Browder's Birds

About

In the film "Growing Farmers," Chris Browder explains the start of Browder's Birds: "I was working as a banker . . . and I wanted to do something that I was more passionate about and that certainly wasn’t it. My wife and I started getting involved in the local food movement in Manhattan, [and Holly said] 'Chris you know the only way you’re going to find out if farming’s for you is you just got to go do it.' I had heard that the Peconic Land Trust would lease land to farmers and so I started noodling around and made a couple phone calls. I basically saw the pasture, I liked it and we sort of worked out the details of the lease and you know . . . off we went."

Starting with a 5-acre lease in 2010 focused on pasture-raised chickens at the Agricultural Center at Charnews Farm as part of the Trust's Farms for the Future Initiative, Chris and his wife Holly now have a thriving 16-acre family farm in Mattituck where they are raising certified-organic broilers, laying hens, and turkeys, plus ducks, bees and a flock of sheep.

The Browders home farm includes 13.2 acres of protected farmland on the north side of Oregon Road. The Browders purchased the farmland from the Peconic Land Trust in 2012. The farmland, initially acquired by the Trust in 2006 was protected with the simultaneous sale of development rights to the Town of Southold at that time with the expectation of reselling the farm to a farmer.

"The Browders are a wonderful example of how the Farms for the Future Initiative was designed to work -- to help start up farm operations establish themselves, and then assist them in finding farmland that is suitable for their needs going forward. This has been an incredible win-win for the Browders, the Trust and the East End," said Dan Heston, Director of Agricultural Programs for the Trust.

Sites

Browder's Birds

The Conservation of the Farmland on Oregon Road

The Oregon Road Farm property is located on the western edge of the Oregon Road farm belt, and was initially comprised of two farmland parcels: 13.2 acres on the northerly portion and 12.5 acres on the southerly portion along Oregon Road.

Both of the unrestricted parcels were acquired by the Peconic Land Trust, and development rights were simultaneously sold to the Town of Southold. The purchase of both properties was funded through our Peter J. Sharp Fund for the Environment, a revolving fund program that provides the Trust with the resources necessary to acquire properties with the eventual plan of reselling to a conservation buyer.

The Northern Parcel

The northerly parcel initially totaled 16.7 acres and included a farmhouse, that was subdivided and sold on a 3.5-acre lot prior to the Trust’s acquisition (the Browders acquired the farmhouse under a separate transaction also in 2012).

The remaining 13.2 acres were planted with a mix of traditional row crops and nursery stock. The Trust removed the nursery stock shortly after purchasing the property in July 2006. The farmland was leased prior to the sale to the Browders.

The Southern Parcel

The 12.5-acre southerly parcel fronts Oregon Road and includes a small two-story house. The Trust acquired it through a bargain sale in March 2007; 10 acres of farmland were protected and 2.5 acres surrounding the house were left with development rights intact. The Trust sold the house lot along with the protected farmland in 2014.

Visitor Information

Today, the Browders have a farmstand at the home farm in Mattituck that is open to the public everyday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They also offer a Chicken CSA, Egg Share and Thanksgiving turkey . . . and you can find them at the farmers market in Westhampton Beach. Visit their website for more information.

Browder's Birds certified organic eggs and chickens are also available at various markets on the East End and served at local Long Island restaurants.