New Lease for Coos County Farm

Three years ago the Coos County commissioners sold the county farm dairy herd, closed the farming operations, and decided to lease out the county farm land. The Coos County farm includes a historic landmark barn and a beautiful stretch of fields along the Connecticut River in West Stewartstown. Last July a group including representatives of the department, the Barn Preservation Committee, the NH Preservation Alliance and UNH Cooperative Extension toured the barns at the county farm, and met with Coos County Commissioners, staff and members of the county legislative delegation to discuss options for future use the land and buildings.

The commissioners recently approved a new lease with two Columbia farm families—dairy farmers Scott and Debbie DeBlois, and livestock and crop farmers Chris and Joyce Brady. Scott and Chris, who have been close friends since their school days, are excited about how this plan will allow both families to work together and to grow their respective operations. Both families have a young generation now in college or high school—and all have been active in 4-H and/or FFA and are seriously interested in agriculture. Due to the timing of the agreement, Scott says they will just hay the land and raise corn this season. Their planned future rotation of crops for the 138 tillable acres will also include oats and soybeans.

(This column is excerpted from the Weekly Market Bulletin, July 10, 2014)