, the farm is operated by Robert and Sherri Morrill with their sons, Andy, Kevin, and Ryan.
In 2021, the Morrills worked with the Forest Society and the Town of Boscawen to conserve a 124-acre property they own in Boscawen. The Forest Society also holds conservation easements on several other parcels of land either now owned or leased by the Morrill family. The Morrills are committed to having most of their landholdings under conservation easements, so they are conserved and available for future farmers.
An award-winning farm, the Morrills milk 140 cows, with a total of 400 animals on the farm. Dairy cows are just one element of their farm operation. The property that is now under a new conservation easement is managed as cropland. producing barley, oats, wheat, corn, hay, and small grains for the distilling market and contributing to their own feed for the animals. The family started a retail meat store in 2019, selling from the main farm property in Penacook and the Concord Farmer’s Market.
Morrill Farm Dairy is part of the fabric of the local community. The family is involved with educational programs to help promote dairy and farming to the next generation.
“Our family has been caring for this land for four generations, we believe in being good stewards of the land,” said Rob Morrill. “We take pride in raising animals that provide safe, wholesome milk to our local community and families across New Hampshire. We are also fortunate to be working with our sons, Andy and Kevin, the fifth generation to run the farm business. Agriculture is closely tied to conservation and land stewardship, and we are committed to conserving our land and being good neighbors. We are also committed to improving the quality of water for generations to come. We are very pleased to conserve our main farm property.”
The conservation easement in Penacook is a mixture of open agricultural fields, riparian areas, floodplain forests and shrub wetlands, and includes over a mile of frontage on the Merrimack River. Thirty-four acres are considered prime farmland soils and another 115 acres of prime farmland soils if the land is protected from flooding. Portions of the conservation easement are within the high conservation focus area of the Merrimack River Valley Regional Strategic Conservation Plan and abuts the Randall conservation easement owned by the City of Concord.
“Over the past decade, the Forest Society has conserved 13 parcels of land with direct frontage on the Merrimack River between its origins in Franklin and the Forest Society Conservation Center in Concord,” states Brian Hotz, vice president for land conservation at the Forest Society. “We thank the Morrill family for being good stewards of the land.”
“Conserving land of the Morrill Farm will not only support local agriculture and a family business, but it also protects the natural qualities of the meandering banks of the Merrimack River, a source of food and trade over centuries of human settlement and seasonal migration,” states Paula Bellemore, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. “The Morrill family has conserved the land, while incorporating environmental stewardship into their business. Fences and watering stations keep cattle away from the river, reducing erosion and waste runoff and protecting the drinking water for more than 500,000 people.”
State and private donors came together to help conserve the 193 acres including the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, private donors, and a generous sale price by the Morrills.