Eliza Lake and her husband Bart Niswonger, the owners of Kinne Brook Farm in Worthington, are dedicated to sustainable farming, land conservation and raising their animals using the most organic and humane protocols.
“We try to give our animals the best life possible,” Niswonger said as he moved his herd of Scottish Highland cattle from one field to another.
For their ethical treatment of animals and agricultural practices, the farm has been certified as Animal Welfare Approved since 2012.
Animal Welfare Approved is an independent, nonprofit farm certification program that annually audits, certifies, and promotes independent family farmers across the U.S. and Canada who raise livestock outdoors on pasture or range using sustainable agriculture methods.
On May 19, Kinne Brook Farm received a “Certified Grassfed” designation from A Greener World. That is an additional accreditation for farmers and ranchers that certifies that they are raising animals according to a grassfed feeding protocol.
Kinne Brook Farm is the first farm in Massachusetts to receive this certification.
“We are very excited and proud that our beef cattle are now Certified Grassfed by AGW,” Lake said. “The program alerts us to the best practices in livestock-raising, as well as assuring our customers that our animals are being raised to the highest standard of animal welfare.”
Niswonger said they currently have 27 head of cattle “but the herd keeps growing.” He pointed to a week-old calf that was grazing next to its mother Thursday afternoon.
The farm has been in Lake’s family since 1980. The cattle have access to 145 acres of land and are rotated from field to field roughly every two days.
The cows get fresh grazing and Niswonger said, “They do a good job at keeping the land open.”
“Our goal is to maintain the land so that it can sustain itself,” Niswonger said.
The couple sells a variety of cuts of meat and hamburger from a barn on the farm.
Niswonger said that the Highland cattle were traditionally bred as beef cattle and are known for producing some of the most flavorful meat.
“Customers say they really love the taste, that there is just something different about it,” Niswonger said.
Lake and Niswonger live in a 19th-century farmhouse with their two young children, Augustus and Charlotte.
Niswonger is a furniture maker by trade and Lake is the executive director of the Hilltown Community Health Center in Huntington.
The Goshen Historical Society will present “The Geology of Goshen” at 7 p.m. Friday with a program by Richard Little, a professor emeritus of geology at Greenfield Community College.
The doors will open 20 minutes before the program begins at the Goshen Town Hall. Refreshments will be served.
The public is invited to learn how drifting continents and glaciers have shaped Goshen and the surrounding region. Participants will learn about the geologically famous Goshen Dome and the origin of the colorful, mica-rich Goshen Schist.
People are welcome to bring rocks for identification.
For more information, contact Kristen at 268-7120 or goshenhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Goshen Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
An exhibit of paintings titled “Around Home” by Gary Niswonger, art professor emeritus at Smith College in Northampton, will be on display in the Neil Hammer Gallery at Meekins Library in Williamsburg through July 27.
A longtime resident of Williamsburg, Niswonger said that his work involves traveling to a variety of different sites, but also focuses on lots of time “at our house, and in the garden.”
“My painting focus has always been about being in the place both in body, but with luck, in mind as well,” Niswonger said.
The “Around Home” exhibit features paintings chosen from groups of work that represent different moods and times in the artist’s life.
“I have always been in some apprehension about the work fitting with those painted previously. However, I retired from teaching so my life has changed considerably,” Niswonger said. “It would seem the whole idea of painting must also change.”
The public is invited to join a question-and-answer “artist talk” at 7 p.m. June 30.
Ideas for the column on life in the Hilltowns can be sent to Fran Ryan at Fryan.gazette@gmail.com.