Grower Spotlight: Hepworth Farms

Hepworth Farms is an ultra-diverse 550-acre organic farm in Milton, New York. Established in 1818, the farm currently grows over 400 varieties of vegetables and boasts an impressive clientele, including Whole Foods, Four Seasons Produce, Baldor, Albert’s, FreshDirect, and the Park Slope Food Coop, among many others.

Amy Hepworth, Hepworth Farms’ farmer in chief, took over the family business in 1982 after graduating from Cornell University with a degree in pomology (fruit science). At that time, Hepworth Farms was primarily a conventional apple grower, and Amy quickly began the process of “de-chemicalizing” the operation. “I was dedicated to an agricultural system that would create a healthy soil and a healthy planet,” she explains. “The degradation of our soils was a real threat. Academia in the ‘80s began the long road of shifting the paradigm—I was a part of that.” 

Amy began selling her apples to food cooperatives throughout the Eastern United States because they had a customer base that valued her approach to farming. “We sought out the food co-ops because [they] were born out of the segment of back-to-the-landers [who] cared about how their food was grown,” she says.

It wasn’t long before some of the co-ops asked Amy if she could grow organic vegetables as well, and she was happy to oblige. She began with one acre and grew a wide variety of items right from the start—about 40 types of vegetables. Over the years, as demand continued to grow, she expanded both her acreage and her varieties.

In 2009, Amy’s twin sister Gail left her career as a biomedical engineer to help Hepworth Farms further scale its operation, which was then at about 50 acres. Amy had been noticing a lot of farmland in the Hudson Valley going out of production, and she didn’t want to see that happen, but she knew she couldn’t add acreage without more support. So she convinced Gail to join the farms’ leadership team (which at that time was two people—Amy and Gerry Greco, head of personnel).

Gail works on the sales and marketing side of the business and also oversees the greenhouses, the packing houses, and order fulfillment (all produce from Hepworth Farms is picked and packed to order). “Part of my expertise in the corporate world [was] scaling businesses and project management,” says Gail. “So I do have some tools that I can use to …  create the work orders and help organize them so that at five o’clock in the morning, [Amy and the crew] have the book of what needs to get done for what customer.” 

While Hepworth Farms grows almost every vegetable you could think of, there are a handful of items it specializes in. Some of the crops it’s particularly well known for are greens, zucchini, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and, of course, tomatoes—lots and lots of tomatoes! This year, they plan on growing 101 different varieties. Gail says that if you were to line up all of Hepworth Farms’ tomato rows on end, it would measure a staggering 121 miles. “For [each] tomato [plant], you have to put the seed in the pot; you have to put the little plant in the ground; every single plant has to be pruned; and every plant has to be wired up; and every plant has to be picked,” says Gail. “[The number of] times that our men walk 121 miles for a tomato crop—it’s mind boggling!”

At Hepworth Farms, labor-intensive crops like tomatoes are embraced. “We love employing people. It’s part of our model,” says Gail, who is deeply disturbed by the lack of respect for farmworkers in the US. “Why aren’t they valued in our society?  Why?!” she exclaims. “Well, we value ours! We have all kinds of programs to lift the boats of everyone who’s with us as much as we can.” During its peak season, Hepworth Farms employs over 200 people.

Hepworth Farms has a highly diversified customer base that includes retailers, wholesale distributors, multiple CSAs, and restaurants. Whole Foods is a major client and not only purchases Hepworth Farms’ produce for its Northeast network of stores but for other regions as well, including Florida, Georgia, Texas, Illinois, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Last year, A.C. Gallo, Whole Foods’ president and chief merchandising officer, swung by the farm with some other members of his team for a visit. He wanted to check out Hepworth Farms’ operation because it is a top local grower for the company’s busy Northeast region and scores highly on Whole Foods’ supplier rating program. “We had a fantastic visit with him,” says Gail. “It was just awesome!”

One of Amy and Gail’s favorite things to grow are chili peppers—and they also happen to be the most popular search term leading to the Hepworth Farms website. In past seasons, the farm has grown as many as 48 varieties of chilies, but this year they’re planning on significantly reducing that number due to the coronavirus. While Gail hasn’t gotten any explicit requests to grow fewer varieties from her customers, she’s guessing that retail displays may be scaled back as a result of social distancing requirements and that cash-strapped consumers might be less interested in specialty items.

Because of the recent rise in demand for grocery delivery, Gail’s been getting calls from companies interested in carrying Hepworth Farms’ Farm Box, which is currently distributed through Fresh Direct as well as some local CSAs. “We are expanding our reach directly to [the] consumer by making available our Farm Box to more customers via CSAs and potentially other venues depending on interest,” says Gail. “We know that we need to make our food more available during this pandemic, and we are looking at ways to do that.” 

While they are extremely busy, especially during the peak season (“the only thing that catches me is my bed and the shower,” quips Gail), the sisters wouldn’t have it any other way. They are both deeply committed to fostering healthy agriculture in their region. “When farmers do well, communities thrive. It’s a real thing—we’ve proven it 50 acres at a time,” says Gail. “Just 50 acres of organic fruiting veg takes a million dollars and throws it around the economy. … We [want to keep] agriculture robust here in the Hudson Valley.”