Seven generations have worked the land at Noblehurst Farms. Starting with with fourth generation, Kenneth Noble in the 1960’s took on nine shareholders, comprising seven members of Kenneth and Ethel Noble’s family and two key non-family employees. Today, five of those original owners are still part of the farm’s forty shareholders, which range in age from 27 to 92 years. “Our focus on the farm is on having a progressive and economically healthy agricultural operation that produces and markets quality products,” said Chris Noble of Noblehurst Farms during his presentation to NEAFA members at the 2020 NEAFA Annual Meeting February 5th in Albany, NY. “We strive to provide the best products and/or services to the community that we can.”
One way that Noblehurst has done that is with their Craigs Creamery venture. Created in partnership with other local farms in Western NY, the creamery services 13,000 cows to create 120,000 gallons of milk per day. “In 2010’s, we needed to change market share,” said Noble. “And we did that by banding together to make the Craigs Station venture.”
With over 30 employees and milk from the same eight local farms, the station has an excellent and reliable milk source that provides the needed consistency for the plant to make quality products, such as cheese that is sold throughout the region at a wide variety of larger national chain groceries. “It’s a new way to buy a locally made product from a store or from a large national chain, and we’re proud to be providing it.”
Another way that Noblehurst has moved forward with their environmental stewardship is with Noblehurst Green Energy, which is one of the first anaerobic digesters in the state of New York. Completed in the fall of 2014, the plant was connected to the grid April 7th, 2015. “There were multiple drivers for the project,” said Noble. “With the economy the way it’s been, diversification was another factor, and the plant helps us reduce costs in getting rid of waste products, eliminates smells for our neighbors and provides electric service to our onsite milk processing center at Craigs Station.” Using manure and food waste, the anaerobic digester creates biogas that runs an engine to produce electricity for the on-campus facility, as well as for the local electric grid. “We feed the digester manure, high strength dairy processing waste, acid whey, food scraps, condensed whey, packaged liquid and semi-solid organics.”
Tied into the Noblehurst Green Energy business is Natural Upcycling - a waste collection service that hauls food waste from all over the Northeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. “Food waste is a big problem in the US,” said Noble. “Forty percent of food is wasted, and there’s not a lot done about it. Collecting it is messy - it’s not a sexy business to get into. But it’s the second largest contributor to landfills in America behind paper products. We collect pre and post-consumer food scraps from restaurants and supermarkets, which we truck back to be used at our digester. There are other opportunities to be green with food waste though, through the renewable gas it produces. Generating electricity is one way, but you can also upgrade equipment to get that methane into a pipeline, and it can be used for vehicles that run on methane as well.”
Noble sees that diversification as a key for Noblehurst to survive and thrive for generations to come. “We lead by example, and believe that a sound, progressive business structure and strong work ethic can help us lay the foundation so that the next generation can enjoy the fruits of this place.”